Ground down Rod Caps

[trim]

When I bought my 69 RR, the seller said the 383 engine had been balanced and blueprinted but that he didn't have the paperwork. Reason: His brother had died and left him the car but he didn't get all the paperwork. He also said other things that I feel were, lets just say ...from a salesman's point of view.
I have pulled the engine to clean and paint the engine bay. After removing the pan to have a look, I noticed that the rod caps have been ground down....each cap having different amounts removed or ground off. I guess my question is, Is this normal on a factory engine or is it possible that the seller was right and the engine was balanced ? And does blueprinting mean paper work?
The compression seemed to be good: 145 to 160 doing a dry test. 54,000 miles.
Kinda a newbie at this sort of thing, so although not a complete dummie, I do admit to a lack of knowledge! ottytrain5:
Thanks foir a response, trim

 

[Meep-Meep]

The ends of the rod caps have large bosses on them to allow the removal of weight. If you see belt sand marks indicating various amounts of material removed then I'd say someone balanced the rods. The top end of the rod should have similar sand/grind marks as well but you won't be able to see them. You should also see fairly fresh drill marks in the crank counterweights and maybe the harmonic absorber. Sounds like you have a nice engine.

 

[bigmanjbmopar]

yup, I had my 493 balanced and you can see the grind marks on the rods, pistons and crank. Blueprinted means the engine parts were bought and put together for a reason ie stroker or compression etc. and machined for a perfect fit along with balancing you get the term blueprinted and balanced. all this work is done by a machine shop. Sounds like you have a good motor. never know until you get it running and lite up the tires