Changing main brgs question
- Thread starter TurboGN
- Start date
Russ Merritt
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
If you put the standards in your increasing your clearance. Your oil pressure will suffer.........Get the .001s.
Russ Merritt
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
No problem.....Good luck with the freshin up!
The general has discontinued all main bearings for our cars. OEMs ran $25 to $30 per main, i.e., $100+ per refreshen. The parts man said they could not compete and nobody bought them so they were discontinued. Look like STD size is as good as it gets unless someone has an extra set of OEMs laying around.
BoostKillsStres
TIRE-FRYER VIA HAIR-DRYER
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
TurboGN,
I also did my rods and mains in the car, such fun..., when it looked like a little too much crap from my dieing timing chain went thru the bearings. I ordered Clevite77 bearings from Autozone. My GN had one half of the factory main shells stamped .001 and the other half not stamped with anything, was yours like this? I'm assuming both my upper and lower bearings were .001 as when putting a mic on them thickness w/in 0.0005 but my mic is only accurate to 0.001 so I'm still not sure if the non stamped factory bearing was std or .001. So I put .001's back in and when checking w/ plastigauge things showed tight around .0012 to .0015 on the mains but figured that would open up a little once they scuffed in slightly. So again, I'm assuming both stock bearing shells were .001 as this seems like a decent factory clearence setting. I've heard stories about the factory mixing bearing sizes to get whatever clearence they were looking for on the assembly line.
I also did my rods and mains in the car, such fun..., when it looked like a little too much crap from my dieing timing chain went thru the bearings. I ordered Clevite77 bearings from Autozone. My GN had one half of the factory main shells stamped .001 and the other half not stamped with anything, was yours like this? I'm assuming both my upper and lower bearings were .001 as when putting a mic on them thickness w/in 0.0005 but my mic is only accurate to 0.001 so I'm still not sure if the non stamped factory bearing was std or .001. So I put .001's back in and when checking w/ plastigauge things showed tight around .0012 to .0015 on the mains but figured that would open up a little once they scuffed in slightly. So again, I'm assuming both stock bearing shells were .001 as this seems like a decent factory clearence setting. I've heard stories about the factory mixing bearing sizes to get whatever clearence they were looking for on the assembly line.
Mark, thanks for the reply. All my bearings were marked with the .001. GM discontinued the OEM bearings so I'm going with the Clevite std.s. At this point I don't seem to have a choice. I did notice that the OEM oil holes in the uppers were tweaked to better match with the journal ports. The clevites will have to be tweaked also. I haven't miced anything yet. Where did you get the plastigauge?
BoostKillsStres
TIRE-FRYER VIA HAIR-DRYER
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
I also bough the plastigauge at Autozone, any place selling bearingss should have it if you can find someone behind the counter that knows their a** from a hole in the ground and can find it on the shelf 
It comes in little paper strips which contain the thread like gauge and a measuring guide on the paper fi you've never seen it.
Was that the first time your bottom end had ben taken apart? And are you sure both the upper and lower mains were stamped .001? I'm just curious, I'm still trying to comfirm if my engine had std's in the upper location and .001's in the caps. I'm betting I tightened things up a little w/ the new .001's I put in everywhere as I have really good oil pressure now, just hoping things didn't get too tight. The plastigauge reported clearence on my thrust bearing, which was the tightest, showing .001 but many people say PG isn't worth a crap and I can understand that but at least it gives some idea of there things are at if your just doing bearing replacement where no turning or polishing is needed. So far I've got about 3000 miles on it and no issues....knock on wood.
It comes in little paper strips which contain the thread like gauge and a measuring guide on the paper fi you've never seen it.Was that the first time your bottom end had ben taken apart? And are you sure both the upper and lower mains were stamped .001? I'm just curious, I'm still trying to comfirm if my engine had std's in the upper location and .001's in the caps. I'm betting I tightened things up a little w/ the new .001's I put in everywhere as I have really good oil pressure now, just hoping things didn't get too tight. The plastigauge reported clearence on my thrust bearing, which was the tightest, showing .001 but many people say PG isn't worth a crap and I can understand that but at least it gives some idea of there things are at if your just doing bearing replacement where no turning or polishing is needed. So far I've got about 3000 miles on it and no issues....knock on wood.
