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.
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.
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