Connecting Rods

Today I did a little bit of prep work for the crank assembly. I located all of the connecting rods, the rod bearings and the crank shaft.

I opened up the connecting rods and loosened the bolts.

The nuts were quite tight, so I needed to clamp the connecting rod in the vice between two aluminum angles (to prevent damage). I was then able to get enough force onto my 14mm socket and ratchet to loosen each of the nuts. I left the nuts finger tight and rewrapped the connecting rods for storage.

The next step is to clean the mating joint between the rod and the rod cap, install the bearings and then install the rods onto the crank. I stopped before doing this to check the bearing clearance using plastigauge. The parts are new, so I expect the bearing clearance to be correct, but checking it will allow me to verify this and not assume anything. Unfortunately, I don’t have any plastigauge, but I have ordered some. I’ll continue the assembly after the plastigauge arrives.