installing connecting rod bolts

[kevinm]

I bought new oem bolts and was wondering about installation. I installed a pair of them on one con rod by putting the end cap on and screwing on the nut until the head of the con rod bolt bottoms out.  Now i notice the end cap seems to catch on the threads of the bolts when pulling on and off and it seems the bolts have swaged inwards a tad... Any ideas?  This is just a slight catch feeling, but noticeable, and im trying to do things right.

[theman53]

The stock and arp bolts are supposed to be pressed in. If you pull them through with the nuts it could over torque them and not pulll the head tight. My machinist said you can just use a brass hammer to seat them with no problem. ARP said not to do it that way, but I would think the bolts that can handle the vibration of combustion should handle the brass hammer.

[myvolkswagen]

Where did you get your bolts from? How much? Here in Canada the oem is same price as arp

[theman53]

I think I paid around 100.00 at summit racing equip. I got the head studs 130.00 and the ring gear bolt kit for somewhere around 60 or 70 but I think the con rods were around 100.
I took my crank out 4 times for different stuff so the first time the ARP's paid for themselves since I could reuse them. If they are about the same price or higher a little I would still go ARP since you can reuse.

I also didn't have shipping since I can go there in about an hour and a half one way.

[kevinm]

I think it ended up being 7 cdn. a bolt from the VW dealer.  I tried tapping them in with a alum. drift and it wasnt going to work, too tight.  And also, i was probably close to the 20ftlbs recomended when bolting it back to the crank when doing this, does this effect the stretch properties much?

[kevinm]

I did the rest by using the nuts to draw them in...  Seems fine, im probably over reacting.