Clevite 77 vs King HP in 461
 

Was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on clevite vs king engine bearings. I am building this 461 with intentions to get it around 500HP and street driven. I want to get the most miles, dependability out of it. I can't decide whether to use clevite 77 trimetal or King HP bimetal for the rods and mains. Was wondering what the guys here are running on their builds. I know clearances are the most important, but also want to be safe as possible in detonation and such if it were to happen. Thanks

Both are good bearings. Clearance would determined which bearing I would use at your power level.

Clevites have a round oil hole in the mains. Not sure about the King bearings. But the hole in the bearing is not where the main shot of oil comes from. Where the holes intersect in the block the one on the "tab" side gets it. I drill a hole the bearing and match up that hole in the block and take a jewelers file and debur it.
Otherwise you can starve your rods from oil at high RPM. Or buy a main bearing with a "slot" and be done with it.

There both good bearing sets. Clevites will be tighter then the Kings..

Hey Bob, just responded to your PM about this same subject. Been on vacation and didn't see your PM. Basically I try to use Sealed Power for mains because I like the grooved 3" bearings and the way the thrust bearing is already got the groves for lubrication front to rear. On rods, I use whatever brand that will get me the clearance I'm looking for. Sealed Power or Speed Pro's will run quite a bit looser than Clevites on the rod bearings and the main bearings as well.

The type of main Bearings and or Rod Bearings used will not give you protection from detonation as you seem to be looking for!

The strength of the steel backing near all Bearing are made of is pretty much the same, the other upper layers of a Bearing are harder or softer to either allow grit to imbed in them and not score the journals, or be a littler harder to support higher Levels load / HP.

Make sure the motor is balanced well. Some shops are "good enough" guys and other shops are "on the money". Either bearing will live very long if the motor is happy. detonation will kill every motor fast

Thanks for the input. The rotating assembly parts were ordered from butler so I am confident they will be right. I just wasn't sure on the bearings. I read bimetal last longer but the trimetal takes larger loads. It will be mostly street driven with some fun at the track from time to time. I just wasn't sure if one was better over the other for a street car with longer drive time.

IMO, any of the Big 3, King, FM or Clevite will work just fine for you. King has allot of of good technical material on their web site about bi-metal vs Tri-metal and so forth. I have found King to be very accurate and consistent as far as clearance.

We no longer use the King brg line, had too many issues over the years with incorrect chamfers on their "race" brgs, strictly Clevites now!

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. We also recommend modifying the 5 upper main shells, this mod allows the brg to carry more load than normal!

Thats how far the oil hole is off in a Clevite. The drilled hole is the same size as the one in the block.

Even the race bearings with the slot are not perfectly aligned with the hole in the block with main shot of oil.

We do the little golf club deal on the FM bearings as well. No issues.