Swapping Pressed Pistons For The Home Engine Builder 

I can absolutely attest to this. I couldn't afford machine shop stuff when I was younger. Had to build and learn and integrate from others. That led me to working at a machine shop and expanding. I'm now a custom engine builder, self employed, and have more work than I want. You younger people have now idea how easy you have to people like UT a keyboard away.

I did this at home on my first 440 engine build back in the 90’s & man, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Firepower Hemi has FLOATING wrist pins.

My Dad has done this stuff since the 60's and said, "Everything you are Saying Word for Word", on a Friday Night as he showed me how to do this very same thing. I learned 2 things, the right way to do it, and how to do it when you can't do it the right way, but it has to be done anyway. Great Video UTG! and an even better message.

Hey Uncle Tony .. great video man ! . My Father was a mechanic his entire life ,. and worked on everything in his mechanic shops , including doing his own machining with his own equipment . when he would assemble pistons and rods he would basically do what you just did in your video . except he would usually use his oxygen and acetylene torch , with a small rosebud tip on it . because like you said , most piston pins have an offset to one side , he had spacer tools that he made from copper for the spacing . they were U shaped tool with about a four inch handle on them . he four of them in different sizes , but the one most often used was the .060" thick one . and he would also use 30 weight motor oil on the piston and pin during assembly . but you are absolutely right , it is all the same concept . thank you for the videos Tony Tim from Wisconsin .

DD speed shop gave you a shout out and painted his engine block like you did in your video.

Brilliant, you have cleared a niggling worry I had after I received my pistons and rods back from the machine shop. I noticed the wrist pins were not all precisely central when the connecting rod wrre. I enquired with them about this and they said it’s fine. Being my first warm V8 rebuild, I was skeptic all but you have cleared the worry. Good job, thanks.

Man, I’ve been doing it all wrong! Going through case after case of bic lighters. 😦

Man, I just pulled and pressed a carrier bearing on my 86 Volvo driveshaft. The manager at the part store was impressed, said he bought a new shaft because of the way his was pressed together. Not sure his vehicle, but I was like "really? I'm not even that much of a gearhead and I'm doing it!" No fire needed, just cut a 1-3/4" notch in a block of wood and gently hammered it on. Pain in the ass is it's special order shit, and I got the wrong rubber donut it goes in so I'm waiting a week for the fucker I need. Glad it's a project car and not my daily (it will be again sometime). Not but a few months ago I was watching Tony talk about people that are doers. I was not in that category then, but I'm working on being more of a doer! My primary truck had a few problems I needed to fix. (Body control module had a burnt circuit- started the adventure). When I was satisfied (and bored), I dragged the old Volvo up out of the dirt. Thanks for the inspiration, Tony! Edit: anyone wondering, parts have been pretty cheap so far, but nobody has them in stock for same day pickup. O'Reilly has become the standout in my recent experience, if that helps anyone. Used to go to Napa a lot but they close earlier/less convenient for a non-pro like me.

Using a factory installed piston as a guide, make a simple fixture to help you get that pin centered. It really helps when you have that hot connecting rod and you are trying to move fast before it cools.

The learning never stops at UTG. Saw your guest appearance on DD speed shop. Damn nice of you to do way up there to help Dan.

Great how to video. I've done this numerous times on pistons. And the same process works when inserting bearings and bearing races into axle tubes

I stumbled into your content about a year ago....ThankYou, God Bless you and the UTG family and friends!!!

I've used the same method installing bearings. Put the bearings in the freezer, then heat up the pocket the bearing sits in. When it's warm, pull bearing out of the freezer and should slide right in. Can also use an oven for heating parts too, if their small enough. Great video! This is the garage mechanics way taught to me by my grandfather.

When you see it done at the machine shop the heater looks like a toaster. My local shop machined and balanced my lower end and pressed the pins while I waited, did all 8 in about 10 minutes for $8 a piece. Seemed like a fair price so I let him take care of it for $64 .

Love it Uncle Tony, showing the little guys with little budgets how to do it!!

Thanks for doing these "home engine builder" vids! They're super informative and helpful.

MAPP burns hotter, not just a bigger flame. Great video Tony! Also, the point where the primary cone and secondary cone meet is the hottest part. If the primary bright blue cone is wrapping around the piece, you're holding it too close. Sorry, I'm a firebug.

So glad everything I have uses floating pistons. Sprio locks are SLIGHTLY less annoying than pressed pin.

I have taken it up on myself to do my 86 4 runner's 22RE. This channel has made me feel so much more comfortable about the project. Watching you has helped me grasp and understand so much more. Thank you!

