con rod bolts needed

Stephanhipwell · Post by **Stephanhipwell** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:35 am

i want to get some stronger con rod bolts for my 2.1 as i have been told that they tend to snap sometimes, does anybody know where i can get these from?

Thanks
Stephan

Post by **Piledriver** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:56 pm

As a direct replacement, the std T1 ARP ones should work great...
But they are stupid expensive

16 BBC ARP 2000 waveloks usually cost far less than 8 std grade T1 or T4 ARPs... ~Always available on EBay.

IF you have the holes reamed a couple thou, BBC (396) 3/8" bolts also work great, and are available in the ARP2000 material and wavelok design, come with 12pt nuts, HIGHLY recommended.

Find out your machinists choice of beverage...
You want a .005" press fit IIRC. Have them resized afterwards of course. (always)

Typically the cost of dropping in the lesser std bolts or paying a bit extra for the machining with FAR BETTER, but oddly much less expensive bolts is a wash price wise.

You also get a spare set for "free"

that can undoubtedly be sold to another lister.

It's all due to the laws of supply and demand, a LOT more folks buy new ARP bolts for their BBC than their ACVW:
VW guys usually just buy new rods, or go with std replacement grade bolts (or just skip replacing them...)

ANOTHER option pioneered by tencentlife and myself is having aftermarket rods resized on the small end...

His rod choice I believe was better, esp considering the fact that the AA/Cofap and QSC WBX pistons all have the deck height wrong, he went with SCAT 5.5" Ibeam rods.
SCAT will resize/rebush them for $20 ea at the factory IIRC.

(I initially went with the 5.4" CB IBeams, and am about to use them for another ...more interesting app in a T4, due to this very issue)

Both have plenty of meat for a larger pin.

So, for ~2 bills you end up with a very nice NEW set of 8740 WBX rods with ARP2000 bolts, and can trim the piston crown as required to get the deck perfect at .030"-.040, rather than the bloody .070ish it usually ends up at.

fastback · Post by **fastback** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:37 pm

2.1 WBX bolts are stretch type
1.9 WBX bolts are NON stretch type.
u can also use stock type 1/3 bolts.

I use the type 1 bolts in my turbo WBX with no problems

AMBROSIA · Post by **AMBROSIA** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:08 pm

I replaced the old 2.1 bolts with a set of 1.9 non stretch.
The engine has seen regular 6k strip action with no problems yet

Stephanhipwell · Post by **Stephanhipwell** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:51 pm

cool, that's great. i'm guessing that the stretch factor is what gives it problems then?

Post by **Piledriver** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 2:58 pm

If you find a source of the stock bolts, please post.

Stephanhipwell · Post by **Stephanhipwell** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 2:00 pm

Piledriver wrote:If you find a source of the stock bolts, please post.

will do

Stephanhipwell · Post by **Stephanhipwell** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:11 am

Piledriver wrote:If you find a source of the stock bolts, please post.

checked with my vw parts man and they stopped stocking them in jan.

will try with stock type 1/3 bolts.