ARP head and rod bolts any good?

[Brian Mc]

i have ordered head bolts and already bought rod bolts. is 80 bucks too much for a dum set of rod bolts? are these better than the factory bolts and are they recommended?

 

[machinegun]

The factory turbo rods came with SPS bolts. These are fine and are just as good as the ARP rod bolts. I would not waste my money on the rod bolts. On the mains I would use the ARP studs and I would use the ARP Bolts on the heads. You will need some sealer for the head bolts. I used the ARP.

 

[Brian Mc]

what does sps stand for? damn i already wasted my money on the rod bolts. they look like they have an extra shoulder under the head to stabilize the rod caps.

 

[machinegun]

SPS is the manufacturer of the rod bolts that were used on the Turbo Rods. I would send back the ARP's myself and use the money for other things. I would however make sure that you machine shop reconditions the rods. They are known to be slightly out of round. This will allow your engine to live longer and take more abuse. I also always mic everything when going together to be sure it is right. People can make mistakes.

 

[machinegun]

I also would not say you wasted your money, but the ARP rod bolts are not needed. Also when assembling the heads to the block, use a teflon sealer on the threads and some moly lube on both the top and bottom of the washer under the head of the bolt. This will ensure a proper torque when performing your toque sequence.

 

[Lugnut28]

I would beware of the ARP rod bolts. When I rebuild my engine I used ARP rod bolts and had a big problem ( do a search on ARP rod bolts). I pulled the threads out of 3 of the 6 rods. I used Pioneer, they seem fine and were like $2.89 each.

 

[Brian Mc]

Thanks, i trust you i guess. i used ARP rod bolts in my chevy 350 and had no problems, but its a steel rod so maybe that's why. I'll see if the shop will give me store credit or something. I doubt it though, but its better than stripping a rod. Shouldn't ARP be aware of something like this? They are a reputable company that has been around forever. So Stock bolts then? What is Pioneer? Help I never built a Buick engine before

 

[machinegun]

Stockers have been low 10 on a girdled stock block. The crank even broke but the rods are fine. Stock SPS bolts. Hard to argue with that kind of use.

 

[Red Regal T]

I don't think you'll have much trouble moving them in the parts for sale section if you can't do anything else.

 

[Brian Mc]

Gotcha RedRegalT