Great "how to" video Tony thanks. There is a British motorcycle engine builder that we all know and love that uses his gas grill to do this. Either method looks very easy if you take your time. Thanks again.

This channel is a public service for the nex generation of hot rodders Watching power nation and motor trend in the past few years turned me away from cars for lack of budget . Even though ive always been a die hard car fanatic . Thank you Tony , youve inspierd me and gave me confidence to start tinkering with engines again

Thanks Uncle Tony your the best! I asked this a couple weeks back on a live stream, great to see a follow up video as I know it’s a hot topic with not a lot of info out there. I ended up building an adjustable jig that clamps the piston and sets the wrist pin depth, very similair to what a machine shop has. Ive always been told if the rod gets dull red/red hot the rod is toasted and might aswell throw it out. I did this last week in my SBC I only heated the rods until they were blue and the wrist pin slid right in no problem, Great work by the way appreciate the video!

Wow! I've never heated the rod to remove a pressed in pin. I've got a huge vise & pressed the pins out to clean the pistons & rod then pressed the pin back in. I've never damaged a piston or had any issue. I see the benefit of heating the rod it would take the stress off the piston while making in pin go in a lot easier.

An old friend's dad had a pieces of metal that were bent to a Block C shape for replacing pistons or connecting rods on any of his three engines

Used Moms oven to heat my 327 rods back in the day. Worked great until Mom went to use the oven the next day. My ass is still sore from the old man.

Reminds me of heating up a starter ring gear until it falls into a new flywheel, a new M Benz standard shift flywheel doesn't always come with a starter ring gear, so sometimes you have to patiently tap around the old flywheel with a brass drift to remove the ring without breaking it and put it on the new flywheel. If all goes well getting it off, just lay it flat and heat the crap out of it with Acetylene/Ox torch. But never ever tap the ring while it's hot. It will snap like popcorn. Great Video Uncle Tony.

Of course a machine shop is easiest but I have done it at home without much trouble. Its all about setup. I used a block of wood with a section cut out with the same radius as the piston. I used a cheap tabletop hydraulic press from harbor freight. Heating the rod in the oven and cooling the pin in the freezer reduces the amount of force the press has to apply.

It's amazing what heat and cold will do for press fits. I had an interference fit bearing in a tractor axle where the old one slipped out and I couldn't get the new one in and due to it being inside the housing I couldn't tap it really with anything. Bearing sat in the freezer overnight and I heated the housing just a bit with a propane torch and when I got the bearing out it just pushed right in with ease.

I grab the rod through the big end and hold it in such a way that when I extend my hand the tang will be in the direction I need it in and keep it like that. That way once the heat is off I can quickly assemble

Damn Uncle Tony making it look easy! Love this channel.

Awesome as always Sir! Thanks for the Super Useful info for us regular folks!

Looks good Tony. I have a little jig i made out of scrap that I set the piston in, and it has a bolt on one side to set the pin depth. Ive always done this job with a propane torch.

I was half expecting the party trick with this one... in my automotive class, our teacher did this exact thing (with an oxy torch instead, though) but when he let it cool down, he showed the transfer of heat from the conrod to the pin, and from the pin to the piston. My teacher did this by holding the connecting rod up off the piston by a bit (about a 45 degree angle) and when the con rod cooled down and the pin heated up, the pin locked up inside the conrod and the piston, making the conrod stay on the 45ish angle... until it dropped when the piston soaked up some of the heat from the pin, expanding the hole to be bigger. Great content nonetheless, and was everything I remember being taught about this! I even distinctly remember the feeling of the pin slipping into the conrod... good times!

I need to start learning to do that my self. Most of the old timer in my area getting to old and retired or dieing off.. you have the same techniques my pap used. He passed away 7years ago at 84 years old.

Back when I was a pup 78 I worked for chevrolet I was doing an engine that needed a rod so I bought it to a machine shop down the street and he used a torch to do it made it look so simple no questions about how you are doing this

Nice tutorial! I had forgotten that I did this back in the 70's putting 12.5/1 pistons in my uncles 62 Impala! I actually need to put a set of 5.7" rods on 400 pistons, so this is cool!!

A stick welder can also be used to heat the rod, not to weld on it but arc the welder out on the rod end and let it hum until it gets warmer enough positive and negative on each side of the rod end to only heat the end

Awesome. Thank you, uncle Tony and uncle Kathy.

I did a dirt bike piston by putting the piston pin in the freezer and the rod in the oven at about 210 degrees, a little oil and it slipped right into place then let it cool

Another great uncle Tony tip! See ya tomorrow for sure!

