My 360 Magnum build thread

moper said
Something is screwy because rod "T" ranges from .012-.0025" and never changed holes. Looking closer it looks like the rod throw 7/8 is off some amount. This is why I say it's better and easier to simply choke it down and have it all done. Square deck the block, re-do the rods, then mock it up and see what gasket will work. Also, even if you need to have the pistons milled a little to get the quench perfect it's not expensive. Still cheaper than new pistons and a balance beyond what you've already got planned.

The reason for the varying measurements was due to the magnetic base for my dial indicator, it has an adjustable beam that was flexing and giving inconsistent measurements. I swapped the adj beam for a solid rod and everything became super consistent - so the last set of measurements posted are the "more" correct. In fact, now my measurements are within .0005-.0010 of each other, which seems accurate enough to me.

Before I disassemble the mocked up block I will take another set of measurements, or two more sets, just to be sure...

If I have the time I may just play musical rods and see what shifting them around gives me - at least a clearer picture of how skewed the decks really are, if not how inconsistent the rod lengths are.

All in all, for less than $300 I can have the block square decked and the rods re-sized - certainly cheaper than buying new pistons and rods, even if I have to have the pistons milled