5.7 connecting rods

[shownshine55]

Long story short, I have a fresh '98 355 in my '96 c1500 that seems to have a bent rod. She was knocking pretty hard, so I pulled the engine and drained the oil. The oil looked like chocolate milk. I don't know how the engine got water in it, but it was there. The engine is back at the machine shop that did all the machining. I asked if they knew what years had the same connecting rods as the '98 5.7. they didn't know. So my questions is, does anyone know what years I could pull a rod out of that would match the '98s? Would the rods from a tbi engine be the same? I ask, because to buy a tbi 350 engine is cheaper in most cases than a vortec 350 engine.

 

[Tavi]

If I remember correctly, TBI rods are cast iron. Vortec are compressed powder metal. Both will be 5.7 inches. Standard small block. All rod ends should be the same. The TBI rods will work in the Vortec. But use a set, not just one or two. Might run into a balance issue otherwise.

 

[shownshine55]

Good to know about the rod material. I would have thought them to be the same. To make this a mute point (I think I am saying that correctly), I made a deal to pick up a '96 350 with 119,*** miles on it. It supposedly was a running engine before being pulled for a different buyer who never showed.