2 things, firstly I have purchased a set od ARPBE05 rod bolts part no 151-6003 for my 2ltr silver top zetec, in fitting them the waisted piece approx half way down the bolt bottoms out in the rod prior to the cap becoming tight, there is no mention of having to machine the rod, merely a statement that the cap may need reaming to accomodate the wider bolt, (which it did )am I missing something or has anyone else has the same or similar problems? Surely you dont have to remove the pistons/rods just to machine them to put ARP bolts in?
Secondly, my head is back from being ported and it is time to get it skimmed, it has not previously been skimmed as it came off a low mileage 2ltr ( i know I missed a trick by not starting with a 1800 head but I've paid for the porting now so am reluctant to start again) How much material can I take off? I was thinking of somewhere in the region of 20 thou, what have eople tried and got away with?
Thanks in advance.

I think if a head has been ported it hasn't had any work done to the combustion chambers?? if it has you will need to get teh actual volume so you can work out how much to skim to give you the CR you are after.
Otherwise, I am sure somebody here can tell you what needs taking off for a specific CR

No work has been done to the combustion chambers, just the ports. I've heard talk of 11:1 CR but it's for road use so I was thinking more like 10.5:1. Has anyone got any knowledge of using st170 head gaskets which are thin and negate the need for skimming the head (apparently).

Fitted 2 sets of ARP bolts to 2 litre Zetecs in the past. On both occations the shank has been very tight in the cap but if you clean off the black coating with wet and dry (1200 grade is what I used) they will fit perfectly. Never had to ream the much talked about chamfers, they were already there.

My 2 litre head had approx 40 thou off to give a CR of 11 to 1 but the cumbustion xchambers had been cleaned up as well.

My arp bolts were a straight fit, I had 20tho skimmed of my head and with a standard gasket ment to in rlncrease to 10.5:1 there is a calculation on net if you google zetec compression ratio. Not got any knowledge of st170 gaskets or multi layer steel ones but may be an option

Thanks both, think i'll go for a safe 20 thou, maybe 25. As for the bolts I reamed the rods in the end, only a fraction had to come off. Thanks again.