Putting together my short block, few ?'s

[MichaelSuch]

Hey guys, I'm putting together my 6 bolt short block finally. I used plastigage on my main bearings and found that 2 of the journals were between .002-.003" is this too loose? The service manual says .0008-.0020 standard value are .004 is the limit. Is .003" too loose?? Also I purchased Wiseco pistons and Manley connecting rods, my question is do the rods need to go on a certain way or can they be flipped?

 

[e85_4g63]

Not really. You could run a thicker weight oil though in there though. I'd recommend it (15w30 or even 20w50).

 

[MichaelSuch]

15W-40 in the summertime and 10W-40 in the Winter. I just checked my paper where I wrote it all down at and I was wrong, here are my measurements:
1: .002"
2: .0015"
3: .002"
4: .0015"
5: .002"

Some of them were just a little less than .002" but more than .0015" so we rounded to .002". It looks like my mains are good and I should procede. But which way are the rods supposed to go on the pistons exactly. Both sides of the rods look exactly the same besides where the "Manley" logo is etched. I looked on their web-site and couldn't find anything there or on the paperwork that they sent me.

 

[mach4g63t]

The rods don't matter. I just put all mine facing the same way. What I mean by that, and I don't remember which it was, is if the Manley Logo is towards the tranny on one... do them all that way and vice versa. The pistons should be marked however with some sort of identifying mark and those need to go on in a particular fashion. Typically, the 'machined dot' on the top of them go towards the timing belt side of the motor. Easy enough. Good luck with the build.

 

[BogusSVO]

look at your old rod/piston combo, on the piston there should be a dot on the crown of it, Then look at the rod, and see which way the bearing tab locks face. then hang your new pistons on the new rods, so the dot and bearing tab locks are in the same position.

BTW, your bearing clearance looks good, a little loose will not hurt, that clearance is where the oil will ride to keep the bearing off the crank, as long as your oil pressure if good.
Just be sure you check your rod side clearance to crank also

 

[e85_4g63]

Can you post up some pictures of your piston tops? Sorry I didn't see your rod question on my first reply.

 

[MichaelSuch]

The pistons have the machined dot, which are pointing towards the timing side because of the off-set on the wrist pin. I have that good, I was just curious about the rods, but I do have all the Manley logos facing the timing side as well now. The only thing I'm bothered with now is that I read if you don't have a stretch gauge you should only torque to about 37 ft. lbs. I torqued to 60 ft. lbs like the paperwork said (it was 55-65 ft lbs.). I don't have a stretch gauge, I could get one but I don't think it would do me a bit of good since I don't have the specs on each bolt before I torqued them. I don't know what I should do now. I don't want this thing to come apart on me.

 

[mach4g63t]

Just use the ARP Moly lube on the rod bolts/mains (if you installed ARP Mains) and torque to the settings. Don't fret so much. I think it's common whenever you're building your first motor. I must've taken mine apart at least 3 times and put it back together because I just wasn't confident. And yet over 1000 miles later she purs like a cheetah and runs like one too.

And where did you read about the stretch gauge? I never read anything like that. Trust in the ARP specs and go with it. Between two friends and myself we've done like 4 rebuilds and never once measured the beginning length and/or any possible stretch on ARP bolts. Just use Moly Lube and torque to specs. If you wanna worry about anything, worry that you're torque wrench is properly calibrated. Other than that, have at it. It's really not as difficult as people like to pretend.

 

[bling5tatus]

There is a stretch to the bolts... that's why you tighten them to a torque + 1/4 turn.... this is also why you cannot continue to use the same "stretch to fit" bolts over and over, because eventually stretching the metal so far will break it.

 

[16g-2ndgen]

Make sure you put the ring gaps facing in the correct way and NOT overlapping, and you file them down to the correct gap. I usually go .018 on the primary, and .020 on the secondary. Use good assembly lube, such as royal purple assembly lube or some permatex ultra slick. Dont use that crappy white lithium grease stuff on a performance build. Dont put assembly lube on the back of the bearing. Remember to lube up the wrist pin good! Make sure you pack your oil pump with vaseline(petroleum jelly) when you put it all back together. There is a lot more but if you need to know anything else feel free to PM me..

 

[BogusSVO]

Make sure you clean everything!! block and crank, even if you just picked it up from the machine shop.

Once the block is on the engine stand, wash it all off with hot soapy water, taking extra care in the cylinders and oil passages. then Blow dry with compressed air, and then wipe the cylinders and bearing surfaces down with oil to prevent rust.
Also take the time to clean all the bolt holes, give extra care to the main and head bolt holes.

with the crank spray break clean through the oil passages, then the whole crank and dry with compressed air, then spray down with WD-40

 

[16g-2ndgen]

Make sure you clean everything!! block and crank, even if you just picked it up from the machine shop.

Once the block is on the engine stand, wash it all off with hot soapy water, taking extra care in the cylinders and oil passages. then Blow dry with compressed air, and then wipe the cylinders and bearing surfaces down with oil to prevent rust.
Also take the time to clean all the bolt holes, give extra care to the main and head bolt holes.

with the crank spray break clean through the oil passages, then the whole crank and dry with compressed air, then spray down with WD-40

Good info! You always want to tap the threads in the block! I usually spray the block down with wd-40 after the cleaning.

 

[BogusSVO]

ohhh BTW a cheap gun brush kit works great for cleaning oil galleys, you can get one at wal-mart for about $15 bucks, but if your real slick, hit a gun shop, buy the rifle handle, and then a few diffrent sized copper wire brushes. You still only spend about $20