Man i quit this is the worst engine rebuild ever

[slacker69]

For the life of me once i tighten down the last connecting rod bolts the motor locks up i am truening by hand with socket. 5 out of 6 can be torqued down and as soon as i do the 6th it locks i double checked that all bearings are .010 undersized andchecked all threads it just wont work i am so freaking confused and arngy. Please any ideas.

[silvachris1]

When we installed the cam in dad's car, the pushrods were too long, and the valves ended up hitting the top of the piston. Just turning it by hand made it feel like it was locked up. You may want to check all the specs on your parts and make sure nothing is binding up. Since you're putting in connecting rods, I assume the motor is out of the vehicle. Look in through the spark plug holes and see if you can see the piston hit anything. Will the motor turn back the other direction? Just check it all again man.

[slacker69]

motor will not move a inch once the last connecting rod it torqued it is completly frozen but if the connecting rod is loose it will spin like butter.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

Try installing ONLY the connecting rod that freezes the motor up.

I think something is wrong with the clearances.
Did you plastigage it yet?

[WickEdSix9838]

If you only have .001" clearance on the rods, thats a little tight anyways. You'll need atleast .002". I'd suggest pulling it apart and having all the main and rod clearances checked just to be sure and to also save you the hassle of having to go back through it.

[slacker69]

Would a shop for some reason grind all but one crank jornal to .01 and have one at .02? its the only thing i can think of

[AZ3.8Camaro]

Did the rods get resized? I know it is common to cut the rods down a little where they come apart, then bolt them together and then re-rebore the hole in them. Maybe the cut one down, and didn't bore it.

Plastigage.

[WickEdSix9838]

Originally posted by slacker69:
Would a shop for some reason grind all but one crank jornal to .01 and have one at .02? its the only thing i can think of

Just take it all to a machine shop and let them check everything out. They can check everything with mic's that will read a lot more consistent than plastigage.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

You could do that, but at what cost?
I would just get a new shortblock from someone on the board or on ebay if you have to do anymore work to it.