302 con rod assembly

[Limey57]

I have a '79 302 for my Ranchero.  The engine was in bits when I got it, I've had it bored & decked, crank re-ground & had the rods and flex plate balanced.  All good so far.  The con-rods appear symmetrical, BUT I seem to remember being they aren't and there is a right & wrong way for them to be assembled to the pistons.  I know the pistons are marked for the front face, but what about the con rods, how do I know which side faces the crank journals and which side faces the adjacent con rod?

Thanks

[gasman826]

Rods hang so you can read the numbers when they are installed on the crank.  Pistons have a heavy side so OEM ones usually have a mark to the outside of the block or arrow to the front.  I always believed in installing the rods in order but if the rods are reconditioned and balanced, order is not the issue.

[Limey57]

Thanks, numbers to the outside then. 

[gasman826]

Yes.

[rmk57]

They can only go one way. The connecting rods will have a chamfer on one side. The chamfer side will face towards the fillet on the crankshaft.

[lowrider]

Sometimes people will do their best to assemble something wrong. Years ago I was going thru a buddy's Mustang 351w after a GM mechanic built it a couple years earlier. Sure enough he had half the rods hung backwards. So yes, they can only go on one way (the right way). But if you really try you can hang them backwards.

[hiball3985]

A friend of mine did the same thing, he hung all the rods and pistons the same. Finished installing the right bank and all was fine and as soon as he put the first left bank in it froze up..

[rmk57]

They'll true blue in a hurry that's for sure!

[Limey57]

Thanks, done five and the press started playing up, so 'll do the other three at work.