#7 connecting rod turned a straw color after cam r

I have a 70 390 amc that ran a little warmer than expected during the cam run-in so tore it down and did not notice anything major except that #7 connecting rod has a straw color to it while all of the other rods look to be the same color, the engine did not reach boil over temps as it had a 195 thermostat and the temps reached 212 prior to shut down. Anyone have advice or why only one connecting rod changed?

I had primed the engine and running right about 60 psi hot the real question is the rod bearing look fine with no discolor and no wear upon a visual inspection the piston looks fine and the crank has no signs so the question is should I replace the rod or should be okay as I said it was run for a short time and no other indication of any damage.

yes, they were all the same color when installed as the shop had put together the rods and pistons but I did the rest.

If the rod was blue or bluish in color I would think it got to hot. When you say straw, I think of a goldish / tan color. Is that what you mean?

Was the rod wet from oil or dry compared to the other rods?

How long did you run it for? Its possible the next stage was to turn blue from lack of lube or being too tight of either the piston in the bore of wrist pin or rod bearing clearance. I would at a minimum check these clearances and inspect all the surfaces and the rod bearings. Plasti gauge it again as well.

Was the plug for that cylinder running/burning the same as the others?

If a rod got hot enough to change color, you would have noticed other very dramatic symptoms, in the form of noises and flying parts.