i am trying to rebuild my 4.3 balance shaft engine back to stock on a budget. i spun a rod bearing on the #1 piston.

the rods are casted #045. I am trying to figure out if i can just buy a #045 casted rod with piston already pressed or if i need to worry about which side of the engine the rod/piston come from.

i also see some connecting rods that are reconditioned and sized back to oem specs, does this mean i can use stock size rod bearings?

if i could use any 045 connecting rod, and only replace the one that had a spun bearing, that would be optimum.


can i replace just one connecting rod?
would i need to get the rods weight matched to the other rods?
what can i do to help prevent rod bearing failure?



any info sure would be a big help and thanks in advance

cross posted at https://www.s10forum.com/threads/199...#post-12428608

 

What did the other bearings look like? Was the engine ever run low on oil? Main/cam bearings looked okay?

I would think the rods are very close to your OEM rods in weight, so you would just swap one rod and go.

 

thanks for the reply.

usually it ran at about 20-30 psi on the oil pressure gauge. but i just got the truck a few weeks ago and was told an airplance mechanic rebuilt the engine. as far as i can tell the other bearings are fine but they are going to be replaced anyway. i forgot to mention in my original post that i am putting a crank kit in it, going back stock and going to put new oil pump and timing chain and distributor and put new gaskets all through out.
if it is as simple as just replacing the connecting rod with one that has the same castings, then that will be great.

but what about protecting it from rod bearing failure in the future? are the arp bolts good enough? im getting a new oil pump. do you think i should go ahead and change the cam bearings? the engine had over 230,000 miles on it.

 

No rear telling why that rod spun. Maybe clearances were too tight? The rods get lubrication from the mains...

Why are you replacing the crank with a factory one? What was it replaced with when the engine rebuilt. How long/miles since it was rebuilt?

Yeah, go ahead and replace the cam bearings if they look like they have wear. If they are original, they will have significant wear and it would be obvious. If they don't have wear, leave them alone.

I hope this helps.

 

shouldnt i replace the crank? i figured a crank kit and a new rod would suffice in my case.

alos the districutor gear was wore out and the bolt holes for the dist cap were both messed up. it would misfire very regularly. maybe that is what really caused it. who knows

 

Unless there's something special about the motor, I'd be looking for a lower mile used one to drop in. They're cheap as dirt (a few hundred bucks max) and the long blocks usually run forever, like most SBCs. You'll spend more money and time rebuilding that questionable motor in my opinion.