Dear Foters,
Now that my aluminum front hubs have laid around in my garage for about seven
years, I am finally in the process of installing them. I always become
nervous while torquing bolts into aluminum -- I have already stripped some
threads in my aluminum flywheel.
In the first place, I cannot find any recommended torque values in my grease
laden red 1959 TR-2 manual with TR-3 Supplement, or my 1965 TR-4 manual for
these specific bolts. These bolts have two lines crossing each other on the
heads -- I assume grade-6? Any recommendations?
General torque questions on engine building: There are all sorts of different
methods of torquing where the bolts will end up with different levels of
tightness for the same numerical ft-lb readings. Torquing stainless steel
bolts in nuclear plants involves exotic procedures and wormy long equations.
It apparently makes a big difference by installing bolts dry, lubricating the
threads, lubricating both the threads and under the bolt heads, or using more
slippery synthetic lubricants or greases. If you use slippery lubricants on
bolts going into aluminum, they want to keep turning without reaching the
rated torque values until the threads come out.
For years, I have built engines using loctite on rod bolts and main bearing
cap bolts. My machinist, who builds stock car engines, says that I shouldn't
use loctite since I may get improper torque readings. He just puts a little
mineral engine oil on the threads (not under the bolt heads) and torque's to
the recommended values.
Any ideas, recommendations, or related theories with engine bolt torque
procedures will be appreciated.
Thanks. Bill Emery
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