RE: Rod Bolts

From: Spontelli, Ramon (rs11(at)elsegundoca.ncr.com)
Date: Thu Oct 24 1996 - 16:21:00 CDT


> I will resist asking you about the chevy 350 rod conversion.

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Buy four rods.

2. Braze material onto one side of the big end.

3. Grind the brazed material 'til the big end is the
      same width as the Alpine rod's big end.

4. Grind the rod journals on the Alpine crank to something
     like 100 to 120 thousands under to fit the standard-size
     Chevy rod bearings. (Ouch!)

6. Bore the block a bunch <never determined just how much>
     so the Chevy big end will drop down the hole. (Yes, though
     the journal size is smaller, the outside is larger!)

7. Buy four custom pistons. (The Chevy rod is longer than the
     Alpine rod, so you need a piston with a shorter compression
     height.)

And, to top it off, my machinist says if I can find a set of rods for
a 180-hp Mercuriser inboard/outboard, I can bypass the brazing
part because they are the same configuration as the 350 Chevy
rods, but with a wider big end--we'd just have to take a wee bit
off here and there . . . yea, right!

> My reaction would be that the 1750 engine was used in a
> lot of cars; if there were a problem with rod bolts, I would think the
> factory would have changed them pretty quickly.

> But who knows.

Exactly! I really really hate it when I don't know what I'm doing!

Ramon
rs11(at)ElSegundoCA.ncr.com



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