it doesnt seem to hurt to go a little tighter, dont know if it does any particular good either

I ended up with 29 or so.

30lb-ft is absolute max I would recommend.

Going tighter does cause headaches - you should try it. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png

The engine is so tight tolerance, that cranking it over by hand is a brutal affair - don't overtighten!

Ho-man told us about the time he tried 35 lb-ft, and you could not spin it by hand.

I tried this once, and he was right!





-Ted

That's interesting that you would say that. It did feel sorta hard to crank by hand when I got done. But the rotor housings are 79.960mm in all the right places (not crushed), so they're already kinda small ('74-'75, so maybe the machining wasn't 100% dead-on back then).



I did notice that the bolts felt like they stopped turning around 30. I backed off on some to try again. Should I back off to around 25-26?

Even my dad thinks I should retorque them lower. I'm just curious if this will mess up the water seals since they've already been compressed/crushed in their slots. What do you guys think?

I retorqued them down to 27.5 according to a clicker type torque wrench. It seemed accurate when I compared it to my beam type, so I think it'll be fine. Rotating the engine by hand feels better now too.

I usually shoot for 30 max - you should be fine.

About the only thing that'll get messed is the stat-o-seals under the tension bolts.

The inner water jacket seals should be fine - they are elastic and brand new right (rebuild?), so they should expand when you relieved the pressure and reseat.





-Ted

i dont like beam torque wrenches, i've found them it be inaccurate almost by +- 5lbs. Use a clicker.



I always chase all the threads in EVERY motor i work on, its cleans the holes and banzai is right, a piece of crud in a blind hole will give you a bad torque reading.

The engine did feel better after I retorqued it. Now the flywheel and front cover are on and the end play feels ok. All that's left is the oil pan and then the waterpump etc.