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The machinist (before he retired) who did the prep work on my drag car engines would NEVER quench any material he had cut on, ground on, or in any way generated heat. He was insistent the quenching was to quick and too isolated. His solution was to use an air gun in the compressor hose. Same with welded components.......compressed air until you could
touch the mat'l with an unprotected hand for 10 seconds. Seems like it worked for me. Anyone?
Chuck
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I would agree with that. When I grind my rod bolts shorter I can hold them in my fingers without gloves and not get burned. air cool. Having used water to cool any hot metal you have just crystallized it and it WILL break.
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Chuck & Steve,
Thank you both for your input: I'll definitely be heeding your advice, moving forward.
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I agree. If the screw will burn you, it's too hot! If you use the tapped hole in a bar like I do, along with a locking nut and a fine tooth saw blade, the bar stock acts as a heat sink, helping things to stay cool. If the bolt ever turns blue where you're sanding/grinding it, throw it away! When you use a jam nut against the holding bar, it only needs be tight enough to keep the bolt from turning as you saw it. TJ
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Tom throws great curve balls.....
Jim Waltz, West Sacramento, CA
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He has learned how to throw balls back in time! TJ
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The cumulative inflation rate since 1960 is 751.3%. If Tom's ad is from 1960, that means that the bolts were priced at the equivalent of $42.57 today. The more things change, the more they stay the same....
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Nah, Kurt's shortening the bolt wouldn't cause it to snap like that, especially so far from the cut.
Don't ask me why I remember this... but I remember reading an interview with a famous engine builder in a car magazine ~1980(?). Not too long before, Chevy Performance had come out with super-dooper "Boron" rod bolts. When the interviewer asked the expert why he wasn't using them, he replied that he wasn't a fan. He said that he'd recently torqued a pair on a rod and when he set it down on the workbench, the head fell off of one of the bolts...
Also... ARP makes a big deal out of rolling the threads AFTER heat treating, FWIW.
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I have no idea if the bolts are a problem or if something else took place. I'm not judging them yet at this point. I will however comment that many think the standard 180K bolts are all we need. $12.00 a box for 100. You pick the brand. I used HolloKrome as was suggested at one point and lost 3 very good engines to them. No they weren't over torqued. Just not a good choice for our modified engines we run. To make matters worse a West Bend rod and piston far outweigh a Mac. I'm not risking my good engines to poor quality bolts. What's the answer? I have no idea but I'm good for a year or so yet. For others that have engines built by someone, they probably have no idea what is used or if it's even important.
