Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords – October 2019

These golden rods from Hawaii Racing

screw into the connecting rods and align

the rod with the crankshaft journal.

Make sure that the crankshaft journal

you are working with is in its lowest point

of crank rotation, making it a straight

shot downward to reach the journal.

Also make sure not to scuff the journal

when sliding the connecting rod into

place or else you’ll be headed back to the

machine shop to polish out the journal

again.

Here is why we notched the bottom of
the cylinder bores. Note how close the
rod end and bolts come to the notch in
the cylinder bore. What you see here is
the optimum clearance.

Here is the chamfer we talked about earlier. The chamfer shown here on the side
of the rod cap faces toward the outside of the crank and not towards the adjacent
connecting rod. This is very important and will affect engine operation, oiling, and
overall durability. There is also a chamfer on the connecting rod itself, and the
caps must match that design.

These oil gallery plugs were screwed

into the channel around the front of the

block near where the camshaft will be

installed. This is important to achieve

proper oil pressure.

Torque the

connecting

rod bolts

evenly after

snugging

them up with a

speed handle.

Ultimately

you want 45

lb-ft of torque

on each rod

bolt.

27

30

28

31

29