i'm putting together my engine and have .024" between the rods. they are eagle forged rods on an eagle crank. is this too much?

No.

It's a touch more than normal, but not really "too much".

An unmolested stock crank and stock rods will usually show around .012" - .015". It opens up as cranks are ground and rods re-faced on the sides. It's not at all uncommon to see that much as a result.

As long as there's not so much that the rods can move so far to the side that they hammer the Spirolox out of the pistons, it's fine.

It's in spec- barely. GM says .025" is the top end of the recommended range.

Agreed, factory stuff in stock condition is usually down in the .012-.015" range, in my experience.

You'll be fine.

I will give you credit for even checking this measurement. So few people do. I assume you checked it by pushing the rods apart and using feeler gagues between the two rods (the right way to do it).

I had just the opposite 327???, mine were .008 I had to surface them and got them .011 to .013. They were factory x rods to. I think someone told me that the tighter they are it will give abit more oil pressure, you should be fine.

yup, checked them with feeler gauges. i called a friend that does some serious race engines and he said the same things that you guys said.

the pins are pressed in.

edit: i was also wondering if it's bad to torque the head gasket down twice, as in checking piston to valve clearance with clay.

If you didn't fire the motor it shouldn't be a problem, unless the gasket has "bonded" to the head and rips chunks off when you remove the head. Never reuse it if it's been run (although I did once and didn't have a problem, so do as I say, not as I do!!).

In the future, do your V-to-P clearance checks without a gasket. Then just add the compressed gasket thickness to your readings. It also helps with radial clearance around the edge of the valve (which sometimes gets overlooked). If it's got enough radial clearance without a gasket it definitely will when you install the gasket.