Can main bolts be re-used?

[v8skantkeepup]

A friend of mine asked for help rebuilding a chevy 350 that he has is his daily driver. It is in a early 80s' truck. All he is interested in doing is replacing all the rod/main bearings, and puting new gaskets on the bottom of the motor. He already baught the bearings, gaskets, assembly lube, lock-tite, and even a new oil pump. He called me over to begin taking it apart and, not long after we started pulling parts, I became aware that he didn't buy new main bolts. He said he wants to use the old ones. We both have tinkered with cars for many years, but never attempted to replace a bottom end.
Can the main cap bolts be re-used? I know head bolts cannot.
We have two different manuals, and niether touches this question.
Any help would be great!

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by v8skantkeepup

Can the main cap bolts be re-used? I know head bolts cannot.
We have two different manuals, and niether touches this question.

There are two types of bolts, normal, and torque to yeild. The normal ones, can be reused, the TTY bolts should be replaced rather then reused. Last I heard mid 80s SBC used normal bolts. If the manual doesn't mention it, IMO, that'd be an indicator, they're normal.

 

[turbofish38]

You can reuse the main bolts. I've never heard of TTY bolts used on the main caps, well not on our motors or the old style SBC's.

 

[mousemobile]

Should be no problem reusing the main bolts. SBC head bolt should be changed. The bolts are threaded into the eater jacket and may corrode. Reusing old head bolts tends to pull threads in the block. SBC block material isn't the best grade either. I know from experience.

It's acceptable to reuse headbolts on other engines, especally with better iron and blind head bolt holes.