Engine builders, got some bearing questions

[orangecapri]

I bought a shortblock from a guy and it was hard to turnover at all so I took it apart and anyways, every rod bearing showed copper and one looked about spun and one had a gouge in it. Well I took the crank in and got it turned .010 just on the rod journals as the mains were allright so I put some standard mains in and turned the crank by hand no problems. I put 7 of the pistons and rods in since I cracked one piston.lol long story. Anyways, it is still kinda hard to turnover at first till you get it moving. Once you get it moving its free as a bird. I used federal mogul main bearings and .010 clevite77 bearings for the rods. I used a combination of mobil 20w-50 oil and melling assembly lube when putting it together. Very thick especially since it was 0*'s outside when I put it together.Also its only hard to spin at first if you let it sit for a couple of minutes without being turned. Like if you spin it and stop and then spin it again like 30 seconds/1 minute, then its not hard to sping, but if you like leave it sitting for like 5 minutes you'll have to use a little muscle again. Anyways Ive taken the caps off all the rods in there and there is no debris in there and the bearings still look good. Should I take them apart one at a time and see if theres a certain once that maybe hanging up? I thought maybe since it just does it when i first try cranking it, it could possibly be suction on the bearings and once it gets moving it frees up. I didnt lube up the cylinder walls so the pistons and rings really dont have any lube, could this cause problems? Please give me some ideas and advice, should I just take it apart and put my rods and pistons in it from my other motor since it might be kind of hard finding a correct piston to match, im taking the piston in to ford tommorrow since it is stamped ford. Thanks

 

[giddyup306]

I didnt lube up the cylinder walls so the pistons and rings really dont have any lube, could this cause problems?

YES. Try being more direct. I don't quite understand what your trying to say. From what I gathered you tried using std. bearings with a .010"US crank???

 

[orangecapri]

No, I have standard sized main journals with standard sized bearings, but I had to get the rod journals turned .010 cause of a nick in it from a previous build so I have .010 rod bearings.

 

[86bluecobra]

there isnt a bent connecting rod is there? i rebuilt a engine in shop class some dolt musta dropped the con rod or some how bent it the engine ran fine when we took it a part then when resemble took place engine was hard to turn over. turns out somehow con rod got bent. not the shaft itself but in area where bearings go in. since u said u broke a piston one can only guess maybe something else happened aswell

 

[giddyup306]

I think I get what your trying to say. Put some 20W-50 motor oil in the freezer for a few hours and see how thick it gets. It'll be damn near like a popcicle. I would have use 5W-20 myself especially if it's 0* out. What temperature is it when you tried turning it? Also why are you taking the piston to Ford?

 

[manpowermustang]

When I built my last 347 last winter(all new) it turnerd hard at first and then turn nice. I figuer I have 500 mile on it now and its a animal.

Its like this I think.

A. 0 degrees it sets up and get a bit stuck because its so cold. I did mine the same temp.

B. Once it turns its a bit freed up and just sorta fllowing

C. If you have all of the rods on right and the bearing have no mares you are ok I would think. I would imagine the torque specs are all right on the rotating asemably.

D. go to Home depot and spend 120..00 and get a torpedo heater. A little heat goes a long way.

 

[orangecapri]

I might bring it inside and heat it up. There might also be a bent connecting rod, the one that looks like it spun may be bent. Im going to take the pistons and rods out of my other motor and put them in there probably. The piston cracked cause when I was trying to put it in the ring came out of the compressor and caught on the deck and i tried banging it in one to many times and it broke part of the top off. Its a ford piston so maybe they can get it maybe not. I have a full extra set. And yes all the torque specs are right and i did check side clearances on the rods to make sure they didnt rub. I think im gonna take out the rod that i think is bent and see how it turns.

 

[giddyup306]

PM me if you want a stock piston and rod. I have a few laying around here I'll give you.

 

[orangecapri]

I have a whole other set that are good, I just bought this motor from a guy that said it was good to go, and only had 6,000 miles on the bearings. Anyways his car is supercharged and he put a smaller pulley on it and to much tension and it wore the bearings to one side and all the rods all the way around.

 

[EMW150]

There's a chance that whoever put it together before you had some bearing caps switched around. Are they all marked?

 

[Rick 91GT]

Stock crank? Stock rod? What series is the bearing, H, M, etc...? What are your clearances, main, rod, rod side clearance and thrust?

Like Eric mentioned are all the caps matched and going the correct direction?

 

[rd]

If you are having this much trouble, I would take the pistons out, and see if the crank alone turns easily and smoothly, as a minimum.

Best bet is to plastigage all the mains and rods, or take it to a shop and have them measure everything.

You might want to also check the ring end gaps.

I usually oil the pistons rings and cylinder walls as much as possible when assembling.

 

[orangecapri]

Ok, Im going to take all the rods and pistons out and put my other set in it. Ford wanted $67 for a piston and $102 for a rod so Im putting my others in. Im going to make sure it is all put together this time and take my time. The crank did turn freely by hand when I put it in and when I got it all torqued down so its nothing to do with that, its either rings not lubed, or possibly bent rod so we'll find out.

 

[Rick 91GT]

Ok, Im going to take all the rods and pistons out and put my other set in it. Ford wanted $67 for a piston and $102 for a rod so Im putting my others in. Im going to make sure it is all put together this time and take my time. The crank did turn freely by hand when I put it in and when I got it all torqued down so its nothing to do with that, its either rings not lubed, or possibly bent rod so we'll find out.

You can not just swap pistons and rods, it will need to be rebalanced to do it properly.