this is to swap rod bolt without pulling the motor.
ybodies may be a little different. i have mess to much with them...

1. get the car in air where you have comfortable room to work.
2. pull the starter off (2 bolts). on f-bodys it located on the passager side right in front of the trannie close to the header.
3. remove the motor mounts. it makes it easier if you can apply upward pressure on the oil pan so that the bolts dont have tension on them. once they are out you can remove the jack. you will need a back up for the nut and an 18mm socket on the bolt. if you dont have extentions and a swivel(sp) now is a good time to add them to the tool box.
4. unbolt the transmission mounting bracket. (4 15mm bolts and an 18mm trannie mount nut). you will need to support the trannie with the jack for safety and it releaves a little tention. you can also remove jack from hear as well. the trannie is resting on the pins.
5. unbolt the trannie. (8-9 13mm bolts) you may need to pull the intake. this makes it easier to get to some of the top bolts.
6. get the trannie off the motor. there are few different methods for this. you can pry it or use a jack to break it loose. once its loose just let it sag down a little and support it with a jack stand.
7. remove the harmonic blancer. you will need a break over bar and a 15/16 socket. you can wedge an object in the blancer or the flywheel to keep the motor from turning over. be careful not to warp or bend either of the two.
8. drain the oil. yall got this.... lol
9. now its time to raise the motor. you probably will invent your own way on this part. here is mine: i used a 2x4 that was wedged and placed on the expose portion of the crank and used the sway bar as a brace, or you can place it on the alternator as well. i then jack up on the 2x4 to raise the front of the motor. at the same time i had another jack with a 2x4 on the back of the motor where the starter was. there is a lip there that doesn't touch the oil pan. i went as high as the motor would go. you need to jack up equally - front and back a little at a time. make sure its stable you dont want your hand in there and the motor fall down.
10. remove the pan. (10-12 10mm bolts). the pan should come out pretty easily. be carefull not the bend the oil pick up tube.
11. remove the pick up tube. (1 13mm bolt and 1 10mm bolt).
12. remove the oil deflector. (8 13mm bolts)
13. you now have reached the rods. you will want to swap 1 bolt at a time (13mm). DONT REMOVE THE CAP OFF THE ROD. YOU WILL MESS UP BEARINGS. in order to get to every bolt you will need to rotate the motor over by inserting the harmonic blancer bolt in the crank and turning it. be sure to use the torque specs from your bolt maker.(recheck every bolt to make sure the torque is equall on all).
14. you have now swaped the rod bolt. its time to reassemble.

if you have a questions or want to add anything feel free.
let me know how my first write up went lol...

if someone else who has more knowledge than me will talk about the k member this write will probably be complete.

 

Thank you. Doing mine next weekend. Did you use Katech or ARP?

 

Hi,
I have question about this,are the rod bolts knurled into the rod or do they just come out , reason I ask is from my past experience building many Big Block Chevys is that if the rod bolts are presed in, when you take the bolt out to install the new bolts it puts the big end out of round when it is retorqued. Great upgrade though, and would love to do it.
John

 

the bolts on these motors screw into the rod itself.
the rod is a "cracked cap" design that does not let the cap move around and go out of round upon retorquing.


speaking of torquing.. ALWAYS use the torque specs of the bolt maker.. NOT GMs specs when changing bolts..... this applys to headbolts as well.. just fyi... someone should edit that into the howto above.

 

i used arp.

 

Nice write up, I put arps in but I had the motor out of the car. Question though, how will you mess up the bearings if you take the cap off the rod? I took my caps off to inspect the bearings. I haven't fired the motor yet but should I expect catastrophy when I do?

 

Got to make sure they ferrules come out with the bolts...

 

it would be a better write up with pics, but non the less it helps. good write up.

 

i think im going to do it without removing the transmission,i will let you know if its possible,i dont see why its not,but dont have my car here to look at.

 

Did you put moly lube on the bolts? Just under the heads or on the threads too? No loctite I assume.

 

Yeah... like MrDude said... make sure and use the manufacturer's torque specs!

 

my katech rod bolts came with a tube of some lube and it says to put the lube on the threads,then torque it down to 30ft lbs,then loosen and repeat,then loosen one more time and do a final torque to 50 ft lbs,i dont think it will hurt anything if the lube gets on the head too.this process seats the threads,or something like that,not sure why exactly.

 

this needs to be saved or stickyed somewhere...

 

This is an important step. Leaving those in could ruin the motor

 

Good info , but I don't see why you need to remove the balancer or trans ? I just removed and reinstalled my pan to tap a oil return for a turbo setup . I just raised and supported the engine , loosened the k-member for added clearance and out came the oilpan .

 

Could you give some more details on how you did this?

Kevin

 

Drop me a pm on how I can help you