Connecting Rod Install Help.

[robert fugate]

Sorry i tried to search this but wasnt sure how to word it. So a buddy helped me out tearing my 351w down awhile back so i didn't get to see how the connecting rod caps go on.. Do the notches for the bearing line up like or like . If you cant see the difference just need to know if the bearing notches are suppose to be next to each other or opposite. Also he didn't label which cap went with which rod. Is this a big deal on a motor i'll be stroking in the near future? Thanks!

 

[robert fugate]

Another dumb question maybe.. Do i want the gaps between each rod and the crank as close to the same when i re-assemble this? I had them all in already and was watching some youtube videos on howto different things when i thought i might have put the caps back on wrong. So i went out and tried to turn the motor over with a breaker bar and couldnt get it to budge.. Loosened up the caps and that fixed it so i could turn it over so i was thinking i had them to close to one or the other..

 

[liljoe07]

Each rod and cap have a large chamfer and small chamfer. Just look at the radius were the rod and cap meet. You will see the difference. The large chamfer will also face the crank. While the small chamfer on the rods will face each other.

 

[robert fugate]

Thanks for the reply.. Yeah somthings wrong cause i switched them all around and its still almost impossible to turn this thing over without the heads on.. It has to do with the caps or rod bearings cause once i tighten them down i cant turn it.. its a 97 e-250 351w so i just ordered a standard bearing kit.

 

[84Ttop]

If you have even one rod cap backwards you will lock the motor up trying to turn it over. I always match caps and rods and never mix them up. Are you checking bearing clearance? Like said above, the large chamfer will go towards the radius facing the crankshaft and the small chamfers will meet rod to rod

 

[madspeed]

Letting someone else help you that doesn't know what theyre doing...

wa wah wah waaahh

 

[robert fugate]

So i'm really starting to think maybe the connecting rod bearing are wrong for the motor or just in the wrong box. The old ones have a stamp on them D.A.B 396c1 PC C90e-6211-a-b. My new bearing are from engine tech part number bc306jstd

 

[reldla1996]

The rods and rod end caps should both have numbers stamped on them, 1-8. The numbers should be adjacent to each other, and they should face you when you're standing beside the piston you're installing in the block, with the block upside down, with the crank at roughly BDC (so you can tighten the rod bolts). Are you installing these bearings with oil on them? If you really think they're the wrong bearings, take them back to the store you bought them and compare them with another set, or check your bearing clearances with plastigage.

 

[robert fugate]

After further research I'm sure the problem is i have the caps mixed up with the rods. I didn't think this would do anything but make it out of balance a little bit. But from what iv' read is they can be ob longed from one to the other. I'm going to take them back out and try to match them up somehow. As far as them being all numbered I see different numbers on the caps but all the rods have the same numbers. And im installing everything with assembly lube.