what's my clearance Clarence?

[Notsoezgo]

My particular concern is rod to balance shaft. I've had to grind some to clear the shaft, how much clearance is needed?

[raydhd]

I don't know what the official # is BUT I took enough off that I felt sure the 2 would never touch

[Notsoezgo]

The upper connecting rod bolt now has between 1/8 to 3/16 inch clearance from the balancing shaft since I ground a pathway for it. I could possibly get to about 1/4 inch, but I'm unsure how much I can grind without making it too weak.

[raydhd]

You have plenty already. I had somewhere around an 1/8 of an inch. Are you OK on the block's oil wiper and the con rod bolt ? Bear in mind that if the connecting rod got anywhere near 1/8" play in it the oil film and bearing would be long gone.

[slonomo]

On my VC460 I remember grinding off quite a bit, at least as much as you described on yours. In the construction world we use the 2/3 rule. Never cut through more than 2/3 of a supporting structure. In engineering they always talk about the 3x rule, most things are engineered to handle 3x the rated force before failure, not sure how true that is, since I'm not an engineer lol

Can you post a pic? I'll see if I can find a photo of mine after I did it.

[Notsoezgo]

Originally Posted by raydhd

You have plenty already. I had somewhere around an 1/8 of an inch. Are you OK on the block's oil wiper and the con rod bolt ?

Yes factory had already cut a pathway thru it, 1/4" to 5/16" clearance there. I'll get a pic of this in the morning.

[Notsoezgo]

Originally Posted by slonomo

On my VC460 I remember grinding off quite a bit, at least as much as you described on yours. In the construction world we use the 2/3 rule. Never cut through more than 2/3 of a supporting structure. In engineering they always talk about the 3x rule, most things are engineered to handle 3x the rated force before failure, not sure how true that is, since I'm not an engineer lol

Can you post a pic? I'll see if I can find a photo of mine after I did it.

I'll pull the shaft out in the morning and take a pic

[Notsoezgo]

Originally Posted by raydhd

Bear in mind that if the connecting rod got anywhere near 1/8" play in it the oil film and bearing would be long gone.

Good point and might I add followed by an soon engine failure

[raydhd]

That is exactly what happens to the stock cast aluminum rod. They egg out lose oil film and seize to the crank and usually take everything else with them. Again that basically happens when they are run ungoverned. I seen you bought the ARC rod which is billet and even had an oil passage from the splash fin right into the rod shell bearing. I converted all 3 of my generators to shaft rockers BUT all 3 still have the cast connecting rod

[Notsoezgo]

Rod to windage tray clearance, this was a factory cut