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Well that was fun! Pulled all 6 slugs out and changed out the rod bolts for the ARP sweet ones. Only took about 45 min to R&R all 6, not too shabby. Now I have a complete short block Pardon my expression of frustration at the poor stretched out 42 year old bolts but they really pissed me off! Did a few little things today too, scavenged the fittings from an old air injection pipe to use for plugging up the holes in the stock exhaust mani I got with the car. dug the manifold out from under a pile of parts and picked up some VHT Flameproof Black paint for it. Wanted the cast iron but couldn't find it locally. Oh well, black will look good. Also had to pull the front cover dowels from an old block to put in this one as they seem to have gotten lost over the last 6 years. Tomorrow I will put the head on and hopefully the timing set and cover as well. getting close to having a real engine in the ole girl! Stay tuned.....

Thanks for the reply, yeah those ARP bolts are really snug! But after talking to a friend last night and reading your post I decided to give it the ole, if it don't fit hammer it approach. Well they fit now ;-) One went in almost all the way with just some tapping, the other was more stubborn. Out came a 10mm socket and the bench vice and they seated quite nicely. I was worried for a moment though. Now just have to pop out the other 5 pistons and repeat. What's another couple hours of work right?

Well got all excited and went out to put in my new ARP rod bolts only to find they wont fit This thing is fighting me every step of the way! Looks like the head just barely doesn't clear the bolt relief in the rod. In comparing the ARP bolt to a stocker, it appears the ARP bolt is a few thou larger in diameter making it a snugger fit in the rod. Where the stock bolt has a little play allowing the head to squeak by the relief and the bolt to seat. The ARP bolt is a very snug fit and ends up catching on the rod. Looks like just the very edge of the relief too. Here are a couple pics: What to do from here? Pulling it all apart and sending it to a machine shop is kinda out of the question at this juncture. Really leery about removing any material from the rods as they are balanced, albeit a factory close enough for govt work balance ;-) Not sure if I should take the bolt heads down a scosh or something else. My vote is for taking a tad off the inboard side of the bolt heads. Although arguably this will affect rod balance as well. Question is does it really matter? What say the masses? Thanks in advance for the sage advice!

We have rod bolts, pretty sexy hardware too Let the games begin! And the "good" FelPro head gasket:

Well things have really slowed down on getting my 71' back on the road. But I have made a little progress and thought I would post an update. In the process of putting the short block together I managed to snap a rod bolt. turns out those 8mm early L24 rob bolts don't like being torqued to the later 40ft/lb spec of the 9mm bolts. :stupid: That's what I get for using the 1973 service manual I had laying around in the garage. To top things off the FelPro head gasket I ordered from Amazon showed up bent into a "Z"! So I had to wait another week to get a replacement. turned out not to be as big of an issue except for the over torqued rod bolts.... Soo, after a fruitless search for a set of stock 8mm bolts I bit the bullet and bought an ARP set that I'm anxiously waiting for the UPS man to deliver tonight. Spent the last few evenings cleaning parts and painting. Fun stuff! Did get the head put together though! So all I need is my rod bolts and I can assemble the long block! Here are some pix of freshly painted parts: And the new fangled Z bend head gasket: More updates to come shortly!

Ended up picking an ARP set up, should be here Friday. Oh well sometimes you just should spend the money in the right places eh!

I guess I should add that I'm willing to pay for them, as long as it's a fair price.

Hey guys, I'm trying to put my engine together on a bit of a budget and made a serious bonehead move :-/ I was using a 73' service manual and forgot that the early rods used smaller bolts..... Long story short I overtorqued them and broke one. Im sure they are all stretched and no longer serviceable. Does anyone have a set of stock 8mm bolts they would like to part with? I should buy a set of ARP bolts but life is on a budget so I was hoping somebody has a good set. Thanks guys! Eric

My condolences man! I almost caught my 71' on fire welding the front clip on. Should of taken the time to clear the areas behind where I was welding but I didn't :-/

Congrats! Cool ride indeed