Bent rod, possibly hydrolocked. Can the crank and piston still be used?

This is one of the stock forged rods from my junkyard engine. The piston looks good no damage apparent including the ring lands. 
 

The crank in these vortec engines are pretty stout nodular iron pieces. It appears okay also. 
 

I'm at a crossroad, having already put a lot of hours into this engine and bought rings, bearings and gaskets. I can buy a stock rod on eBay for about $35. They're close enough in weight that balancing is isn't necessary. I was planning to replace the rod bolts and get them resized, I don't want to be the guy that oils the track at the Challenge. 
 

What do I do now? Replace the one rod? Replace the piston? Have the crank checked? I don't want to spend more at the machine shop than I planned. 
 

Or is it time to give up on this engine?

If I give up on the small block do I buy a running LS? Not an appealing option, I have no experience with them and I would need someone to re-fabricate the motor mounts on the frame. I don't weld. 
 

Since we're talking about things I know nothing about, another option is the Atlas straight six. The V8 engine barely fit, and there's lots of room between the firewall and the core support. 

I will confess that in my younger days I would have bought one rod and called it good.

I don't know these motors well but I would still be tempted to do it

Tom1200 said:

I will confess that in my younger days I would have bought one rod and called it good.

I don't know these motors well but I would still be tempted to do it

that's what i'd do.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Tom1200 said:

I will confess that in my younger days I would have bought one rod and called it good.

I don't know these motors well but I would still be tempted to do it

that's what i'd do.

Well, it is a small block Chevy. The one in my 88 truck still runs great, with mileage estimated at 400k.

If you have a good machinist, I'd ask what they think.

But just one rod and double checking balance should do her

Ordered a rod on eBay, I'll be carrying on.

Late to the party, but...

I've put together several "hail mary" engines out of suspect parts.  Scored cylinders, ugly chambers, used bearings, etc.  And they run great. 

My '65 VW ate an exhaust valve on #3 cylinder at roughly 65 mph. Head separated from the stem and ricocheted around the combustion chamber for a bit before becoming embedded in the cylinder head. Broke the piston, bent the rod like a wet noodle.

I towed it home on the end of a rope, pulled the head and cylinder jug, unbolted the rod, and fished it out. Bolted a salvage yard rod, piston, jug, and head on, changed the oil, and drove it for another few years. I was in my '20's, didn't have a ton of money, figured it was basically a big lawnmower engine and it oughta work ok.

It did.

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone.

I'll add my experience here:

I dropped a valve on a Ford SB.

The head of the valve broke off and was hit repeately by the piston until it shattered, (Cast Piston) but not before bending the rod and pounding the valve seat

The cylinder bore looked kinda OK so I bought another rod and piston put the stock GT40 cast iron heads back on, (It had aluminum ones at the time.) and put it back together.

The engine ran nearly as well as before.  The iron head had smaller ports and valves but a bit more compression.

Andy Hollis said:

I've put together several "hail mary" engines out of suspect parts.  Scored cylinders, ugly chambers, used bearings, etc.  And they run great. 

See also:  Dave Coleman's article(s) on "Freebuilding" an engine.

I did that on a 4.3l in a boat. The engine was an OMC cobra in an 88 four winns.

The engine bound up when cranking, then was able to be fired up and brought in to shore at low RPM. Somewhere along the way some had overheated it and replaced head gaskets with automotive gasket. The gasket eventually failed due to saltwater corroding away the automotive gasket. Not sure if it was the gasket that let water in, or if a sticking exhaust flapper let water in when drift fishing with the engine off.

Ended up bending a connecting rod and damaging an exhaust valve (concave face instead of flat). Replaced the rod, reused bearing, piston, rings, and wrist pin. New exhaust valve and seal. Checked pushrods and no bends. 

Ran it for several years without issue. That included runs across cape cod bay from the canal (sandwich) to Provincetown, runs to Martha's Vineyard, 8 hour days of trolling, and pulling skiers. So not babied and plenty of hours without problems.  

ProDarwin said:

Andy Hollis said:

I've put together several "hail mary" engines out of suspect parts.  Scored cylinders, ugly chambers, used bearings, etc.  And they run great. 

See also:  Dave Coleman's article(s) on "Freebuilding" an engine.

Good referral. Not a lot different than what I am doing. 

I hydrolocked my CRX Si. I replaced the one rod and the bearings. It ran fine for me and the subsequent buyer for several years until I lost touch with it.

You're likely fine.  The Vortec uses hypereutectic pistons (assuming they're stock) and they don't tend to deform as much they break.  They're a fancy casting that shoots the middle of cast and forged.  If they deformed, it would show up on the piston crown.  Might be wise to check that one with a square and compare it to a couple others.

If you have a piece of some rod/dowel/pipe that fits inside the pin, I have stabbed two rod/piston assemblies on a dowel side by side to make sure they match.  That's an old trick that old-school rodders would do to make sure the 8 pistons they ordered have the same compression height, but it would work here as well because if you bent a piston it would show up as the center being higher than normal.

But a general yes.  I would toss a rod on it and not lose sleep.  The crank is 2000% OK.  Compare the cross section of a rod vs the cross section of a rod journal or even a counterweight.  The crank is fine.  Heck, even if you did bend a piston, what's the worst that could happen?  A little extra blowby and 10 psi lower compression on that cylinder maybe?

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Good tip on how to check the piston. I'm pretty confident in proceeding. If this engine ends up with a fatal flaw,  it's much more likely to be a result of my own mistake.

Id be more concerned about finding a machinist that can properly take out and reinstall the press in pin without hurting the piston, than I would be about the piston itself. Its been a problem around here.