Re-Rebuilding the 440-493 in a 1970 Charger

[Cheapsunglasses]

No I wouldn’t be in the shop…because I don’t have one!

Congratulations on finally rescuing your rotating assembly from her machine shop!

 

[NoCar2023]

Drag that engine into the house.
Engine stands have wheels.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have to file fit 16 piston rings.
I have to install the pistons on the rods with those Spiro-locks. I've never done that.
The rods don't seem to have a left or right. In the past, my machinist would number the pistons for assembly.

I have already run bottle brushes through the oil galleries.
What do you guys use for cleaning rags?

 

[T2R9]

I like PPG blue prep towels for cleaning rags. On the rods, the big end will have a tapered side and a flat side. The tapered side is against the crank throws.

 

[T2R9]

Great details here.

http://www.engineprofessional.com/articles/EPQ416_50-54.pdf

 

[HawkRod]

Aftermarket rods here....They are thinner at the big end so I may have to call the manufacturer.

No. What T2R9 is saying is to look at the BOTH SIDES of the big end. One side will have a chamfer or taper around the circumference of the hole that goes against the crank throws. The other side will be completely flat and that goes against the other rod.

 

[Kern Dog]

Thank you. I have seen that with stock rods.
I have to look closer at these because they seem to appear the same on both sides.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Aftermarket rods here....They are thinner at the big end so I may have to call the manufacturer.

When you say thinner at the big end, is that about the side clearance?

 

[cdr]

also the rod bearings should be marked on the backside upper & lower

 

[Kern Dog]

Upper and lower? I never noticed that. I must have been lucky. I just install them in the rods where the tangs line up.

 

[Kern Dog]

Assembly time.
First up, connecting rod orientation.
Looking at what I have….

Note that the brand name is only on one side.

The rod on the left seems to have a wider flat- machined surface. On closer inspection though…

I was able to see the chamfered edge that was mentioned before. This is my third time assembling this engine… the very first time in 2004. I had it apart in 2011 after a cam failure. Those two times, my machinist hung the rods on the pistons and numbered them. Now it feels like I’ve had training wheels on and they were just yanked off. I laid the rods and pistons out and set to assemble them.
The pistons were numbered.

The Spiro-locks.

 

[Kern Dog]

I thought I had it figured out. I oriented the rods for 1 & 3, 5 & 7, 2 & 4 and 6 & 8.

See the groove in the pin hole?

This Spiro Lock goes in there.

I started one edge and just pressed them in with a pointy tool.

It made sense to put one lock in the piston by itself then put the pin and rod in.

 

[Kern Dog]

Here is where I made the rookie mistake. I forgot that 1 and 2 share a journal, not 1 and 3.
Yeah…. I hung 4 rods correctly and 4 backwards.
Now I have to figure out how to get the locks out so I can flip the rods around. I called my machinist. He said it SUCKS removing these things. He says I need some type of pick with a thin, flat bottom to dig out the end of the lock but once it lifts out, the rest winds right out. I might be able to reuse the locks.

 

[67MPRFAN]

Yep your machinist is correct. Use the pick to get the end of the lock out of the groove, then I would stick a flat tip screwdriver behind the lock to keep it from locking back in. And kinda reverse process of the way you installed them

 

[Kern Dog]

When you say thinner at the big end, is that about the side clearance?

There is more than adequate side clearance with these rods. I recall that there is probably more than there is with stock rods.

 

[Geoff 2]

Look at the brg tang indentations in the rod's big end. Compare the indentation of the cap with the rod. Measure how far each indentation is from from the side of the rod & also the cap. If same distance, rod can go in either way on the crank. If the dimensions are different, the larger side goes to the crank cheek.

 

[Kern Dog]

The job of pulling these Spiro-locks wasn’t as bad as I expected. I went to two stores this morning and bought these:

I thought about the times I walked past a guy selling used steel dental picks…. This is one instance where they are really useful. Also needed….

I shot a spritz of PB Blaster at the pin and used the straight pick to lift the end of the lock up enough to get the 90 degree pick under it…. Then the small screwdriver to unwind the lock. With the PB Blaster, the groove is lubed enough to just spin the lock out after about 1/2 a turn is already out.

Total time to flip all 4 rods around was 15-20 minutes. Half of that was on the first one figuring out a method.

 

[Kern Dog]

Regarding the rod bearings:

These appear identical.

There isn’t a TOP marked on them as far as I can tell.

Those above were an pair from 2003. Here is anew one I got for this rebuild.

Clevite seems to have been bought by Mahle but the Clevite name is still on the products. Maybe a different brand might specify top and bottoms?

 

[beanhead]

The job of pulling these Spiro-locks wasn’t as bad as I expected. I went to two stores this morning and bought these:

View attachment 1340679

I thought about the times I walked past a guy selling used steel dental picks…. This is one instance where they are really useful. Also needed….

View attachment 1340682


I shot a spritz of PB Blaster at the pin and used the straight pick to lift the end of the lock up enough to get the 90 degree pick under it…. Then the small screwdriver to unwind the lock. With the PB Blaster, the groove is lubed enough to just spin the lock out after about 1/2 a turn is already out.

View attachment 1340684

View attachment 1340685
Total time to flip all 4 rods around was 15-20 minutes. Half of that was on the first one figuring out a method.

I sometimes think I'd rather R&R a fan with the Hayden 2947 clutch and a big radiator than deal with spiro-locks....but yeah once you get into a rhythm they're not too bad.

 

[Kern Dog]

Oh crap...I have one of those stubby fan clutches and had a bitch of a time installing it...I gave up and went with a standard one.