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I'm putting together this motor that I just got back from the machine shop, and when I torque down any of the rods, the damn thing won't turn. It's like it's seized up. The plastigage shows my tolerances are right at .0015, I'm torqueing it down to 40 ft/lbs.. Anyone got a suggestion for me?
nothings hitting right? will the pistons move indvidually?
I don't know off the top of my head, but thats a new one to me. The crank turns fine, but once the rods are on it locks up?
Do you mean it won't turn by hand or? You'd have to strong to turn it easily by hand without lube. For that matter, is everything really lubed up? Be generous if not. Putting a generous amount of assembly lube should make a huge difference.
It's definitely got enough assy. lube on it. And by not turning over, I mean with the balancer bolt in the end of the crank, 70 ft/lbs won't turn the engine at all.
Just got a 79 block back from the machine shop. Had the crank ground .010. When I put it together with the .010 rod bearings, the engine won't turn over. I'm using plenty of assembly lube and have 40 ft/lbs on the rod caps. Any suggestions would be great, thanks.
By the sound of your post, you mean it won't turn over when you tighten the rod bolts? So it does turn over when the main bearings are torqued down and before the rod bolts, correct?
First off, you need to use some Plastigage to check your clearances. Do one at a time. Check the clearance of one rod, take the plastigage out, lube your bearings and them assemble your rod bearing. After ONE rod bearing is assembled, give it a couple of turns by hand. If it feels good, go on to the next one after you have checked your clearance with the Plastigage.
You either have one (or several) bearing(s) too tight or your rod is out of round or your caps have been switched 180 degrees or switched with another rod.
You did put the caps back on exactly the same way you took them off, didn't you???.......
BTW, Plastigage is available at any auto parts store and it's pretty cheap, too. If you don't know, have the parts man explain how it works.
All, Thanks for the info. I called the machine shop that I did the work. We pulled a rod bearing and double checked the part supplier. Come to find out, the bearings are for a 351C, not a 351W. I'm going underway for a few days, will post the outcome by the weekend. Thanks again.