1968CC Connecting Rod Length

[carguytroy]

Building a 1968CC engine for our Karmann Ghia. Parts list is 74mm crankshaft, 92 “thick wall” pistons, Webcams 163 cam, MOFOCO 041 heads. Pondering dual carbs or EFI still. Case has been decked. I have 5.4 Uni-tech rods from CB and I’m wondering if these are okay length wise? Any rough idea how thick of shims I need?

[Bruce2]

This is a bad combination. To use that short stroke crank, you will have to use A pistons that have a tall pin height. Then you'll use fairly thick spacers under the cylinders to get the deck height right. Because of the spacers, nothing will fit. The following will be too short: pushrods, pushrod tubes, cylinder tins, head studs, carb linkage, etc. All will require extra work to fit. The engine will be wider than stock, so the exhaust won't fit. The engine will not fit the car very well.

Trade your 74 stroke crank for a 78 stroke. Then get B pistons and use stock rods. From then on, the whole engine builds as easy as a stock 1600. Everything fits. The resulting engine is exactly the same width as a stock 1600.

[Michael1]

Or get short CB Rods. Overkill but shorter than stock