The manual recommends plastigauge. The guy at the Zone wanted to know what kind of car the gauge went on. I told him what it was used for and he insisted on requiring the year and make of the vehicle. Two other parts guys never heard of it at Oreilly's and Advance. I'll keep trying. The OEMs were only stamped on the bottoms. The thrust didn't have the .001 on either shell. I assumed it was the same.
BoostKillsStres
TIRE-FRYER VIA HAIR-DRYER
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
I'm pretty sure PG is made in at least 2 sizes, a .001 to .003(green) and a .003 to .005(red I believe). My factory thrust bearings also didn't have any size designation on either shell. All my other main OEM's were also only stamped on the bottom non tang side of the bearing. My OE rod bearings didn't have any stamping on them so I assumed they were std. Kinda makes me wonder if the thrust was std and not .001......things that make you go hmmmmm
By the way, be sure you set your thrust bearings correctly by moving the crank back and forth the right way before final torque.
By the way, be sure you set your thrust bearings correctly by moving the crank back and forth the right way before final torque.
By the way, be sure you set your thrust bearings correctly by moving the crank back and forth the right way before final torque. [/B][/QUOTE]
Mark, mine were also marked on the non-tang end. My RBs were not marked like yours. To set the thrust, I plan to bump the crank towards the rear with a rubber mallet then pry it forward until at least 20# torque is put on each bolt. How did you do it? Did you get any break-in gold dust in the filter?
Mark, mine were also marked on the non-tang end. My RBs were not marked like yours. To set the thrust, I plan to bump the crank towards the rear with a rubber mallet then pry it forward until at least 20# torque is put on each bolt. How did you do it? Did you get any break-in gold dust in the filter?
BoostKillsStres
TIRE-FRYER VIA HAIR-DRYER
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
That should work to set the thrust, I did very similar just prying back and forth w/ a prybar, finger tight on the cap bolts pry backwards then pry forward and get some torque on them. I did cut open the first filter but what I saw was more leftover timing chain material that didn't make it out when I dropped the pan. So I don't really know how the bearings did from the get go. I also plugged the oil pump bypass, inspected and checked clearence on the pump while adding a pressure plate and added a biggie filter adapter so quite a few things changed. I didn't do any drilling or grinding of the oil passages, figured I'd save that for whenever I need to pull the engine. I have 28 psi hot pressure and right about 60 going down the road. I also always run 10w30 synthetic and try to go easy on the car until its warm as I don't want to hurt the filter w/ the bypass plugged, so far so good.
Lee Thompson
New Member
- Joined
- May 24, 2001
.001
I assume you know you can get .001 undersize bearing from any manufacture.
I assume you know you can get .001 undersize bearing from any manufacture.
Re: .001
Checked with three parts houses and none could find them. All dealt with .010, .020, etc. FYI, Clevite discontinued .001's. Called a machine shop and they will check with Federal Mogul. If anyone knows where to get the .001's I'd appreciate the info. Thanks.
Checked with three parts houses and none could find them. All dealt with .010, .020, etc. FYI, Clevite discontinued .001's. Called a machine shop and they will check with Federal Mogul. If anyone knows where to get the .001's I'd appreciate the info. Thanks.
Russ Merritt
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
I'll check tomorrow too, see if I can get em.
Russ Merritt
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 11, 2002
I can get em too if you need them.............
Please pardon me for being gone so long. I had to change PCs and set up a new account. I ordered some today. Was told that Clevite discontinued that number so went with Federal Mogul. Should be in early next week. Any special instructions for matching shells with journals. Will upper and lowers have matching numbers so I can just pair up then line up tabs (before checking for clearance)?
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