Longstroke A7 connecting rod bolts

[BSARoadRocket]

Hello people out in long stroke A7 land.


If you ever need to replace the bolts in your steel connecting rods don't wrack your brain trying to find the right bolts.  Just use small block Ford V8 289-302 1960's to 1970's era or possibly even new connecting rod bolts.  They are a little longer than the BSA bolt but you can cut them to length and they work beautifully.  I used new ARP (American Racing Products) bolts. 

When I bought my '47 A7 it had not been run since 1965 but it still had good compression and the mag gave spark.  I was going to try to start it but I thought I had better take it apart and inspect the motor before trying to run it.  I found that all four connecting rod nuts were loose (only kept from backing off by nails used in place of cotter pins) and one con rod bolt was even replaced by a badly stretched out hardware store bolt with no grade markings, basically a bolt that should only be used to hold furniture together. 

If you need new connecting rod bolts for your steel long stroke A7 rods use the ARP Ford bolts, they are inexpensive and indestructible.

[terryk]

Thanks for that I will check out if they are available locally and buy some and see how they go. I wonder how hard they are to cut whether you can use a hacksaw. If they are too hard for hacksaw if cutting them off with a cutting disc would soften them.
cheers Terry

[iansoady]

Hello people out in long stroke A7 land.


If you ever need to replace the bolts in your steel connecting rods don't wrack your brain trying to find the right bolts.  Just use small block Ford V8 289-302 1960's to 1970's era or possibly even new connecting rod bolts. 

But wouldn't they be UNF threads as opposed to BSF / Cycle?

[vinver]

Thanks for the tip, I'll have to check them out. I'm in Canada, so sourcing should be no problem- but I expect would have to buy a set of 16? Almost sure to be UNF, nuts probably come with th bolts.
Vince

[terryk]

Threads wont be a problem if you are using bolts and nuts made the Ford conrods.
I am a Holden man myself but for this purpose Ford is Ok. Only Aussies will understand this comment.

[kiwipom]

hi Terryk, i see that G.M. are talking of closing Holden production down, you may have to go Ford, don`t know what will happen to Bathhurst if they do,cheers,Bob

[Brian]

Now if we all drove goggomobil's we wouldnt need to have this conversation.

[BSA_54A10]

Yeah, it comes down to politics.
Australia was going to be the world casting plant for GM as we have the cheapest domestic price for aluminium.
The management stuck their heads out a long while ago and managed to get a new foundry about 10 times the volume they needed so that they could produce large volumes of export castings economically.
At the present GM loose money on every car we make down here but we also export blocks to all GM plants all over the world very profitably.
As part of the restructure, post bankruptcy GM is shifting all of it's alloy casting to it's US plants and have managed to acquire several billion to upgrade their plant ( no doubt from the Federal Government ) thus the only reason for Australia to exist is now gone.

HD is closing down the Comcast plant in SA so their wheels will now come from China or Brazil.

SO it looks like the US is trying hard to export their recession to Australia.