<VV> changing rod bolts

[djtcz at comcast.net]

I'd say the chances of successfully changing bolts and the big end bores staying nice are not very good.  Gotta measure to know in any case. I'm inclined to check rebuilt rods anyway.  The big-end requirements exceed what can be done with a vernier, and require a bore gage or something similar capable of consistently measuring 0.0001 inch. The knurled body tends to cut or distort itself and the cap and rod holes, and things shift.  Witness how miserable some caps are to remove.
When done the bore should be round with 0.0005 inch and have less than 0.0002 inch taper or bell mouth.  Out of round that is ovality, with the larger diameter across both sides of the the parting face is OK. Out of round that is tight or offset across the parting face (cap shift) is not good.
Efforts to maintain cap to rod alignment, like clamping the rod in a vice and changing one bolt at a time are worth trying, but do not eliminate the NECESSITY of measuring the rods when done. Plastigage will not easily detect cap shift.
The bolt head hides the broached notch which is the most crack prone area of the rod, so magnafluxing rods with the bolts in has a certain ostrich or head- in-the-sand type mentality. 
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original message - 
From: <corvair at mts.net>
Subject: <VV> Connecting rod bolts
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Message-ID: <5l8na8$52n44g at wnpgmb02-c600c.mts.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I have a set of rebuilt rods here (sized and balanced) that didn't have the rod 
bolts replaced at rebuild time. Since then I've obtained a set of new rod bolts. 
Can I swap the bolts without getting the big ends resized again?

Les
corvair at mts.net
(VV since 1995)