Vroom.

[CrackedDSM]

I'll have to measure mine tomorrow and you can tell me how they stack up to OEMs. I didnt think to check before I chucked the last set I had.

Quick comparison pic for ya of my arps and an OEM flywheel bolt. ARP is left and OEM is right.

 

[curt-s]

Quick comparison pic for ya of my arps and an OEM flywheel bolt. ARP is left and OEM is right.

View attachment 731813

Ah ok, I have the longer flywheel bolts (ARP-203-2801) which necessitates the use of the AT spacer plate otherwise they bottom out in the crank.

 

[curt-s]

Machine shop that I had do balancing and double checking of measurements called.

PTW clearances 0.0038-0.004. Good.
Main clearance, requested a line hone. Got 0.002 +/- 0.0001 with a 0.0014 center somehow.
Rods clearance, requested 0.002. Got 0.003.

Un-fckking-believeable.

Rods are basically as-is, no fixing this. Not going to have them press out anything. Running 10w40, perhaps it won't be so bad.
But a line hone that now has to be redone? Jesus.

 

[curt-s]

Now I'm at a loss as what to do. 0.003 is within the service limit and I'm pretty sure it's going to be gigantic uphill battle trying to get the shop to reimburse me not only for the price I paid for the rods but also foot the bill for new ones at retail since I bought them from RTM during their (unfortunate) sale.. but is 0.003 too much for a weekend/summer fun car.

I just wanted a touch, not a frickin sledge hammer.

 

[curt-s]

I'm going to pick up my order from the border tomorrow which includes a set of king xp rod bearings in std size, maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[curt-s]

Nope, a couple tenths tighter but still min. 0.0028. those rods are done and now I'm in the situation of having to get them to likely replace them because I don't think they're fixable (ie. Grinding down the body and cap then reboring the big end).
Shop #1 wants to get the rods back from shop #2 to verify themselves. Understandable, but I think this whole situation is going to FK me in the end.

And if it goes that way... Well, I'm not taking it lightly.


Let's see, this is my experience with shops in this city over the years:

Shop A: media blasted my head which caused overspray all over cam journals. Also blasted the deck and told me it'll seal fine. Had to pay for a resurface from a different place.

Shop B: cut my valve seats with a bent pilot. Told me they double check their work valve by valve. Resultant valves couldn't hold chocolate cake from seeping past the valve seat. Called them on it, they replaced the pilot and recut but the valve interface was still slim. Nevertheless, they sealed after some lapping.

Shop C: somehow line honed my mains with a tight center only. Also bored out big ends of new rods one thou too large.

 

[curt-s]

Got my block, flywheel, pistons, and a set of bearings back.

The rest is at shop #1 until tomorrow, when they're going to be offered the chance to make it right, and I'm not accepting them offering to try to fix it by grinding the rod and caps down to be able to rehone the big ends.
Turns out they couldn't even install the girdle the right direction when the instructions are there.

Spent about an hour getting that rear balance shaft bearing out. The right tool for the job would have made it easier but my bearing race installer set was just slightly too big and I didn't want to grind it smaller.

So hammer and a long screwdriver, carefully working around the edge until she finally gave loose.

 

[curt-s]

Got my crank and bearings back from shop #1 and settled the grievance to enough satisfaction as I could get. Chalking the rest up to life lesson and moving on. I'm weeks behind as it is.
Ordered new set of rods and supertech performance intake valve guides for good measure as they're older than the exhaust guides, I'm pretty sure. The heads getting a valve job so I want them on-hand just in case.

Next up, clean the ever living shit out of the crank inside.. have a dozen cans of brake cleaner (non chlorinated is all we can get).


Edit:
Yikes.

 

[curt-s]

Clean behind your balls, everyone.
Also, wear eye protection. Got a tiny little droplet of brake cleaner in the eye and even after a good flush it's annoying as f..

A bit more than one can so far.

I think the big chunks are moly from the head install a couple years back, but lots of debris.

 

[curt-s]

So this one journal, #1 main, has a radial scratch that can juuust catch a fingernail. It's the only one.
I'm not cutting the crank and it seems wasteful to junk it.

Not sure when it showed up.. possible during balancing, unlikely during the polish

I think I'll just send it. The rest of the surfaces are nice and clean.

My reasoning? The upper bearing shells have a much, much bigger groove in them. As long as there's no burrs outwards, I'm sure it's fine.

 

[curt-s]

Another view

 

[curt-s]

Whelp, replacement Eagle rods have arrived.
Also going to change out guides and get some new valves and keepers. Nothing fancy, just some GSCs.

Finally addressing my aluminum door handles which somehow went orange over the years.

And cleaned and painted a thing