[eschaider]

Justin,

Go over to the TToC and down to the Engine Build Threads section. The first entry you will find is a complete listing of all the ARP fasteners available for the engine, their part numbers and their torque or stretch specs where appropriate. The thread has a downloadable pdf doc of the entire ARP fasteners table, attached to it.

 

[eschaider]

According to this i should be torquing them to 25 foot pounds but my Sean Hyland "How To Build A Mod Motor" book says 90 inch pounds. View attachment 176042

Justin,

When faced with two very different specs, as you are in this situation, you should torque the fastener to whichever spec you feel is the correct spec for your application. I will suggest three check points to you;

Check point #1: These are ARP Tech specs on the Torque Spec pdf and ARP designs and (IMO) manufacturers the finest commercially available fasteners on the planet for racing. Your allen headed fasteners are grade 12.9 or possibly 14.9 metric fasteners. Grade 12.9 is the rough equivalent of Grade 8 SAE steel. Grade 14.9 is the rough equivalent of ARP 8740 steel.

Check point #2: The reason your fasteners are loosening up is they are not properly torqued, MMR torque specs not withstanding. A properly torqued fastener will be in a state of elastic stretch. The tension applied by the stretch will prevent loosening. Under-torquing will not properly stretch the fastener and it will allow the fastener to not only loosen but also not do the job it was designed to do.

Check point #3: You have been a forum member for almost 17 years now and I am certain you have seen the customer service, product spec, general mis-guidance and untold other miscues documented in this forum, that MMR has provided to folks who have done business with them. Sometimes you get lucky and everything goes as expected, other times not so much. Many members have written about these woes so this should be no surprise. Just by way of example the bolts you bought from MMR can be duplicated by buying from McMaster-Carr. A package of 20 or 25 (can't remember which) similar Allen head cap screws will cost you about $10 vs the $42.99 you paid MMR for them.

FOUND it! I must have got them from here. If you look really close at the pic they're hex head. Next time I would definitely go ARP as i love a 12 sided fastener way more. I'm only posting this for future people that may run into this (highly unlikely).

MMR Racing TEKSID Sidebolt & Washer kit (8mm) [400025C] - $42.99 : Modular Motorsports, Home of the worlds fastest Fords

Modular Motorsports MMR Racing TEKSID Sidebolt & Washer kit (8mm) [400025C] - MMR TEKSID (93-98 Aluminum) Block Racing Sidebolt & Washer kit Replace the factory 1 time use side Block bolts with this MMR re-usable high strength Allen Bolt, black oxide coated for corrosion protection and strength...

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TToC time again. While ARP 9mm OEM replacement side bolts are good, if you want to do your engine a favor install 10mm side bolts that torque to 62-65 ft/lbs. Go into the TToC, look under the Engine section and you will find chapter and verse on the 10mm conversion — which uses ARP 12 point hardware.

I would caution you about MMR advice and product. ARP is a much better source of information / knowledge / product, especially with respect to fasteners used in race engines.

 

[eschaider]

Justin,

I'll bet the 90 inch pounds was the torque for the adjuster with the hex drive that is used to apply side pressure to the installed main cap not the actual side bolt that goes through the adjuster into the main cap.

 

[eschaider]

On the subject of main cap side bolts, Accufab Racing offers larger custom m10 sized ARP side bolts that can be torqued to to over 60 ft pounds. The larger bolts prevent main cap fretting as hp levels exceed 1000.

The larger Accufab side bolts compared to m8 sized bolts . Factory side bolt size is m8.
View attachment 176043

Jan is right about the side bolt upgrade. In fact there is a complete write up in the TToC about how to do the upgrade (click here => 10mm Side Bolt U/G .

While the Accufab bolts are really very nice they are also ~$20 each when I originally purchased them from Accufab, then add tax and shipping. The reason for the apparently high pricing is they are a custom design bolt custom made by ARP for Accufab. Ten or 12 years ago, before ARP offered their current 9mm replacement bolts for the OEM side bolts, I was trying to get ARP to build a similar fastener for me on a custom basis for sale to the ModMotor community. Not surprisingly the pricing came out to around $20 per bolt — again because of both the custom fabrication issue and also the small volumes.

There is an alternative to the Accufab side bolts that is available from ARP. The alternative is a 10 MM, 12 point fastener with (if I remember correctly) a 45mm under head length (UHL). ARP sells the 12 point version of this fastener in five packs, so you will need two packs, at around $19 per 5 bolt pack. Two packs of 5 bolts each will set you back less than two Accufab bolts but will also require washers. Washers notwithstanding, you will be way ahead of the game price-wise with the off-the-shelf ARP alternative and you will not give up any strength. Here is a link to those bolts on the Summit Racing website => https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ARP-672-1006. The TQ spec is still 62 ft/lbs — see the Complete ModMotor ARP fastener listing in the TToC.

When I did my second block I used the off-the-shelf ARP product from Summit and they worked every bit as well as the more expensive ARP custom variety. You can see the off-the-shelf ARP 12 pt bolt in the TToC write-up. It is the right hand bolt in the last pic in the write-up.