Stripped Rod Bolt/Nut

[1958FordF100]

I was torqing down my last rod cap yesterday, July 4th when the last bolt/nut stripped. I went looking for one today.
It is hard to find a 1958 Ford 223 Rod Bolt and Nut. But while at the Napa parts counter the guy next to me asked to see it. He pointed out that it appeared that it was mostly the nut that was on the threads of the bolt and that I should be able to clean it up and sitll use it. So I did just that. It did clean up.

So my question. Will a Grade #8 5/16 nut work ? or do it need to buy an actual Rod bolt nut which I found on headbolts.com ? No they don't carry rod bolts.

If I can torque it down with the new nut am I good to go. I thought about putting some red thread locker on it for good measure.

I have been told I have to have the big hole of the rods redone if I put in new bolts.

 

[StrangeRanger]

I have no idea what grade nut the original is but a Gr. 8 will certainly be at least as strong. Actually, I would be tempted to replace ALL the nuts. Any chance of finding out what grade the original nuts were?

Be very, very certain that the bolt is not damaged or it will not develop the necessary strength and the results f that can be disastrous.

I'd suggest blue Loctite. Red is permanent and requires a lot of heat to remove, blue is removable.

 

[thecarfarmer]

Yeah, I'd knock the old bolts out, put the new ones in (torque and release several times to mfgr's torque spec, with the last step leaving 'em torqued) and take the rod(s) to a machine shop and have 'em checked on the rod machine. A Sunnen rod machine often has a built-in bore gage that you can check the rod ends with. Simply sticking the rod on there and sweeping it will tell if it's round or not. A five minute check.

You'll likely have to have the big ends 'swished' a few passes on the rod hone.

I wouldn't dink about on this; it's too much work and money to go back in if you're not lucky. And if that original rod bolt had seen enough stress to break it, I REALLY wouldn't put a lot of faith in the big end of that particular rod not being out-of-round.

On the bright side, if you take the crank, and rod bearings with you, they can set the bearing clearance right where you want it.

About using loctite, I've never heard of doing that. Not on a rod bolt. I wouldn't put any faith in it; the rods will get fairly warm being bathed in hot oil, and heat softens loctite.

Just use a good quality rod bolt and nut, torqued to spec.

-Bill

 

[1958FordF100]

I cleaned up the bolt and then bought a new nut but it would not torque and stripped so I need a new rod bolt and nut.
Any idea of where I can find one. I have searched online with not luck and called ARP and they don't carry them.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Is there something special about the bolt? Or is it just a Hex Head Cap Screw?