1929 LaSalle rods

[Guest Len Sholes]

I am wondering if anyone has converted the con rods in a 1929 engine to shells and if so what shells did you use. A friend of mine is rebuilding his 29 engine and is considering this as an alternative to having the babbit redone. He has located a shell that fits a Ford engine that is the corect size for the ID however the OD dimension that he has to bore the rod to has him concerned as it will be out to the rod bolts bore. He is thinking of using a .020 shim between the cap and rod as this way when the rod is bored out to accecpt the shell he will not be into the rod bolt bore. Has anyone any expierence on whether this will work or not. Also he will have to machine the shell to make it narrower to fit the conrod. Any comments on this topic would be appreciated.