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Ray's rods

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My machinist has always insisted on resizing rods for a rebuild. I've always insisted on balancing(he also insists on decking the block and surfacing the head) Between us I always end up with a nice smooth running engine. He sort of poo-poos balancing of little 4-banger English engines, but indulges me. I've had them both ways and prefer a balanced engine. I have the whole thing done from harmonic balancer to clutch and everything between that turns. Extra money? Yes. But you aren't producing thousands of cars for everyday use. You are re-building a single car for a hobby.

Glen Byrns
 
Ahh, here it is. However, it could be in any of the fourms as it is rather generic. Good info for all.
 
Since you are resizing anyway, can you mix-n-match ends to get close to balanced first or will that mess up the bolt holes?
 
mjamgb said:
Since you are resizing anyway, can you mix-n-match ends to get close to balanced first or will that mess up the bolt holes?
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No absolutely not, each casting's rod top and cap is made to work together, never mix and match rod tops and caps.
 
So... if an engine has been "re-built" before, and it was obviously a hack job, how can you ever (with any certainty) reuse the rods?
 
Rods and rod caps will be marked with position in the engine. for example 1 goes with 1 in the first hole, 3 goes with 3 in the third hole.
 
jlaird said:
Rods and rod caps will be marked with position in the engine. for example 1 goes with 1 in the first hole, 3 goes with 3 in the third hole.
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What Jack said, the factory marked the rods. No mind you could say take a spare rods form a different engine and make it a replacment in a given motor and it could be from any cylinder, and could be used in any cylinder, just remarked for that cylinder. Also A-series rods are offset, and the offsets direction are different on 1&4 when compared to 2&3, this is shown in your shop manuals.
 
I realize there is an offset, and I remember the rods being marked, I just never noticed the caps being marked. I've kept them together, but I'll need to go take a look-see.
 
Thanks for the lesson Hap. Insightful and more importantly, it gives me confidence to do my own rods. This thread is a keeper for me.
 
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