forkvoid

iTrader: (1)

After spending several weeks reading about engine rebuilding tips, I realized that many people are saying to replace the rod bolts... my kit definitely didnt have them in there. Now it's likely going to be too late to order new ones in time for doing the rebuild(my dad is coming to help and it's his only chance for a long while). I can't find them at the parts stores either, without buying a full kit. So, let's assume all my old bolts are in good shape visually. Would it be wise to reuse them? One set came out of a 130k engine that burned oil/smoked and another set is coming from a 200k engine that also burns oil/smokes(and you can hear it cry 'Kill me now!' every time it revs).

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

Sometimes, you do what you gotta do. Clean them thoroughly. Measure them each with a micrometer and use the shortest ones of the lot. The stretching is what kills you.

Don't pound it to death with old rod bolts!!

forkvoid

iTrader: (1)

Just got off the phone ith my machine shop and they recommended the same thing. Said most people he deals with always reuse the old ones and never have any problems. My dad said the same thing about reusing them. My machinist did say,however, that getting new rods will require the pushrods to be reconditioned, and thats $12/rod in addition to the new rod bolts. I think I'll stick with the old ones.

Now I just gotta round up tools... ring compressor, torque wrench, etc. This new engine is gonna be great.

On a sidenote, ever seen a bare head from a semi? Suckers are HUUUGE. They have to use their hoist/small crane to move the suckers into the garage.

KrisW

iTrader: (5)

I do diesels for a living....

forkvoid

iTrader: (1)

I wasn't questioning your answer; I didn't see your post until I called my machinist. It is good to have several people saying the same thing, though.

motorman

you mean if you change the rod bolts you need to recondition the big end of the rods

forkvoid

iTrader: (1)

Ah, yeah, sorry, rods, not push rods. I had a stack of pushrods on my desk when I was typing that.

Cratemaster

About the diesels, yeah, I believe it, how else to you think they get over 450-500 HP out of 4 cylinders, you can fit your head in the cylinder bores! and about the rod bolts, My machine shop didn't even mention the bolts to me when I took my rods in for inspection and resurfacing. They'll be fine, but do check them with a micrometer if you don't take 'em to a shop please. I'm doing a rebuilt of my '84 2.8 and am constantly told that I should get a later year motor, "they're more powerful, they have stronger cranks and larger mains, they're more robust" It's also a nightmare to find parts for it since it was deemed "inferior" by OEM parts manufacturers and after-market parts suppliers, no turbo for you little 2.8, you might break your crank

mvftw

iTrader: (1)

You do need New Head Bolts...

Six_Shooter

iTrader: (2)

It is recommended to replace the rod bolts, they are stretched at install and have a lot of force applied to them while the engine is running.

Now that being said, I re-used the original rod bolts in my engine, didn't experiance any problems from that.

I also re-used my head bolts on a turbocharged 3.2L (stroked and bored 2.8) for about two years and never experianced any sealing problems. I did however have about 5 sets of head bolts to pick and choose the best one from however.

forkvoid

iTrader: (1)

Well, the engine building was finally completed... we snapped a single rod bolt when it didn't torque up(very last one, too). Spent five hours on Friday looking around for a shop that 1) carried rod bolts (no one does) and 2) someone to recondition the rod (try asking a machine shop at 1pm on a Friday to do this, they'll laugh). I ended up finding a place online that overnighted me a rod(with bolts) and we just reused the bolts from it. Everything went pretty smooth after that, except it took us three hours to get the engine to drop in properly(it still isn't right entirely, but works; my engine hoist's arm isn't long enough to sit directly above the engine bay).

Currently problems:
1) A lot of the hard plastic lines snapped. I've got vacuum leaks galore and I'm still trying to work out where everything is supposed to go as far as the vacuum routing is concerned. Working more on that tonight.

2) Exhaust leak. Just need to get a buddy to put some muscle into tightening down the manifold to the y-pipe on the passenger side.

3) Timing is wayyy off. Bought a timing light, but still having issues getting the distributor set in the right position. I can get the car to idle and stay started, but it's still off. If I turn the spark advance, it gets better, but the cable is too short. If I move the distributor one tooth either way, it wont' start. My father suggester that the spark plug wires are in the wrong spot on the cap, but the rotor is pointing at the #1 spark tower while at TDC, and I've checked this multiple times. A friend suggested the damper may have slipped and is throwing off my adjustments. Any suggestions?

I have a feeling, though, that the timing issue is going to be quite related to the other two issues, which I probably need to fix before I can properly set the timing. Anyone have a full set of vacuum lines for this engine? -_-

2.8RS

iTrader: (5)

The vaccum leaks would definately cause running issues, I would fix those first.

Cratemaster

I couldn't find new rods for my engine that I could afford, so I went with reconditioned ones, the only problem, was that the place I bought them from only had 4, so I figured that I would take them along with my old ones to a machinist to have them matched and have the old ones resurfaced, they sent me the rods, and one of them was the wrong one, it was for the 350 LOL, so they only had 3 of my rods. My point is that, shouldn't you have had all your rods at least check by a machine shop so your rotating assembly will be balanced and you won't stress your crank?

micali

iTrader: (1)

It took me a while to get my dizzy in right. Once I got it to fire I knew I had it close if not correct. Make sure to unhook the est clip by the blower motor when setting the timing.

I found the new ac delco sp to be the cause of most of my issues with it running like crap. I could get it to start but it wasn't running on all cyl. I replaced them with cheap autolites and she runs like a champ. I went through 2 sets of injectors and a TB before I found out it was the SP's. Granted the org. injectors were left in a bucket of water so needless to say they needed replaced.

Do a search on vacume diagrams and you should find the correct routing diagram for you camaro. They would cause it to run rough, fast idle but will still run with a few leaks.

You know the timing on the cap is 123456. Before I got mine dead on I jumped one spot on the cap and I got it to run. You could try this and see if it does anything.

I'm pretty new to these type of motors but I've learned a lot from this site. Some was helpful but some I had to figure on my own. That's almost the best way.