i was wondering if instead of cutting pontiac rods down to buick 455 thickness,could the rod journals on the crank be widened for them to fit on them? if it can be done how much would it cost normaly? would anything else need to be done?
This is a good question. Can I add that this would be great because you could cut down the journal too and run the pontiac bearing. (Which I'm shure has many more bearing options then we do.) :TU:
weakens the crank. Ive done the Pont rod deal and shaving the rods does not hurt them. As for the beaaring we cut that too
The 455 crank rod throws can be widened to 1.995 with no ill side effects. We do it all the time for the 470 shortblocks. I do use BBC bearings in my 470's. You should be able to use the Pont rod bearing also. Pont and BBC rods are .990 wide, so that allows for .015 side clearance. It is as wide as you can go without getting into the counterweights, but I have done many cranks now to that rod width, with no worries or issues. As long as the proper radius is machined into the crank, there should be no issue with strength. JW
Jim thanks on that there I was going on what Fred Catlin told me. That was a long time ago since I ran Pontiac rods. They are or were hard to get and ever since I got the beast from Jim Haas who needs pontiac rods??? Im just sayin............
I understand Mike.. And there are builders out there who still use that pont rod, and modify it for the stock dimension crank.. but maybe because it's the easiest thing for them to do in house, and they don't have access to a real good crank grinding shop. I much perfer to not fool with the rods and especially the bearings.. but I am lucky to have a very well know crank grinding shop in town here. JW
