455 Connecting rod bolts

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by Bryan Fant, May 25, 2017.

  1. Bryan Fant

    Bryan Fant Well-Known Member

    I know I've seen it here before, but couldn't find any info on replacing the factory rod bolts with ARP bolts. Is there any thing special that has to be done to the rods besides being resized.
     
  2. Bens99gtp

    Bens99gtp Well-Known Member

    Nope it's pretty straight forward.....just have the shop check the rods over well after bolts are in. The arp bolts locate differantly than the stk bolts do. So once arp are install sometime the cap and rods don't line up smoothly
     
  3. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Need to spot face the caps
     
  4. DaWildcat

    DaWildcat Platinum Level Contributor

    I think its actually chamfering that needs to be done because of the generous radius on the underside of the ARP bolt head. I've heard some BBB rods don't need it, but it's worth checking.

    See http://arpinstructions.com/instructions/125-6001.pdf

    Devon
     
  5. Bryan Fant

    Bryan Fant Well-Known Member

    Thanks , I thought I had remembered something about the caps needed cut to fit the head of the stud
     
  6. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    And just a tip it may be a better investment to get the aftermarket rods from TA since I think the cost is down to about $600 now so it is really not much more $ vs re-sizing stock rods with ARP...
     
  7. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    Umm , it's a lot more money than resizing stock rods, even with 2-3 sets of cores as candidates (unless you buy cores at ready to go prices).
    Admittedly, there aren't too many builds I bother with stock rods on though.
    The new parts are definitely are a good investment.
     
  8. DaWildcat

    DaWildcat Platinum Level Contributor

    And if I may, I'll add that the original rods with properly installed ARP fasteners have a long history of being quite dependable, even with heavy pistons. The failure mode for the big block rods has always been #1 oil, #2 bolts, #3 rpm and I dare say that's in order.

    Devon
     
  9. Stevem

    Stevem Well-Known Member

    Just remember that with any Rod bolts that after 4 full Torque up cycles it's time for new bolts again!
    If you going to put your motor together once to check clearances you may need to pull it all down again to correct something so in this case only Torque up the Rod bolt to 38 pounds, then your final assembly of the motor will be only the 2nd full loading of the bolt!
     
  10. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    I think you mean the nuts, not the bolts?
     
  11. Stevem

    Stevem Well-Known Member

    No , the bolts also, They can only be stretched out so many times before they gain too much length !
    But yes on many they say nuts need to be tossed every time, but that would seem to be more with bolts that go above 45 lbs.
     
  12. 8ad-f85

    8ad-f85 Well-Known Member

    You might get differing opinions but after keeping records on many, I've found that aftermarket bolts can go much longer than 4 before permanent deformation. (I'm assuming we aren't talking about factory bolts here)
    ARP used to suggest at least 3 torque cycles to burnish in fully.
    ARP also used to suggest they go more than 12 cycles, so 4 might be a matter of personal preference or experience with a particular p/n.
    It's definitely not a bad idea to replace if there are no records to indicate permanent deformation.
    A street/strip engine isn't torn down for inspection as often as other types, so it's good advice to replace more than really needed.
     

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