[geeteeohguy]

Originally Posted by tom s

John,I have been able to find rods but have not found mains that are made for a large radius?Tom

You can use an old fashioned bearing scraper or a file or even a sharp knife and dress down the side of the bearing to clear the filet on the crank. I just did this last year when assembling my 383 SBC. The machinist showed me the trick when he sold me the bearings......it takes a little time, but the upside is more bearing material supporting the rod or crank than the thin 'race' bearings supply. YMMV...

[Will]

The great thing about 301s is that 350 and larger engines bolt right into their place with minimal hassle.

[MarkS57]

Originally Posted by Will

The great thing about 301s is that 350 and larger engines bolt right into their place with minimal hassle.

Absolutely and exactly what I did. Bought a used 75 350, rebuilt the heads and hacked .030" off to bump the compression a bit, added a qjet & manifold. Great car, wished I still had it.

[wbnapier]

Tom,

If the #5 bearing tangs are 20 thous off, compared to what? The saddle center? The crank main journal? An original GM 455 bearing? Or another aftermarket bearing?

Thank you for helping QB this.

Brent

[tom s]

He has 3 diff brand bearings there waiting for the crank to come back.Will know more than.Was there today.Tom

[hgerhardt]

Why can't a guy just put the bearing shells together in a circle (as-installed) and using a 6-jaw chuck on a lathe just put whatever fillet radius/chamfer you want on the bearings?

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by KEN CROCIE

Reminds me of the guy at the swap meet selling secret oil sauce. He had an old I-6 running without the oil pan. Onlookers were amazed

I always enjoyed the ones at Carlisle who were selling the magic device that mounted on top of the distributor between the coil and the center post of the distributor. They'd have the ubiquitous SBC V8 that ran a little rough until they installed this magic device, then it smoothed right out.

I shouted out to the vendor once, who was giving a demonstration with a microphone hanging around his neck plugged into a small amplifier.

"What are the spark plugs gapped to?!"

The look on that guys face LOL.

[track73]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

At our school before they became all politically correct, every spring for ten years or more we had the "brick test". The marginal students with D- and F+ grades were given the "Option to improve their grade by 1 letter grade". They would have to line up their cars and drain the oil and coolant, start them up and put a brick on the gas pedal. Last one running got the letter grade bump. Some years we had 4-5 cars in the contest. The smart students, (among the dummies), would intentionally have extra poor running engines that would not rev too high. Their were many memorable engine epic failures. One that just wouldn't die was an iron duke 4-cyl in a Sunbird. It must have run wide open, no oil, no coolant for 20 minutes then just slowly seized up and stalled. After cooling for an hour or so, it started right back up and ran another 10 minutes before finally tossing a connecting rod. Good times!!

My son checked the oil in my 80 Buick Skylark 4 cylinder with the engine running so he thought it had oil in the crankcase. Then he drove it 20 miles to and from a Christmas party with no problems. I checked the oil the next day and there was nothing on the dipstick. I put four quarts in and drove it for about 6 months without any problems.

[tom s]

I have had engine builders do exactly that on bearings WHEN they know there is a issue!Most ASSUME if bearing clearance is proper they dont HAVE to do something to brand new bearings!It seems like something has changed on Clevite 3 1/4 main bearings compared to other brands.The set Mike has in his shop also dont have the little half moon cut outs on the #4 bearing?The rep looked at them and was at a loss as the box said maid in the USA.Inquiring minds need to know!Tom

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by tom s

The rep looked at them and was at a loss as the box said maid in the USA.

We can at least rest easy knowing that our quality USA box makers are still employed and doing good work. I don't trust anything out of the box these days.

[chiphead]

This sparked a memory of something.

Last year when I was building my 434, I test fit a set of Clevite mains. As I recall, the rear main bearing (3" main block) was messed up. The oil groove in the upper didn't match the groove in the lower half. It would have been hard to spot if I wasn't really paying attention. I took them out of the block and lined the bearings up, the oil groove was WAY off. I sent them back to summit and went 4040M1.

Avoid clevite bearings.

[mgarblik]

It is a shame to hear that Clevite MAY be having some quality issues. Clevite has been a good name brand for my entire engine building life. I personally have not been using Clevite bearings for Pontiac builds in the last 15 years or so. Only because they really didn't offer a race bearing and those were the type engines I was building. From a dimensional, fit and finish, and overall quality standpoint, I have been impressed with King Bearings for our 3" main blocks. Ever since Federal Mogul moved all the performance bearing manufacturing to Mexico, the quality has become a little looser and many of the new bearings come in dirty. Easily corrected, but not an indication of quality. King bearings are made in Israel and come in immaculate and very carefully packed.

[OG68]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

It is a shame to hear that Clevite MAY be having some quality issues. Clevite has been a good name brand for my entire engine building life. I personally have not been using Clevite bearings for Pontiac builds in the last 15 years or so. Only because they really didn't offer a race bearing and those were the type engines I was building. From a dimensional, fit and finish, and overall quality standpoint, I have been impressed with King Bearings for our 3" main blocks. Ever since Federal Mogul moved all the performance bearing manufacturing to Mexico, the quality has become a little looser and many of the new bearings come in dirty. Easily corrected, but not an indication of quality. King bearings are made in Israel and come in immaculate and very carefully packed.

My engine builder recommended King over Clevite, due to what he perceived was a lack of quality.

[steve25]

I have seen that kind Crank breakage with a non beat on SBC 350 2 bbl automatic no less!

[tom s]

Here are pics of the Clevite and FM bearings in the block.The crank has been cut 10 which cut some of the radius.The Clevite sits a little farther back in the block.FWIW,Tom

[ponjohn]

Originally Posted by tom s

Here are pics of the Clevite and FM bearings in the block.The crank has been cut 10 which cut some of the radius.The Clevite sits a little farther back in the block.FWIW,Tom

Would the first photo present a problem?

[tom s]

Depending on the radius!By the look of the seized bearing the machinest thinks so.Hard to tell now that the crank has been turned.He just think it’s another thing that needs to be checked close on all builds.Tom

[KEN CROCIE]

The user has become the mfgs quality control dept.

[HWYSTR455]

Amen.


.

[1968GTO421]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

It is a shame to hear that Clevite MAY be having some quality issues. Clevite has been a good name brand for my entire engine building life. I personally have not been using Clevite bearings for Pontiac builds in the last 15 years or so. Only because they really didn't offer a race bearing and those were the type engines I was building. From a dimensional, fit and finish, and overall quality standpoint, I have been impressed with King Bearings for our 3" main blocks. Ever since Federal Mogul moved all the performance bearing manufacturing to Mexico, the quality has become a little looser and many of the new bearings come in dirty. Easily corrected, but not an indication of quality. King bearings are made in Israel and come in immaculate and very carefully packed.

Thank you for this info. I was told about 10-12 years ago by a machinist King bearings were made in China so I've avoided them. Thanks for seting the record straight.