Cool! I’ve always been worried about setting pins in rods. I’ve always had the machine shop do them. I’ve been curious about replacing pistons of different metals, and domes. This was definitely an eye opener! Thanks again!

You're a godsend, Uncle Tony! Thank you!

This was the video I was waiting for. Along with every new video of course. Good job!

I have a Samurai I'm working on that has rods like this, although they're a lot smaller than that old Mopar! I think I'm going to try a machine shop for this one though, I feel like the tiny little pistons and wrist pins won't take my ham-fisted attempts well. It really looks easy in your video, and if I didn't have a machine shop ready to do it for me, I'd be out there in the shop with a torch myself.

No cherry red, "you're not looking to have the heat come up the shank of the rod" that got a good laugh outta me. I could just about hear the clatter of piston and rod on start up after reassembly and hoping uncle rodney didnt make a quick exit. Lol....

4:48 “I USE MY FINGERS AS A GAUGE….” best Rock Band name of the ‘60’s.

There are some propane torch rigs that are capable of high heat operations but you won't find them usually at the local hardware store. I have used some in the plumbing trade in place of acetylene units.

I "press fitted" my whole Speed Pro hypereutectic set with nothing but that exact bernzomatic propane torch. I had to, because everywhere I tried to take em literally told me "I can't guarantee that I won't crush these pistons with the press". Freezing the wrist pins made it sooo much worse. It cooled the rod too fast and then you don't have the same window of opportunity to get it centered. I just heated the rod and pushed the pin through exactly the same way you demonstrated, to where my fingers stopped it.

Great video, however, I see one small issue, which on factory engines, may but be an issue. This method heats the rod to beyond its "critical point" or the area in which steel loses any temper it has, which is at about a dull red. Another way to check this is if it loses its magnetism. Steel, heated to that point, quits being magnetic. So if the temp gets above that, any temper is lost. If this affects stock rods, or if temper matters in this context I don't know, but it's something to take into account.

Thank Tony for another awesome video! I remember the 1st time I seen this done..i was like oh my God my RODS!! The machinist was an old guy that was known for building race engines so i didnt dare question him. That engine saw some high revs and never had an issue with it! I still have machinist do certain things for me just cause their way better at it

Great job Tony. The only other advantage to having a machine shop doing this that they would check the bore of the large end of the rod and machine it if it is found to be out of round.

Thanks Uncle Tony. Been looking on how to do a rod swap and your method saves the rod and the piston. Just what I needed. You Rock!

Thanks Tony , that was the coolest thing I've ever seen .

It looks like he's using a Bernzomatic TS4000 torch and so called 'map gas'. This setup will cost a sizable sum of money. I used a regular brass style torch from the hardware store and propane gas. I put the pin in a bowl of ice for 15 minutes before installing and it worked just fine.

Thanks for the tech Uncle T. Got a 327 Chevy that needs a new piston. Might give it a shot on all 8

Thanks for this info I'm in Canada we don't have any machine shops anymore

Badda Bing, Badda Bip!!

Machine shops have messed up my co$tly forged pistons a couple of times. Will experiment on a couple of used rod / pistons Thank Uncle Tony .

Have you checked the hardness before and after?

Usually you share great knowledge.. Not this time, the rods are around 55rc harness from the factory, which is a temper of around 500°f for these rods, so anything above that will futher temper them back, and anything above 550°f has effectively nullified the heat treat. So, any glowing... Is too far.. You should be shooting for color change of about "hay", not even into "blue".. But overall, just putting them in a 450°f oven will hit it everytime. ....... I can. Promise you, if you purchase a set a RC hardness test files, you'll see the big end is much harder than the small end of the rods you just destroyed.

I've always had good results just tapping it out with a socket as the driver. I've been told it can't be done that way, but it works just fine.

I'll be doing this myself after your tutorial. Easy method and excellent how to. Thanks!

Definitely works. They sell great crayons that melt at predictable Temps which helps those nervous about overheating. Freezing the pin also is a good idea. Heading the rod is heating the rod. I love full floaters and haven't used anything else since early 90's. But those are high dollar engines and another topic altogether.

You should build a clone/Hemi Predator, stock rod, stock crank, stock piston and see how long 25hp will hold👍

Good Advice brought to you by the Shut up and listen corner here at UTG Headquarters.. Keep wrenching everyone

Another great old school educational video. UT should consider teaching at the local College or trade tech school. He would be an excellent Auto Shop teacher. 👍😊

VGG got a tour of the Blue Print engines factory. They do so many if these that they have a special fixture. Machine presents piston appropriate side up with wrist pin inserted to proper depth. The operator has a rod presented also in the correct orientation. He places the piston end in a heating slot and presses a button. When the rod is ready a light goes green. The operator moves the rod over to the piston and pushes a button which properly inserts the pin.

