stock rods, ARP rod bolts ( 208-6401 ), new bearings. Torque required per ARP is 40 ft/lbs. I "might have" overtorqued these to about 50 ft/lbs.

Realized that my torque wrench used was not completely accurate after engine was all sealed up, did not think it was a problem at that time so did not change - now a little worried.

Any severe consequences ? Since oil pressure is low at idle, I think that's where troubles will be.

 

Did you measure the bearing clearances at the same torque?

 

no. pretty stupid of me not to, got carried away at completing the build. Motor runs. Any ill effects into the long term ?

 

You could have inadequate clearance. It really SHOULD be retorqued to the correct spec unless you know for sure the clearances are ok at 50lbs.

 

yup, I agree. Wouldn't the bearing "seat itself in" over some time if left as-is ?

 

Bearings are an extremely soft material. They are designed to be softer then the crank/rod obviously. If you have inadequate clearance then you will reduce the amount of oil allowed into the bearing. This is going to lead to an increase in heat/wear. While it might be "ok" for the time being, the fact still stands that if the clearances are too tight its only a matter of time before its going to fail. Considering its not much work to pull the oil pan/windage tray and then retorque the rods, I can't see this as being a difficult decision. You did clearance the bearings at 40ftlbs, right? If so, and you know they are in spec, I would be pulling the pan right now instead of reading this thread.

 

alright, on it.

 

bearing clearances are one issue; however, you should probably replace the bolts, they are probably over stretched and going to break

 

You think so? I can't see 10ftlbs harming an ARP bolt.

 

the last time i delt with a broken rod bolt the bolt was torqued to 43ft/lbs but they were small bolts that usually take 28ft/lbs. I didnt build the motor, we were just installing the motor. The only reason we found the broken bolt was b/c we had to pull the pan to weld in a bung for the oil return. found the head of 2 bolts in the pan. the guy that built the motor said he torqued the bolts to 43ft/lbs.

 

If they were ARP's then that wouldn't be the case. I've use ARP's many times torqued to ~40ftlbs and never had an issue to date.

 

they were eagle rods with the cheap small bolts. cheap arp small bolts are supposed to be torqued to 28ft/lbs.. the big bolts get 43

 

Hmm, I don't think I used those small ones then... Its been a while since I built an engine with ARP rod bolts.. but I recall 43ft lbs torque spec on the ones I used.

 

eagle stopped using the small bolts probably 3-4 years ago