On Tue, 24 May 1994, Scott Fisher wrote:
> Oh, and for the record, I'm using the '65-'70 connecting rods, from
> 18GB through 18GH, I think; they're the five-main version of the
> angled big-end rods used on the three-main engine. The rod bolts go
> through the caps and screw into the rod itself; this, coupled with
> the fact that the caps are split at a 45-degree angle to the rod
> centerline and the metallurgy used in the rod bolts themselves, is
> said to mean that you can reuse these rod bolts many times. I'm
> not taking any chances, however, as I've torqued them twice; it
> costs $28 to get all new bolts, and that's only 10% of the parts
> cost for THIS rebuild, which sounds like cheap insurance to me.
> And of course I'm using new locktab washers on the bolts as well.
>
> --Scott
Interesting question. The mechanic who did my engine had all but about 4
of the mechanic's certifications available for Volvo mechanics, as well as
20 years working on lbc engines, and particular experience with A-series
engines for racecars, including his own. He felt the locktab washers were
an outmoded technology, and no longer necessary if high quality bolts were
used and torqued properly. He pointed out that they are soft metal, and
deform under the bolt heads. In his opinion they made proper torque
readings practically impossible. I caved in. My bugeye engine is tuned
to stage IV specs and has all new bolts but not a single tab washer in the
lower end. I don't race it, but it has been near the redline a fair
number of times, and now has 1600 miles on it. A lot of that time it was
buzzing along at 4300 RPM, and the rods are still inside the block (wood
touched).
How do the professionals and experienced amateurs on the list feel about
the tabwashers? I am about to redo the rocker shaft and arms, and VB does
not carry the tabwashers. Should I search for them, or it the considered
opinion of the masses that they are as pointless as my mechanic insisted
they are?
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
|