I am not a mechanic but I do like working on these things. I have "rebuilt" a few engines, mostly rings, bearings, valves, gaskets, etc. This time I thought I might go a step further. I am a rebuilding a 350 engine for my 72 Chev pickup. I usually have the cylinder numbers stamped on the rods and have the machine shop press on the new pistons. This time I had the rotating assembly balanced. That included some grinding on the big end of the rods. They removed my numbers. Now I have to figure out which pistons go on which side. The pistons are marked with a dot for the front but what is the correct orientation for the rods? I weakened and bought the HPBOOKS "How to rebuild your Small-block Chevy" for some help. On page 96, it does stress that there is a right way to do this but their description and the pictures suck and I can't tell which way is which. The picture shows two piston-rod assemblies that say the bearing tang grooves should be on the top side looking towards the front of the engine. Are these grooves where the rod bearings fit in to locate the bearing in the rod and keep them from turning with the shaft or are they the round holes on the other end of the bearing? If I look at other pictures in the book, it looks like the "bearing tang grooves" are opposite what the text is saying. Does anybody have a good detailed description of how these go together or good pictures or a good rebuild website that can help me out?
- posted
19 years ago