Whats an acceptable amount of clearance between the rod bolt/rods and the oil pan rails and the bottom of the cylinder?

I just got my 383 back from the machine shop yesterday and there is about .035 clearance between the rod and pan rail. I've always heard .050 is the acceptable amount. Is .035 OK for a street motor?

 

 

No less than .060

 

right...030 is the minimum but 060 is what you want. just in case you spin a bearing then it wont hit when it goes around.

 

No, no less than .060 means NO LESS THAN .060. Heat expansion has to be accounted for. Not bearing failure. Bearing failure takes out a bunch of stuff with out any help

 

.060

 

Do you do all the clearancing on the block, or can a small amount be done on the corners of the rod nuts.

Brian

 

I'm not going to tell you that I'm an engine building expert but it seems to me that you would want to do all the clearancing on the pan rails. Just isn't worth taking the chance that you would weaken a rod considering the amount of load placed on them.