I think, but I'm not certain, that the 350 SBC rod little end is 1.061" (26.949mm) wide. Don't think it's a deal breaker as there are plenty of options to get the VW rod to fit the Chevy piston once you've sorted the pin diameter.
I’ve just measured a couple of VW 2.0l rods at 26.70mm but it’s a rough ground surface and not a critical dimension with probably a fairly large tolerance.
That's OK as you need some clearance for splash lubrication of the gudgeon pin. I think that the OEM Chevy pins are a press fit in the piston, may not be so for the aftermarket ones.
Thank you both very much. A plan is coming together. I think the 20cc dish pistons look a better shape dish? I'll get my rods rebushed to suit the chevvy pins and have a spare set of pistons. Get the barrels shortened and honed to 103.12 Pair of 43/36 heads with no chamber work. Unshroud the valves myself. Set of copper rings. Bob's your uncle. I had very cold feet about getting AA to open up big chambers. They would not provide photos or describe how the chamber would end up. What they would say say led me to believe they would make it up as they went along. Good also to leave that 12-15cc material per chamber in the head where it belongs. Every little helps. Those chevvy pistons - less than £25/pot complete with rings and pins tax paid. The Keith Black ones as pictured are more, but only £2 more for 8 than a set of 4 AA pistons. Mental. How we get stung for VW stuff.
VW ones are a press fit cold? I wonder if the chevvy pistons just need warming a little like the VW ones because otherwise that could present a problem for my car park rebuild. I wonder if I'm supposed to replace the rod bolts now I'll be taking them off.
I don't know nuffink about the bolts the rods were supplied with. Would ARP-200k psi bolts be typical? I don't even know what make the rods are - I got them from happy Jim at Stateside Tuning. Look at my lovely cam too - I can't believe people throw them away. I checked the Keith Black ad - "full floating wrist pins". Does that sound too loose?
No, I think that they are a good idea on two grounds. One is that they will be easier to assemble and the other is that they will cope with the potentially higher temperature of the piston better.
It will amuse me having Chevrolet pistons in my engine. More than likely. You mean 101.5mm? Amazing the amount of different pistons available for a small block chevy from 28mm dishes, 20, 18, 14, 13, 12, 8...flat top then back the other way with domed. Same for stroker pistons and all in stock plus two over bore sizes... all for peanuts compared to VW prices.
