I'm starting to assemble my new engine and have hit a snag with camshaft and connecting rod clearance. It looks like my #1 and #6 rods are hitting the camshaft near the top of the lobe. Specs are:

3.875 inch Callies crankshaft
5.85 inch Oliver billet I beam rods
Billet solid roller camshaft (cam has around .400 lobe lift and the base circle appears to be 1.060")

Here is a picture of the situation:



These are the rods:




Anybody have any suggestions on how I should proceed? Will a small base circle cam do anything? Am I going to be stuck pulling all the rods out and clearancing them? Do you machine them or grind them? Would I be doing all of them on both sides or just the ones that are hitting? Would rebalancing be required for this little material being taken off?

 

Aren't you hitting the oil pan mount rails too? I believe your going to have to clearence the rods. And by the looks of those quite a bit. Did you tell "Oliver" that these were going on a 3.875 crank? Most hand grind them.

 

No clearance issues on the pan rail. VRE put the shortblock together and clearanced everything.



Some of the old posts I've seen seem to say that the Oliver rods don't have many clearance issues which is why I'm kind of perplexed. From the first picture it looks like I'd have to grind off a significant amount and would probably end up in the bolt threads.

 

I don't understand, I'm using H-beams on my 396 and we're having to grind them (a little), and your rods have way more material on them.
Maybe you should try advanced tech. and see what those guys say? Or maybe one of the pros. will chime in.

Oh, nice looking set up.

 

CMoney,

Oliver makes a pre clearanced "stroker" billet rod and it looks like you have the non-stroker rod. I'll try to find a photo of one for you in a bit.

But.... You could probably, maybe get away with grind on it. Yes the balance will be a tad off but that's not a true exact science anyway.

The Oliver stroker grind billet rods are pre clearanced at the factory. And they take off lots of material and into the rod bolt (just like you were thinking of doing).

Maybe for peace-of-mind you should take it apart and grind all the rods the same and rebalance. I don't think you'll notice the difference though.

Karl
PS: looking for photos now.

 

found a good photo for you.
http://www.ellweinengines.com/jezus2...odscleanfs.jpg

Notice Oliver grinds just the one side and not the other. Also they grind right into the bolt. (Kinda neat that they do that because it's one way I know the bolt is torqued correctly.....)

Oh man! In this photos you can see the bolt tip ground off, (the furthest bolt).
http://www.ellweinengines.com/ERE11/rods.jpg

And the best photos of all, (saved it for last)
http://www.ellweinengines.com/ERE11/rods3.jpg

 

Thanks a ton for the pictures Karl! I got a killer deal on the rods so it's my fault for not realizing Oliver also offers a stroker version.

On your ERE 11, did you also have to run a small base circle cam in addition to the clearanced rods?

How would you recommend grinding on the rods? Slowly on a bench grinder to avoid heating them up too much? I'm assuming I should torque the bolts down before grinding as well, correct?

 

I'm not certain of the good or bad effects of grinding on the rods. But I just use a bench grinder if I have to grind on a rod. I've never ground on an Oliver stroker rod though.
Yes, rod bolts torqued to spec then grind.

I do not have a small base circle cam in that ERE383 #11. Actually recently built a 395 and did not use a small base circle cam on that either, (that used Compstar rods and the rods did not need to be clearanced either).

Love those Oliver rods. Enjoy the motor and good luck to you.
Karl