Question about bottom-end torque specs

[Oldbutspry]

I got this long block from my buddy. It's from a project he and his brother had that had been sitting 10 years. Anyway, they stopped midstream and he's forgotten even what parts he had bought. He mentioned I should check that everything is torqued properly. Well, it appears things aren't torqued enough. But I wanted to check that the specs I'm looking at are correct for a late model 5.0 since I'm using an old book ("How to rebuild small block Ford engines"). The book says 19-24 lbs. for connecting rods and 60-70 lbs. for the main caps. Is this still correct for a '91 motor? It's got a DSS stud girdle. Would this affect how much I should torque the mains?

Just checking because I don't want to do something stupid and screw the whole thing up. As long as I'm at it - next is the heads. It has aluminum heads (Trick Flow twisted wedge) - do I still torque them to 65-72 lbs.?

Torquing the rods is a problem because my craftsman clicker only goes down to 25lbs. - do I need buy a new torque wrench? I got one of those cheapo models where the bar bends to indicate torque but I hate to use it because it doesn't seem very accurate.

Sorry for all the questions... Here's pics:

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/45/img35018he.jpg

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1043/img35020be.jpg

 

[LMan]

Block specs have not changed AFAIK...its the same block, essentially.

I dont consider beam wrenches as accurate as clickwrenches. I would not use a beam wrench to assemble an engine, except possibly for little, non safety-of-flight stuff. Get a quality clickwrench you can trust and it will pay for itself the first time out.

Im sure that your head specs assume iron heads. The proper specs for alum heads are a click on the Twisted Wedge website away, most likely.

 

[Oldbutspry]

Thanks for the reply! Just went and got a new torque wrench.

A-torquing-we-will-go, A-torquing.....

 

[D.Hearne]

Do yourself a favor and change those rod bolts for ARP's if your buddy hadn't already. They're cheap insurance. And you can change them, one at a time without resizing the rods or taking the engine down. Just do them one at a time, and make sure the shanks are seated in the rods, then torque them to ARP's specs.

 

[Oldbutspry]

All the bolts in the engine are ARP already. He was doing a good job on the engine...

 

[Oldbutspry]

OOPS! I just noticed your "ARP specs" comment - do I need to torque them to a different spec because the bolts are ARP??? That might explain why they seemed to be torqued slightly tighter before I retorqued them. I thought it was just because they had been on there for a while (even thought they are well oiled).

 

[SoCalCruising]

The torque spec depends on what lube you use, as well as the type of bolt. Determine the bolt type, then visit the ARP website. They will have torque specs for that bolt using 30 weight oil and differnt specs for using ARP lube. When using their lube, the torque spec is significantly less. Torquing an ARP lubed bolt to a 30 weight oil spec will overstretch the bolt, and the opposite will understretch. I know that this complicats your situation ... can't help it. Maybe your buddy remembers what lube he used and what type bolt was used. Good luck.

BTW, same principle applies to the main bolts: ARP lube vs. 30 weight oil.

 

[Oldbutspry]

Awww jeez. Well thank goodness I asked these questions instead of just using the torque specs in my antiquated book.

I messaged my buddy and he said 30W so I lucked out.

I was just trial fitting my front sump pan and found it won't fit over the studs and girdle. Maybe I could persuade it with a BFH but I don't know - we're talking more than a half inch gap. Anyone got a similar setup and found a front sump pan that will fit?

 

[D.Hearne]

If I recall, the ARP's I had installed in one pf my Ranger's engines were torqued to something around 40-45 ft/lbs. But as Socal said, it depends on the thread lube. The stock 24 ft/lbs is definately not enough for 5/16" ARP rod bolts.