I cant seem to find the answer of the differences?
Did the l32s have coated pistons? L26 have forged rods? I am thinking of swapping but would like to know the difference.
L67's up to 02 didnt have coatings,
the 03/04 L67's (steel pan even though it has the SIII sandcast front cover, it has cast rods) did have coated piston skirts and the crown anodized iirc)
all 04+ L32's have the coated pistons, which arent very great, most of the skirt coating is gone by 75k
the 04+ have "near net weight powdered metal "forged" rods
but they are not forged, they switched to this production metheod because of the multiple cost savings that it led to.
NNW PM rods dont have the weight variance that cast do, save time/material for balancing.
PM rods are brittle so they can machine the big end bore and bolt holes then crack the cap off (no more machining 2 separate components to mate then final machine big end)
the fractured cap also means the cap is self aligning, this is a good thing but the material being brittle to accomplish this kills my joy...
the bean counters are the assholes you can thank for that, though they were smart...instead of major overhaul of their diecasting machines they reworked the molds so that the front covers can be sand cast...saved $ there, only drawback is the rougher oil passages, that can be fixed
I would be interested in some specific specs for pistons/rods
the SC L67/32 have .1" shorter rods than the NA L36/26. SC pistons have a thicker crown and deeper dish, via the ring lands moving down .1"
The only answer I have found is
Stronger powdered metal sinter forged connecting rods are used in 2004+ supercharged, and 2005+ naturally aspirated engines, instead of the cast iron style from Series II engines.
Do they share the same rod or is the l32 thicker? Now I just need to find the piston info.
L32 is thicker and shorter than the L26, both suck, i still shoot for the 03/04 L67/32's that are newer but still have the stronger cast rods. ive seen those rods bend pretty damn good...those PM rods, shatter and leave a helluva mess
btw "forged" in their terminology is that the powdered metal is pressed/forged into shape then the pressing is heated to fuse the metal particles.
it is not a forging in the conventional sense where a hot ingot is hot forged into the shape of a rod over multiple dies thereby giving the steel a grain structure that improves the metals strength...that is a true rod forging