Today was a bad day

[MR.hp]

What started out to be a day to get the new 406 I bought last fall is turning out to be a nightmare. Some people should not build engines period. I got a great deal on this thing, after fixing the screwed up heads, this week was the perfect time to get the short block done. Got everything cleaned up, then after that I nicked the crank good so I had to fix that, then I got all the rods and pistons ready to go. Now this has been the worst short block ever assembled, knowing this I put in ne cam bearings (my first time) got the crank in, stuffed all the rods and pistons in then went to torque them down.

The rods have ARP bolts in them and I have no bolt stretch gauge but my machinist said to go to 50lbs. and you should be fine. I get 5 of the rods done and got to No.5 rod, torque the first bolt fine, went to the next one but I noticed that it kept on pulling so I stopped to take a look. Got the light out and I could see the bolt head torn away, apparently the guy who did all the machine work in another state ground the 5.7 rods (for cam clearance) so much on the bolt head it just broke off and the rods are now junk IMO. So I have another set of good old GM rods sitting around that I will need to get remounted, too bad as this was a Scat balanced bottom end. Lucky the guy I got the engine from never ran it very long, those rods would have made for a nice surprise. Now with the shitty weather coming I will have to wait to fix it.

[Z28SSMAN]

Wow. You have more trust in buying used stuff than me. While most people are honest, some are either dishonest or don't have a clue in basic machine work. And if you buy from a stranger and stash it away, you can't go back months or years later to get your money back. Hope it works out.

[MR.hp]

Wow. You have more trust in buying used stuff than me. While most people are honest, some are either dishonest or don't have a clue in basic machine work. And if you buy from a stranger and stash it away, you can't go back months or years later to get your money back. Hope it works out.

I wasn't worried about what I paid for the short block, it was only $100 it just kinda pisses me off that when I looked at the rods I should have been more leery about them with that much ground off. The guy that sold it to me was really cool, he bought it in a truck from California and he was the one that got stung for over $3500 in that 406, OUCH!. So my $100 looks pretty good. I just found my other rods today and they are all balanced so now I have to get them weighed to see how close they are to the Scat rods.

[MR.hp]

Going to tear out the pistons and rods this weekend then put the other rods on so I can get this one done. As I looked at the engine this week the guy who ground them thought he needed .600 clearance when .060 is all that's needed.

[Fast Eddy]

If it broke going together I would call that a good day.
How much is a set of Scat sbc rods? can't be too bad and no balance costs.

[MR.hp]

If it broke going together I would call that a good day.
How much is a set of Scat sbc rods? can't be too bad and no balance costs.

Guess I never looked at it that way, since I have the set of GM rods I will use those. They are balanced and have some good bolts already. Just have to see what the weight difference is. Should not be to much.

[Fast Eddy]

Had the torque wrench on the rear stub axle on my yellow TR6 and it broke the axle nut off, you could see it had been cracked for a while.
So that was a good day since having the axle break while on the road, the whole wheel leaves the car.
The Nissen rear set up I am putting in will be different.

[MR.hp]

Good catch Eddie.

[MR.hp]

It's apart and getting new rods on Monday.

[98 cobra s/c]

should buy ford duh!

[tcat55371]

Yeah Bob

Should have bought a Ford like mine ;)

[MR.hp]

Should have bought a Ford like mine ;)

Then I would have 2 problems :rotfl:

[tcat55371]

Well

LOL