Any issues installing new piston/pin 3 times on a stock Corvair rod?

I'd like to know, too. Following!

Eric C. Player
Fargo, North Dakota
MEMBER: CORSA National, Central Coast CORSA, South Coast CORSA, Vintage CORSA, Sfba CORSA, and Great Plains Corvair Club.
THEN: 1965 Monza 110, Canary Yellow - 1965 Corsa 180 Turbo, Red - 1966 Monza 110, Purple - 1967 Monza 140, Red - 1966 500 110, Black; nicknamed "Shadow" - 1965 Monza 110, Camaro Yellow; nicknamed "Silver"
NOW: 1966 Corsa 180 Turbo, Blue; nicknamed "Bluvair"
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"He cautioned me not to take notes. It would not have helped if I had, as he would start a paragraph with, 'It is therefore obvious. . .'
and go on from there to matters which may have been obvious to him and God but to no one else."
-- Robert A. Heinlein, character of Daniel B. Davis, 'The Door Into Summer.'

JerryM,
The question I would have is, what is the intention of the engine you are building. Racing or just normal street driving?
For street engines, I have inspected and balanced OEM Rods and reused them
multiple times with no issues. I always heat the Rod ends before pressing in
piston pins.
My Greenbrier, I have personally put 300,000+ miles on that engine.
However if performance is the option, new Rods or at least properly
reconditioned Rods may be the answer.

Corventure Dave

He's concerned about how many times you can press the pin in and out before the press fit is lost. That is a concern but I don't have an answer. There probably isn't one except to measure the small end each time. Reconditioning rods does nothing for the small end but they are supposed to check it.

Joel
Northlake, TX
5 Ultravans, 135 Corvairs and counting...

JerryM Wrote:
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> Any issues installing new piston/pin 3 times on a stock Corvair rod?


As Joel states, it all depends on how they were installed the second and third time. Measure.

My experience:

I re-used the rods on my engine rebuild and the result was failure due to a wrist pin moving and taking out a bore. All were fitted by a shop who had done it many times before on all sorts of engines. It took out my crank and was an expensive lesson to learn. All rods were within spec.

My advise buy new pre-installed with pistons.

corventure Dave Wrote:
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> JerryM,
> The question I would have is, what is the intention of the engine you are building. Racing or just normal street driving?
> For street engines, I have inspected and balanced OEM Rods and reused them
> multiple times with no issues. I always heat the Rod ends before pressing in
> piston pins.
> My Greenbrier, I have personally put 300,000+ miles on that engine.
> However if performance is the option, new Rods or at least properly
> reconditioned Rods may be the answer.
>
> Corventure Dave

I bought what appears to be a good set of rods with bad .040 over cast pistons on them. I believe they had been in a sand buggy for short period of time. Not knowing much else about who or how they were assembled, I plan to try a lower temp on the small and LN2 chill on the pin. If I got the materials and math correct, 350F degrees on the rod and LN2 chilled pin should yield about .0016" clearance

Do not rebuild engines, but, like Dave; I have two engines with a lot of miles on the original rods.

Assume, it is the skill / attention to detail of the person installing the pistons. Of course, racing engines are a different kettle of fish.

This old topic should answer some of your questions.

[corvaircenter.com]

Regan Metcalf
Portland, OR

To clarify my question, if the procedure was done correctly has anyone found a limit in the number of successful times for installing a pin.
I intend to do a Rockwell hardness test on these rod ends.
Were the original factory parts done cold?

IMO, if the pin bore was not scored, or the small end overheated, cracked or damaged in any way, then there would be almost no limit to the number of times a pin could be installed. As for any misalignment between the pin and bearing bores, that would be evident in the bearing wear pattern.

Dan Brizendine, Circle City Corvairs
'64 8 door Greenbrier, +.060, stroked 1/4", 186 ci.140 PG. "In beautiful Wanamaker Indiana...with one stop light and 5 pizza shops"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/2022 10:55PM by Brizo.