Main bearings, rod bearings, gaskets

obrut

Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2001
I'm going through my engine for the third time. This time I'm putting the short block together myself. I had to pull the engine because of a rattle at 2000 RPMs which turned out to be three of the rod upper bearing wore out down to the copper. Engine had less than 800 miles on it. So I was lucky and only needed the crank polished and I had all of the rod checked. Two of the rods needed to be reconditioned. So now I'm looking for good bearings and gaskets to put it back together.

Rod bearings - I found King CR6616SI or Clevite H Series CB1398H
Main bearing - I found King MB443AM
Head gaskets - Victor Reinz or GM 25528486
Intake - Felpro MS96033
Pan?
Front and Rear main?

Just looking for part number so I can start ordering everything to get this back together. Here are the specs: 3.8L TE44, large neck intercooler, 42.5 injectors, 3" DP, 210/210 roller. Run at the track sometimes for fun, low boost 14-15 pounds on pump gas.
 
Make sure your are bypassing any oil cooler in the radiator and replacing any external oil coolers.

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Thanks, I bypassed the oil cooler before the first rebuild went in. Eventually I would like to have the cooler replaced or by a new radiator and new cooler lines and put it back on the car.
 
You'll need cam bearings and the turbo rebuilt as well. Also it not just a matter of ordering bearings and putting them in. Journals and bores need to be measured so the bearings can be sized for the correct clearances.

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You'll need cam bearings and the turbo rebuilt as well. Also it not just a matter of ordering bearings and putting them in. Journals and bores need to be measured so the bearings can be sized for the correct clearances.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

The crank was polished and has not been cut under, the machine shop said it polished out within spec and to run standard bearings. There is so much conflicting info out there, everyone I talk to has a different opinion and all the searching I did so far has different specs and ideas about what is correct. I pulled the factory engine specs off the gnttype.org site - I'm starting with this and I'll see how everything measure out.
 
Crank main measurements
#1 - 2.499
#2 - 2.499
#3 - 2.499
#4 - 2.500
Crank rod measurements
#1 - 2.249
#2 - 2.249
#3 - 2.249
#4 - 2.249
#5 - 2.249
#6 - 2.249

Measured in two spots 90 degrees apart for all journals, measure twice with the same results
 
Looks like a STD/STD crank to me.

The official sizes are 2.4990"~2.5000" and 2.2487"~2.2499"

Depending on how much time you want to spend lapping your caps and setting the vertical clearance, you'll need STDs or .001"s (or both)
 
Yes it is a std/std crank, I'll have to check the bearing but I though they were standard, not .001 Looks like a lot of people are happy with the King bearings, I have no experience with engine bearings compare to.
 
Getting ready to order some parts,
King main bearings - MB443AM
King rod bearings - CR6616SI
Victor Reinz - head gaskets
Kirban cork oil pan, valve cover gasket kit
felpro intake gasket - MS96033
felpro rear main - BS40613

I'm also buying a engine cleaning bore kit, it has a bunch of different size bore brushes. I have a case of GM EOS so I will be using that for assembly lube. Anything I'm missing here, part numbers right? I did some searching and reading and these are the numbers I came up with.
 
IF you're not going to use EGR order a MS96037 valley pan gasket and save a few bucks.


Then type those part numbers into advanced auto parts website and use TRT30 as the discount code for 30% off. If you hit $75 out of pocket they ship for free.
 
IF you're not going to use EGR order a MS96037 valley pan gasket and save a few bucks.


Then type those part numbers into advanced auto parts website and use TRT30 as the discount code for 30% off. If you hit $75 out of pocket they ship for free.

Thanks, that's the type of info I'm looking for, my EGR is welded closed in the intake, I'll order the MS960037.

The cam and cam bearings look great, even the mains look good but I'm replacing them anyway. Timing chain, front cover and oil pump are all in good shape. The oil pump plate has a few very light marks in it that I will polish out.
 
If your cause of failure has anything to do with debris, you need to get those cam bearings out (and the galley plugs) so you can clean under them.


Lapping the filter adapter is pretty cheap and easy (like I like it), there's an article around the interwebs somewhere with pictures. LOL


On the JE pistons I can't say for sure. I'd imagine every slug they make comes with some sort or ring groove. Either spirolock or circlip sytle. It's not the pin that decides if they're pressed for floating it's the little end of the rod. You can run pistons with groove on a stock rod if you want, you just won't use the clips. Needless to say you can't run stock pistons on floating rods.
 
I have heard two different reasons why the bearings failed, one detonation and the other was the wrong oil - mobile 10W-30. I didn't have any detonation on my scanmaster or knock gauge in the 800 miles that it had on it and I've always used 10W-30. I didn't assemble the short block so I'm not sure what happened.

The cause of the failure had nothing to do with debris but there might be debris because of the failure. I'm not sure how far scrubbing and cleaning the block will go if there is debris under the bearings.

I did find, save and print your two post on the front covers setup, good info.
 
Bearing wear only on the upper bearing shell is usually a sign of detonation.

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thanks that helps cause the jes i got are on a reconditioned stocks rod and pressed fit no locks .just dont want to have a problem with the pin walking.
If the pin is press fit it won't walk. You wouldn't use the locks. You could fill float the stock rods but a lot of work to put into rods when there are stronger cheaper rods out there


BPE2013@hotmail.com
 
thanks that helps cause the jes i got are on a reconditioned stocks rod and pressed fit no locks .just dont want to have a problem with the pin walking.

bpman1234 please stop hijacking my thread, delete your post from my thread and start you own - thanks
 
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