eallanboggs

iTrader: (1)

I bought a hydraulic motorcycle jack to raise and lower transmissions, but it would work well to support the trans while the K member is removed so you can get the pan out. It has two horizontal legs that straddle the trans. I got it on sale from Sears(Craftsman brand) for around $100. It's probably not a good idea to let the engine/trans go unsupported. If you don't have a jack of some sort use a jack stand or come up with something to relieve the load. I'd be concerned about the transmission input shaft.

Krab

iTrader: (28)

No problems supporting the engine from the bellhousing, just be sure to use a block of wood between the jack and the bellhousing to distribute the load somewhat. The engine/tranny didn't feel unstable at any point during both installs (3 now) . In all three installs, I jacked the tranny/engine upto where it would rest against the floorboard (notice I said rest, not pushed up against it), so it is sandwiched between the floorboard and the jack.

eallanboggs: I've never pulled the entire engine from my car, but you'd still have to unbolt the motor mounts from the engine in order to be able to pull it out. This would mean you would still have to drop the starter, compressor and alternator. Not to mention you have to unbolt the engine from the transmission. The only real steps you would be skipping is unbolting the shocks, swaybars, and spindles. It would definetely be easier to actually install the rod bolts with the engine pulled, but it does take nearly the same amount of work (if not more) to pull the engine. I guess it just comes down to what you're more comfortable with.

qwik_ss

iTrader: (9)

would it help if you have a strut tower bar brace to help the 2x4 hold the engine and tranny up? Like strapping the headers to it for a little support. I'm about to do it thats why I am thinking of that. What do you guys think?
-Ivan

Gen3Benz

iTrader: (4)

'98-'99....no ferrules
'00....some with ferrules
'01-'02....all have ferrules
found this in a different thread, nice to have all the info in one place.

Do arp bolts really cause the rod end to resize unlike the katechs or is this BS?
not that I don't want to buy katech's, I just happen to have a set of arp's

john563

iTrader: (17)

what bearings to install if you want to swap, clevite?

Is it okay to swap rod bearings while doing this or just leave them alone
thanks
john

Gen3Benz

iTrader: (4)

Just read bulletin 99-06-01-011
It says the bolts without ferrules (gm calls them "retaining sleeves") have one dimple on the bolt head.
Bolts with ferrules have 2 dimples.....

Krab

iTrader: (28)

Gen3Benz, thank you very much for that info and illustration. It really helps having a visual to know what to look for. I just checked my stock bolts and sure enough, they all only have one dimple on the bolt head and have the "cracked" bolts (or whatever that thread-like part on the shaft is called).

I don't have any data to say either way about the ARP bolts, but I have installed a set on a friends car and it's doing well.

Gen3Benz

iTrader: (4)

Thank you for the write-up.
I installed my ARP's on monday, 30 loosen, 30 loosen, 40...one bolt at a time.
We'll see what happens.

Havok2

iTrader: (118)

good write up

john563

iTrader: (17)

just picked up my car tonight.I had katech rod bolts installed with Clevite bearings.My old bearings looked(#4) a little worn.We'll see how it holds.

nobreaks254

iTrader: (50)

what are ferrules? I am installing ARP's in a 2000 and it has the retaining sleeves. Do these stay in?

bowtieman81

iTrader: (35)

I just got done putting a set of katech rold bolts in my engine. Before doing that I did some searching and found some good info, but not quite everything I wanted. This thread has good info on how to install the bolts with the engine in the car, but it seems there is still confusion over the ferrule issue (I was still wondering just what these ferrules looked like). And I did not find any real good photos. So, I am posting up my guide. Now my engine was out and on a stand, but the procedures are the same for in the car.

Some people still wonder if you need to take the ferrules out with Katech bolts. The answer is YES. You take them out and leave them out. I don't know for sure about ARP bolts, so I won't speak about them. If in doubt I would call ARP directly and ask.

Starting product, my 2000 LS1 engine. My car was a late 2000 year build (it had 241 casting heads).


Here is the part of the GM service manual that discusses the ferrules (as said above GM calls them retaining sleeves). Looking at my bolt heads it appeared all of mine had these retaining sleeves. An interesting note from anoter part of the GM service manual was that you cannot have 1 sleeved bolt and 1 non-sleeved bolt on the same connecting rod, but that you could have rods with and without sleeves in the same engine.


I turned the engine over so 1 pair of rods was near BDC, then proceeded to take 1 bolt out of each rod cap. Now, my retaining sleeves were quite stubborn; they did not just slide out easy with the bolts. My technique was to unscrew the rod bolts until I could just see some thread, then grab the bolt with a pliers and give it a good pull. This worked to get all the sleeves out. Here is the rod cap with a sleeve still in it:


And here is the rod cap with the sleeve out:


Here is a rod bolt with the sleeve on it:


And a pic of the bolt head showing the 2 dimples (sorry for the blurriness):


So, doing 1 rod cap bolt at a time I removed the stock bolts and sleeves and installed the katech bolts. Katech supplies a tube of grease to lube the bolts. Here is a properly greased bolt ready for install:


The instructions say to torque them to 30 lb-ft, then loosen. Repeat this procedure at least once more. I did the torque/loosen step 3 times total, then torqued them to the final 50 ft-lb. Once I got all the bolts in I went back and checked them all at 50 ft-lb just to make sure all was good.

The finished product:

2000Hawk

iTrader: (5)

Two very good write-ups, so after you take the sleeves out do you get rid of them? Or do you put them back in?
-Joel

Adam_346

Good write-up man.

bowtieman81

iTrader: (35)

I edited my post a little to answer the question. Thanks for the compliments guys. Hope that helps some folks in the future.

MosesMcgregor

iTrader: (16)

digging this up from the dead but wanted to post my pics of a ferrule since i could only find the above post with pics of it...

bottom rod has it removed and the top one has the ferrule in. when working on getting them out I couldnt budge them by just threading the stock bolts into them and pulling / wiggling like some have suggested but had success by threading a little larger bolt into them and pulling them out.



katechs installed....

magius231

iTrader: (8)

any reason why this isn't stickied? it looks like it might have been at one point...

01ssreda4

iTrader: (96)

sticky this damn thing already.

socmguy

iTrader: (18)

Here's another Rod bolt thread I made. Actually followed this one for my install. Very well done!
Thanks Krab!!!

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...otor+rod+bolts

whiteseven

iTrader: (8)

I have a question that I didn't see answered anywhere, is there any need to use a rod bolt stretch gauge? I've heard they're very important to use but I didn't see any mention of anyone using one in this thread, so I'm guessing it's not as important as I've read?