While this is a Ford FE rod, you see Mopar rods like this pretty often too. Why are some rods copper plated?
Connecting Rod Trivia Question
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MoparLeo
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It is not copper plated. Looks like a possible dichromate wash. Just a rust preventative.
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Being a Ford, it might actually be rust. 
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Chevy came out with that many years ago. The rod was oversize on the big end so the sprayed it to bring it back into tolerance. Well that’s what I was told anyways. I could have be lead astray. Kim
451Mopar
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As mentioned bearing bore was oversized. I though they dipped them in copper? Then re-machine to proper size
Officer Higgins
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Don't you resize rods by cutting the caps and body to make the bore smaller. Never seen mopar rod look like that.
Sorry, no. It is copper plated...
Correct, if the rod was out of tolerance on the high side, it would be dipped into copper as the layer usually put it into spec. They might re-machine the end if the layer was too thick. I have see a ton of Mopar rods copper. Some the big end, some the small end, and others the entire rod.
A machine shop like me will "resize" the rods so that they are round and to size, while the factory "got no time fo dat"... They just dip and remeasure. If it passes, good, otherwise I reckon it went into the scrap bin to be melted down or back to the machine shop to start over.
I have seen them un-touched, and I have seen them honed still with copper in the bore. That is the way this one was, so it took a small do-over...
I have rebuilt a few snowmobile engines and the rebuilt crank assemblies come with the copper plate on the connecting rods. I never thought to question the plating before this thread.
Mike
Mike
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