Actually, Chevy sort of pioneered a process called "Centri-Casting"- - - - (centrifugal casting) where the rod is heated and spun in a fixture with the rod journal at its center, and molten Babbit metal is sprayed into the spinning rod under pressure. Then it's machined to the size of the crankshaft journal, standard or undersize. It adheres to the rod like solder sticks to a wire connection or a piece of sheet metal when the temperature and fluxing is correct. Reconditioned rods usually didn't get that treatment- - - -most of them were simply poured with a mold like the Model A and T rods. I can usually tell an OEM rod from a recon because the reconditioned rods will have the entire bottom of the rod tinned so the molded-in Babbit will stick better. The OEM bearing material is also harder than woodpecker lips- - - -most recon rods have softer bearing material in them.
I've got a milling fixture that I built for my lathe that holds the rod on the carriage and uses a micrometer-adjust boring head in the spindle to cut the Babbit and a little of the steel out of the rod to fit a Massey-Ferguson tractor rod bearing. That bearing costs about $5.00 each, and is plentiful, compared to the very scarce and expensive conversion bearings the resto-ripoff places like Egge Machine sells. The downside is the journal size- - - -it's 1/16" smaller than a standard stovebolt rod bearing so the crankshaft has to be reground to fit the bearing. Even that can be an advantage- - - -a "worn out" .030" undersize 216 crankshaft can be salvaged and run with a standard size Perkins diesel (Massey-Ferguson) bearing.
Jerry
