Our rod bolts came in late Friday afternoon.
The good news is that they came all mounted and sealed on a spiffy "blister
pack" so I don't have to count out/packege eight nuts/bolts per set. The
bad news is that they didn't send any of the "secret formula" lube, and they
didn't send any torque specs or instructions.
The guy we did the deal with is in England, and won't be back until the
17th, but by persistence I was able to get connected with the guy who seems
to know everything there is to know about high-tech fasteners and the like.
He's going to get us the lube, and the specs, and the instructions this
week. In the meantime, I'll go shopping for some sort of shipping package,
and should be able to come up with a final price early next week.
As a "preview" of the ARP Rod Bolt show, consider:
1. They will provide a "ballpark" torque spec that we can use if we just
want to use a torque wrench to bolt these things up.
2. Those of us who want to get the maximum advantage out of these bolts
will need a vernier or a pretty hefty michrometer to measure the length of
each bolt before we install it. We'll record those lengths, along with the
installed locations. Then, next time we take the motor apart, we can
measure them again. If the bolt retains its original length, it can be
reused. Any bolt that does not return to it's original length
should be replaced--no need to buy a whole set.
We'll also need a dial gauge. We'll use a box or open-end wrench to tighten
the nuts and torque 'em down until the bolt has stretched a specified
amount. Then we'll back 'em off and do it again. We'll do that at least
three times for each bolt.
I'd say that doing it "right" is going to increase the total engine assembly
time by at least two, maybe even three or four beers!
I can hardly wait!
Ramon
rs11(at)ElSegundoCA.ncr.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 09:32:38 CDT