How do you separate a connecting rod?

I am trying to get my brand new Eagle forged steel I-beam rods apart. Is there a secret to this? When I have taken apart rods on a motor, I just tapped them with a rubber mallet. But what do I do when they are tight, and not in the motor? Can I hold them in a vise and tap with a mallet? I just dont want to mess anything up.

 

find a piece of closet dowel rod pop in the vise and slide the rod over the end, and Blamo with the ruber malet. you should be able to do it that way.
FS

 

About 9500 RPM should do it!

Sorry, couldnt resist it.

 

droppin a valve will do it too. it will also give you some more clearance with the cylinder wall.

 

1/2 off, men's designer sportswear collections at dillards. what the hell does that have to do with anything?

 

Go to the local parts store and buy a exhaust tube expander. They expand when you turn the bolt with a wrench. Stick the expander in the con rod and start tightening the bolt. Works great. Make sure you turn it just far enough the break the cap loose. You should be able to work it off from that point.

 

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find a piece of closet dowel rod pop in the vise and slide the rod over the end, and Blamo with the ruber malet. you should be able to do it that way.
FS

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe I'm slow, but where do you smack the rod with the rubber mallet? You slide the big end over the large dowel, that is held in the vise, and smack on the side of the rod while pulling on the small end??

 

Loosen the rod bolts a bit, and tap on them with that soft mallet...If they're studs with nuts on them, loosen the nut until it's flush with the end of the stud so you don't screw up the threads. If they're real bolts, just loosen them a couple turns to maintain good alignment while you separate them. If they get crooked, you could hurt the mating surfaces.

There's actually a tool made to do this now. It's available from Mondello Performance and it works great, but you'd have to be bustin' lots of rods loose to justify it's purchase.

Scotch!~

 

Yeah, just apply pressure by pulling down on the small end, its the vibration of the mallet thats gonna knock the end off. Kinda like when you smack a brake drum. Them tail pipe expander thing will work too, but you have to put several layers of tape on the inside of the rod to prevent maring of the inside of the journals, I don't know if they sent it with bearings installled or not but either way you don't want to mar or scratch what the bearing sits on.

 

Got one apart. I dont think the mallet I was using was vibrating enough. Got a PVC one.

These have ARP Wave-Loc bolts. The "waves" extend into the cap a bit, makeing for a really tight fit. That is normal, right? I've never used these before.