LATEST RUMOR.....Unconfirmed. Owner DIED......and Government shut the business down. I am not sure how that can happen to a corporation of if it was just a business or what. Dont know the whole scoop. Mahle has some steel backed bearings. BUT they also make all aluminum ones so you need to be careful. The Steel Backed bearings are only available in STD STD....no oversized case sizes. I will keep digging into this and if there are any updates I will post another video I just wanted to get one up ASAP so you guys who are building engines have a heads up......PLEASE do not buy and hoard bearings. Most of the places that sell them have raised their prices and limit supplies because they want to detour price gougers. or scalpers. There are a lot of people that make a living building engines and they need supplies. Currently there is a lot of oversized case bearings available in silverline. But over time that will diminish.
Bummer! Car Craft once sold a steel backed set made in Mexico named Clemex. Don't know if they are still offered. In addition, either Pat Downs or CB Performance offers a set of premium main bearings, I think produced by Clevite. Anyway, someone will step up eventually, maybe BBT in Taiwan. AS41 cases are offered under the name MOTORAV, after a period of not being available. We can only hope for a new manufacturer, even though they will surely cost more.
How many VW engines have I built I lost count. It's all about the machine work and quality of parts and you knowing what the hell you're doing. What engines easily able to go what's 200,000 MI.
aluminum case engine can do that I am not so sure a mag case would make it to that though. just because the magnesium flexes out well before that. Only with steel backed bearings too on the mag.
Actually the guy who did my align-bore and crank-match grind on my engine case told me he preferred Kolbenschmidt bearings over the Silverline ones. He's very particular so they must be OK.
It’s been a real pain with silver line going out. Our supplier of silver line is Empi. My rep said they are not releasing any silver line bearing because they are keeping everything the have for their longblock builds.
Crazy! Bought some silverline std rod vearings and they were tok tight, no spin. Saw your 1800 build video, took your advise on the Kolbenschmidt and sure enough they fit perfectly.
Shoot...glad I got bearings recently. Not so good for the future. My local VW man does have a pretty good stock of new bearings thankfully. Thanks for the heads-up Mike.
Hmmm... another part problem for us aircooled folks. If Silverline disappears, hopefully another manufacturer will step up. With any old vehicle it seems like parts disappear or are made poorly (cough fuel pumps) 😑 Thank You for the video 👍
Brosol Brazil still making pumps they cost a bit of money though. They were always problematic. Mostly with leaking fuel into the oil. This goes back to even german pumps too. That is why it is important to check that oil level from going up.
@@Mikefngarage I used three Brosol alternator style fuel pumps in less than 250 miles... First died on cam break in, second after 200 miles, and third was bad out of box 🤬. I am going with an electric pump as soon as it arrives. German pump stand and 4 inch push rod.
just depends on how much HP you are running and how many miles your expecting to get out of it. The steel backed centers do last quite a bit longer. And help keep the case from wearing Ad a bit of strength.
10:05 Yes I had the pinching center-main issue and my machinist had to do some careful work. First I've heard that others had this issue. All worked out fine with a little finessing however.
90% of vw owners, are oblivious or don't care as we know they only know stock and will never see over 3000 rpms or highway use anyway... so aluminum bearings wouldn't hurt them; I posted this over a month ago to some VW groups and they seemed oblivious to it, and were more interested in posting vw trinkets found at the dollar store; Now for us 10% who actually wrench on things and try to maximize performance, well yeah steel backed are the way to go, yes i did hoard a small batch of bearings (3 sets each) as i wanted at least 3 rebuilds out of my current motor and need to get 1 set for the original engine for a future rebuild as a backup; Thats only a stock build so aluminum wont hurt that one; This wont affect many as i said as 90% never see over 4k rpms with their engines anyways and aluminum or tri-metal will hold up to their 'Sunday driving'; Hopefully this is like the periodic temporary cam shortages and someone steps in to fill the gap; Worse is the oversize problem will be forcing many to buy new cases instead of align boring originals;
Well we pulled out late last night. Evacuated my dad after midnight too. Firs are 1 block away possibly. Got our daughters and animals safe. We at my twins. Park fir. Sorry for my intentional misspelling
Let's just hope Mahle-Clevite will stay around for as long as they can. I hate going through 3 different boxes of Silverline just to find the correct sizes. #measurementisabitch :(
yea the mahle dont make any thick thrust cut bearings either. only maybe 20 and 40.....I am not even sure if they are the steel backed ones either. Really need to watch them I got some Mahle from Pacific and they were aluminum centers. and still more expensive than Silverlines. There was an issue during the pandemic on the bearings not being made correctly. They did fix it and stuff was pretty good again. But Apparently the owner died. so everything is in limbo
@@Mikefngarage I saw Mr. Geers & Mr. Leone making the full use of BMW bearings though. So I guess it's not that scarce to find one for the thrust cuts? From what I know, if there is Clevite printed on it then it must be steel backed. The regular Mahles I believe is not steel backed, but the price is a tad more than Silverline nonetheless. Best to check & weigh em first.
