ARP con rod bolts

[GeorgeHurst]

Hi there,

I'm soon going to be buying all the bits for my 1275 engine rebuild. I'm getting everything as top spec as possible as I want it to indestructible!

Vizard recommends the use of ARP bolts throughout an engine build, but I have looked at the prices and they are SUPER expensive! http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx? ... 886&title= £62 for 8 bolts?!!!

It seems to me like the 'ARP' brand drives the price up, surely these are just high tensile stainless steel fasteners? I'm thinking I can probably buy some H/T S/S fixings from somewhere like Allfix for a fraction of the price.

Am I missing something?

Cheers
George

[chrisryder]

i think the shoulder is the key. the caps rely on the should for location so it's got to be right!

if you want indestructible i'd buy the best ones. you don't really want your conrod going through your block and you sat upside down at the side of the road thinking '£62 would have saved me all this trouble'.

[chrisryder]

would offer good peace of mind too.

if you source you own, whenever you're driving it, that little thought could pop into your head 'i hope those bolts are ok...' with the ARP ones you've got nothing to worry about. happy motoring!

[bmcecosse]

Unless you are planning incredibly high revs - don't bother. The standard bolts are fine for general use even with an increased power engine. And I suspect the bolts will NOT be stainless steel.....

[IslipMinor]

George,

ARP are defintely not stainless, but a very high tensile steel. The conrod bolts are special to the engine and cannot be replaced by a generic bolt. The link you show is for the 928/1098 engine; the ones for the 1275 are almost £94 incl VAT.

What revs are to planning to use? A standard(ish) engine does not require them, but I would suggest that you replace the standard ones from somewhere that specialises in engine tuning, such as Peter May, rather than the more obvious suppliers. If you are going to get up to around 7,000rpm regularly, then ARP is a very good idea!

I fitted a set of [######] EN24 HT head studs a while ago, and during the retorque after about 1,000 miles, one sheared whilst tightening up to 55 lbf ft. So head off and there was clear metalurgical fault with the stud, but [######] refused to do anything about it. Same problem when one of their 'heavy duty' rocker shafts broke, so I will not deal with them any more.

The engine now has Peter May's 'competition' rocker shaft and ARP conrod and head bolts. All supplied by Peter May and no problems since fitting them.

Peter May is a bit more expensive, but extemely knowledgeable and the service from them is superb.

[MarkyB]

I'm sure there is enough experience here to compile a list of parts in order of fragility.

Out of interest what plans do you have for the crank, con rods and pistons and is it for competition use?

[Mogwai]

I've found swiftune prices good for ARP bolts/studs etc
http://www.swiftune.com/Product/410/arp ... t-set.aspx

[bmcecosse]

I've never known/heard of a standard bolt breaking.... Just fit new standard ones, with new nuts - they will be fine. I would say the ARP stuff is only for a 'race' engine.