Expertly presented & Explained !! .....It's Important to measure the Actual desired pin offset Direction as some Aftermarket pistons Arrow stamp is oriented Reversed from Oem & you can end up Reversed from Intended !!

Good stuff. A simple pin stop can be built on a mill or drill press table (or any flat surface). An infrared thermometer takes away the chance of extracting the temper of the rod. 430-460 degrees F is what I aim for.

Apparently no heat treatment in a factory rod if turning the end dull red does not effect them.

Thank you for giving me the confidence to do this myself. The machine shop wasnt an option.

STEVE Dulcitch has a video on how to make a tool that presses the pin in or out without any heat or damage to the pistons with nothing more than an old pin and a threaded rod . IT works like a c press for kingpins and you don't have to heat the rods ,maybe putting the pins in freezer to install to go back easier.I know how UT doesn't care too much for those guys but its a pretty ingenious tool

Awesome vid! I appreciate the information here, I should have listened to the very first thing you said and taken mine to a machine shop! Haha, I ruined a 440 6 Pack Rod, and Tweaked a KB 137 Piston Head!!! I mentioned your chanel in the video I'm posting now crediting you with giving me the confidence to try this myself. You make it look very easy. I just found your channel and look forward to watching more of your stuff!

The new Mapp gas is nothing like the OG stuff from the 2000’s that got discontinued. In fact, it is only marginally hotter than propane. Look it up. Don’t let the sound or looks of the flame fool ya.

Good on ya uncle tony always helping out the home-gamer DIY man….!!

make sure upon install that the rod is in the proper direction according to piston valve relief,so the rods don't bind on the crank.

Excellent vid Uncle Tony. I'm assuming this is one way to do the much debated practice of "turning the pistons around backwards" on a 318,to change the offset that you mention in the pistons,to get a bit of added low end torque. I ask because i've always wanted to try it.

On factory assembled press fit wrist pins the rod small end was typically induction heated.

Playing with racecars that was one job I hated, not difficult just a pain. Was a joy when we learned about floating pins with clips

Is this where you would reverse the piston direction in relation to the rod? or do you reverse the rod-piston assembly when you reverse the pistons?

I appreciate your video you saved me time and money thank you

Heating the rod will drive out the moisture. Then when you paint cute little flowers on it they will stick better.

Thanks Tony. I'll put that in my toolbox 🤔

Very good practice, nice job explaining Tony.

Great vid but the two torches have different nozzles one is a ts4000 which is a bigger flame that's what u have on the yellow map tank but the blue prop tank has a wk something nozzle which is smaller. Map gas does burn hotter tho so could be a reason to pick it over prop but I'm no expert.

Thumbs up 👍 Thank you for the Video uncle Tony I enjoyed watching 👀

Never tried to use a little torch to change wrist pins before norm just use a big ass press and spacer between the rod and piston and a socket to push the pin out.....id figure id would heat transfer to the pin or piston

I used to have a small plug to use as a stop when pressing the pin. Compensate for the rod side play. I only did it so people wouldn't tell me I was sloppy

That was fun.

I have done this using a toaster oven and stove top coil as well, same principle applies.

thanks so much uncle tony. Regards

Sure looks easy. I'd like to see how to remove the pin and rod by this method - or any method. Hyd. press without a jig is a rough go. Heating the rod end just seems to heat the pin too and nothing moves. I've tried this many times and the only way I've ever got them apart is with a cold chisel and hammer. Crack the rod and drive the pin out. Save the piston, scrap the rod. Usually needs to be the other way around.

Thanks! This is very timely information for me!

Heat the rod, got it. Press fit in the rod. I have a question, why does the piston pin cycle in the softer piston aluminum alloy rather than the harder rod steel alloy? Is it because of the greater bearing surface area? Guess it doesn't matter much because it's not rotating...

If you're swapping a set of pistons I guess you can save torch gas and time by removing then immediately reheating for install before the small end gets cold?

That was good to know and well demonstrated

Hey uncle Tony. Do a video about the strap roll up/roll down windows. 🤟

To the best of my knowledge MAP gas is a mix of accetaline and propane it kinda smells like accitaline win it comes out of torch not burning.Done similar things many times.

Gallon can, oil, hot plate, put little end in the oil, I think 450 F. works, the oil is your assembly lube . Push 'em right in . You might wanna use a heat gun to see if 450 F. is enough .

Thank you , explained very well