Method of manufacturing connecting rod

A method of manufacturing a connecting rod, the connecting rod including a big end part that has an approximately circular cross section for supporting a crankshaft with a bearing, a small end part for supporting a piston pin with another bearing, and a rod part integrally connecting the big end part to the small end part, wherein the big end part is split in two by fracture on a split surface that passes through an approximately central axis of a bearing hole formed in the big end part and is approximately perpendicular to a center line that extends from the big end part to the small end part and divides the rod part into right and left sides, the big end part is split into a rod side upper half obtained by integrating an upper half of the big end part with the small end part by use of the rod part and a cap side lower half formed of a lower half of the big end part, and the rod side upper half and the cap side lower half are integrated by bonding on the split surface in a state where a bearing metal having an arc-shaped cross section is attached to an inner circumferential surface of the bearing hole, the inner circumferential surface of the bearing having positioning grooves prior to fracture of the big end part for fixing the bearing metal, said method comprising the steps of:

• inserting an approximately cylindrical die into the bearing hole, the die having projections corresponding to the positioning grooves on an outer circumferential surface and including a pair of split dies in which at least one mating surface is partially notched to form a tapered face;
• pressing the inner circumferential surface of the bearing hole with the projections by sliding a tapered wedge along the tapered face and moving the pair of split dies in a radial direction of the bearing hole while separating the mating surfaces from each other;
• and
• forming the positioning grooves on the inner circumferential surface of the bearing hole.