In today’s video, our friends Brian and Mike from Summit Racing will take you through the entire process of installing your completed piston, piston ring, and connecting rod assemblies into your engine.
Knowing a few tips and tricks, and having the right tools makes this job much easier, they say.
From sopping the bores with ATF oil and applying assembly lube or motor oil to critical parts, to verifying the orientation of your chamfer in order to match the fillet and crank, Summit Racing’s tech experts walk us through the process of installing a short-block engine’s rotating assembly.
Brian and Mike carefully explain and demonstrate the use of torque angle to torque the connecting rod bolts (which you can learn about more in-depth here) and show you the tools they believe will help you execute the job with precision and efficiency.
Check out the video for more.
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It’s always best not to leave anything to chance when it comes to correct fastener torque values. Especially when it’s something so critically important as connecting rod bolts. Many builders consider ARP fasteners to be the best available but if the proper steps aren’t taken during the tightening and assembly process, the probability of a catastrophic failure is greatly increased despite the quality of any brand of fastener being used.
There was a time when builders only relied on the accuracy of their torque wrench to feel confident that everything is within specification. Then bolt stretch or elongation factors started being made available. To me it didn’t seem so important at first but as more information became available about the multitude of variables that can have a direct impact on the true accuracy of the specific tightness for a given fastener, I understood the importance of having a bolt stretch gauge as standard equipment along with my trusty torque wrench. Now it’s pretty common to see a torque value stated including the “torque angle” for that particular fastener.
That’s why videos such as this one are important. Any number of words can be used to describe what torque angle is or means, but SEEING how a torque angle is actually determined makes it so much easier to understand. Many thanks to the On All Cylinders staff and the sharp guys and gals at Summit Racing for your collective efforts that help define our passion for all things automotive !
Is there a specific reason why you used ATF to lube the bores? I’ve always just soaked the piston/rod/ring assemblies in a bucket of quality motor oil, then wiped down the bores with the same oil before installation. Obviously, assembly lube is a must on the bearings.