Well I would not be proud of those bearings.... Hard to say what was the cause. Always wash out crank and blow air thru after it is turned. I like clevite bearings. It is very important to have the large end of the rods trued. You should also tell the shop to check the crank to be sure it is straight.

 

Hey there
is the crankshaft surface where the bearing rides smooth when you run a fingernail across it??
I hope the bearings are the worst of your woes

all the best

 

Hey pogo, I see what you mean about checking those bearings. That's with 10k miles? I'm no expert, as you know, but if the bearing was loose in the rod then it was also moving in the rod as the crank pushed and pulled on it. How do the crank journals look/feel? Again, not a lot of experience but that looks like a lubrication problem. Like four4two, I hope it all works out.

 

the journals dont seem terrible although i can feel a finger nail catching... it might polish up if need be i want to get a mic and check it, just in case has anyone used one of those eagle cast steel cranks??

 

So, how's it coming?

 

I'm picturing you jamming that back-hoe bucket into your engine bay and scooping the motor out. If it were only that easy

 

Not as good as your project...i have measured the big ends and and a few are egg shaped and out of spec for sure...the crank mains are fine but the rod journals are not to my liking...this crank was machined 1981 before i got the car abd then i had to have it welded refinished etc in 1990 or so....so the bottom line is i need rods and i dont trust this crank to go to 30under.... So i am mulling over my options...im going to look at a nod crank that Stick31 has this week i thought about the eagle stuff and the price is attractive but i dont know, i had an oportunity to get a factory forged but i dont like the idea of regrinding and not heat treating it but i am not an expert ...some say no problem others say get it heat treated what i do know is that my original crank has never been the same after welding/grinding and when i reassembled it clearances were spot on...interested to know whar others think

 

If you have only .002 bearing clearance thats why your bearings look like they do. Plasti gage is not a reliable way to check clearance.

Greg

 

Maybe talk to coppercutlass. He seems to always have parts laying around. I think he's in the Chicago area though.
I know there's a 350 olds complete block in my area of central Il for $100. Hit craigslist, it's worth a shot.
Sorry she's got a bad spine man. I hope you find one soon.
AS for the rods, this fella had rebuilt rods from PAW for $50. But it was a while ago.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-my-parts.html

 

Pogo, I'm assuming you have a 350. Is that right?
He still has the rods if you want them. I believe it would be $50 plus the ride.

 

no mac its a 455

 

unfortunatly back in 1990 i didnt have any inside micrometers because i had no money either...tools like that were a luxury and very pricey so i had to rely on plastigage...the tight clearance makes sense, now would that also relate to that particular rod being 2.6243 (6-12 oclock) and 2.6251 (3-9oclock)?
the rods were peened/balanced/sized from the machine shop and now are quite a bit out of round

 

Well darn it! Sorry dude.

 

Did the bearings fall out of that rod when you pulled it out and were they also down to cooper? If they were down to cooper was it 360*?

Greg

 

yes one 1/2 of the bearing was down to the copper (see pic) and it did fall out of the rod (on the piston side of rod) greg what do you mean by 360*? spun?? bearings were intact but probably not for long

 

lol...no prob

 

looking foreward to the visit and moving you foreward on the right path for your 455.

 

If the top half of the bearing was down to cooper it sounds like detonation.

Greg

 

f-85 has a 455 crank for $75

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ood-stuff.html

 

thanks for the lead mac... will check and see if its a N crank

 

been a while since i have checked in,here is whats happened over the winter: picked up a used 68 Ncrank std/std and new used cryo'd mondello rods had both checked/mag'd/crossdrilled/polished/rotating assembly balanced am reusing the pistons with an old set of childs&albert duramoly rings bought 2 sets of main bearings; clevite 77p and vintage michigan 77 bearings and one set clevite rod bearings and have .0023 rod clearance and 0025 main clearance i'm pretty happy with this and crank spins nice and free now but was binding a bit for some reason and i swapped #4 main bearing. am going to use tech line on the bearings and other parts. only mod i did was elongated the #2 and 4 main bearings because i still have the mondello oil restrictors. the block was washed in nice hot water and seems pretty clean. now doing measurments on heads and going to just lap new valves into the seats but need the tips ground .006, new springs from greg at supercars unlimited am going to stick with the stock rockers so valve geometry is a p.i.t.a lots of other new stuff including a .28 head gasket from rocketracing-perf,cloyes roller chain, i drilled a .35 hole in new rear plug so i can use a allen socket instead of the 5/16th sq. plug, thats all i can think of now but left out a lot i'm sure here are a couple pics

 

I've been wondering what was happening with the rebuild. Looks like you're on top of it. Glad for the update Pogo.

 

trying to get it ready for mid june...pistons are in i set the top rings at .018 2nd's .020 the tech line didnt stick to the pistons but the bearings and cam came out nice with it. when i reinstalled the mondello windage tray the crank wouldnt turn and i realized the new rod bolts are shouldered and thus taller so they drag across the tray so some minor grinding is required.

 

Lookin' sweet Pogo! Very nice work. What's mid June?

 

 

the beginning of summer!

 

Oh, lol. I'm right there with ya brother. Still 30 degrees one day and 90 the next.

 

a pretty big setback has had me discouraged, i decided to put the original torque converter back in (replaced it in the 90's with a little higher stall) lowered the engine in and of course had motor mount hassles etc and i was on my own so it was more work. anyway got the trans to engine lined up put the bellhousing bolts thru and then i put a torque converter bolt thru only to have it slowly keep turning at 35 lbs torque torque coverter nut was stripped!! so i layed there saying ''this is bullshit'' i couldnt just put a drill/tap to it because i wasnt sure about the balance with now using a 7/16 bolt with the other 2 at 3/8...

 

so i didnt remember that i had bad threads in the converter being that it was 25 years ago and i cant remember what i did yesterday let alone back then....so out came the tranny, drilled and retapped all 3 with 7/16-20 same as the leftover pressure plate bolts i had. so this has set me back and summer is here and we know how short summer is in new england once you get older, so, hoping to call it wrap in a few weeks and start it up

 

Sounds like a major PIA, sorry Pogo. I'm trying not to get discouraged with the oil leak at the front of my just-installed engine. But it can be hard. Especially when we work by ourselves most of the time.
Keep your chin up dude. You are good at tackling stuff when it comes up. That 'get-r-done" attitude

 

Sorry to hear of the misfortunate setback, it kinda makes things interesting and challenging sometimes. However, just think how nice it will be once it's back together and your cruising.

 

well I am back in business, engine started right up timing was right on ran about 15 mins at 2000 rpm then a 20 min drive no leaks from engine/trans drained the 10-40 accel motor oil and cut open the wix oil filter totally clean. i did notice a little shudder on acceleration almost like a playing card in a bicycle wheel but it seems to of gone away maybe water pump bearing i dont know. it was quite a long rebuild, everything stock. i replaced the crankshaft with a std/std N crank from a 69 big car replaced the rods with stock rods that were cryo'd from mondello, engine was balanced weight added to crank, i blueprinted the reassembly i tech-line coated all the bearings and new camshaft in my oven. I used new SI stainless valves and and blued the seats and just lapped them in. i ditched the headers and put on the orig. exhaust manifolds and had quite a time removing the seized heat riser, the car sounds pretty nice and i dont miss the underhood heat from the headers, i think i am going to buy the inline tube exhaust system in the spring the dymomax turbos are 20 years old. removed the gas tank and took care of the bad sender. and i just spent a lot of time just cleaning things up. i will post some engine pics next week. this pic here sums it up...a relief to get it out of the garage now that summer just ended