[Rich Biebel]

Whatever rod bolt you use you have to really be carefull how you tighten the bolts and what lube you use. I once had a rod bolt failure on a Crower billet stroker rod and it was definately from improper tightening of the rod bolts. I pulled a piston out of an engine I built in a friends car. Working conditions were very poor and when I put it back together I did not have the lube I needed to get those rod bolts torqued properly. I used oil. Crower at the time sepcified oil but there was NO WAY you could get those bolts to their specified torque with plain oil. They would tend to seize up with plain oil that is likely what happened. Sometime later during the season a rod came apart and it was the one I had out. Luckily all we needed was a couple new pistons and rods.....The orginal problem was from a head that leaked water in an intake port.....

I experimented and made my own rod bolt lube...oil and moly paste mixed together......stopped the seizing as the bolts were tightened

Crower supplied an anti-seize paste with later rods......as does ARP

So My point is rod bolt lube plays a huge part in getting the bolts installed properly. I used a torque wrench for many years with no issues. I also have a rod bolt stretch gauge and have used it as well. Some rods like Olivers use an initial torque + a torque angle gauge to set the bolts......Olivers are the best in my opinion......

Another one is to make sure the bolts fit properly.......It is possible for the rod bolt head to not seat in the rod properly.....rare but possible.....

I used Manley Sportsman rods in my LT-1 Stocker a few years ago...a very good rod for a SB Chev....and would probably be good in your application if you could get something to fit.....