I am haveing a machine shop install the piston pins into my rods. They are using a rod heater to heat the rod ends to install the pins. the honda shop manual says to press them in. Is using a rod heater an acceptable way to install the honda piston pins? I don't want to mess up the integrity of the rods.

 

Yes, the rod heater is the best way to install the press fit pins.

The pin is larger in diameter than the rod pin bore. The point is to heat the small end of the rod up, which expands the rod making the pin bore larger, allowing the pin to go in without having to use a press. I like to go a step further and leave the pins in the freezer to shrink them a bit.

If you were to just press them in at room temp without a heater, there's a very good chance the pistons will be damaged. It takes a lot of force to press the pin in and all of that gets force gets applied to the piston. Typically when they get pressed out, the piston gets damaged.