@@luftgekuhltisacult limited sizes too. 20 and 40 maybe over case. 60 not available for sure. No thrust cut. many suppliers are slinging the aluminum non steel back center mains. you really need to watch you Ps and Qs if your doing mail order.
@@luftgekuhltisacult I have a set coming that are not listed Clevite and they are steel backed just red box mahle. they are definitely steel backed. The steel backed have a different color on the center main. on Mahle. the silverlines steel backs look the same. but you can tell by the weight.
I am almost 100% SURE that the remaining stock of std std silverlines are going to end up having some portion of them with badly formed center mains. Hoarders are going to get stuck with JUNK......Dont buy any crap off the samba thinking it will be good. It is likely it will NOT BE....$200 stet of boat anchor bearings.....i would only buy from reputable places that accept returns and buy what you need. Otherwise you might get stuck with the defective ones.
Hey Mike ! I got a set of rod std. bearings and got Mahle because VW Darrin posted a video warning that the Silverline were locking up the rods . They are the aluminum cheap ones . It is what it is ?
Yea I kind of addressed that the tangs are not perfect. you need to fit them on the rods. This has been a problem for a while now. I like to use the Klobe rod bearings because they fit better. Autohaus CHEAP...... and good quality. Silverline main bearings are the only source of bearing for opened up cases. Mahle no longer makes 20 , 40 , 60 or 80 over line bores. They only make std std. So if your using an old case.....Silverline was the only thing you could get. No GONE.....We were talking about it. Owner died. if that business goes into probate.....years before anything happens. This could get really ugly before it gets better.
LATEST RUMOR.....Unconfirmed. Owner DIED......and Government shut the business down. I am not sure how that can happen to a corporation of if it was just a business or what. Dont know the whole scoop. Mahle has some steel backed bearings. BUT they also make all aluminum ones so you need to be careful. The Steel Backed bearings are only available in STD STD....no oversized case sizes. I will keep digging into this and if there are any updates I will post another video I just wanted to get one up ASAP so you guys who are building engines have a heads up......PLEASE do not buy and hoard bearings. Most of the places that sell them have raised their prices and limit supplies because they want to detour price gougers. or scalpers. There are a lot of people that make a living building engines and they need supplies. Currently there is a lot of oversized case bearings available in silverline. But over time that will diminish.
Bummer! Car Craft once sold a steel backed set made in Mexico named Clemex. Don't know if they are still offered. In addition, either Pat Downs or CB Performance offers a set of premium main bearings, I think produced by Clevite. Anyway, someone will step up eventually, maybe BBT in Taiwan. AS41 cases are offered under the name MOTORAV, after a period of not being available. We can only hope for a new manufacturer, even though they will surely cost more.
I was already planning my next engine build. Well, at least I don't need the parts in a hurry. Thanks for the video. Informative yet again!
Glad to help
How many VW engines have I built I lost count. It's all about the machine work and quality of parts and you knowing what the hell you're doing. What engines easily able to go what's 200,000 MI.
aluminum case engine can do that I am not so sure a mag case would make it to that though. just because the magnesium flexes out well before that. Only with steel backed bearings too on the mag.
Some good info here Mike. I need to get some for my build before they run out.
In my 1.915 cc air cooled VW I used all Kolbenschmidt bearings, here in Brazil ! Here the MAHLE brand is very strong too.
were they steel backed?
Yea Mahle makes steel backed bearings BUT they also make all aluminum. which are not that great for magnesium cases.
Actually the guy who did my align-bore and crank-match grind on my engine case told me he preferred Kolbenschmidt bearings over the Silverline ones. He's very particular so they must be OK.
Kinda like rod bearings a few years ago for Chevy journal. Clevite 77 trimetal CB610P are NLA, you can only get CB610A bimetal/aluminum now.
It’s been a real pain with silver line going out. Our supplier of silver line is Empi. My rep said they are not releasing any silver line bearing because they are keeping everything the have for their longblock builds.
Yes and most of the others have already doubled the prices to keep the scalpers from buying out all the stock. Also limiting how many sets you buy.
Thanks for the heads up, Mike.
Crazy! Bought some silverline std rod vearings and they were tok tight, no spin. Saw your 1800 build video, took your advise on the Kolbenschmidt and sure enough they fit perfectly.
Shoot...glad I got bearings recently. Not so good for the future. My local VW man does have a pretty good stock of new bearings thankfully. Thanks for the heads-up Mike.
Thanks for heads up! Im AV Sundays and Mondays.. 😉
Hmmm... another part problem for us aircooled folks. If Silverline disappears, hopefully another manufacturer will step up. With any old vehicle it seems like parts disappear or are made poorly (cough fuel pumps) 😑
Thank You for the video 👍
Brosol Brazil still making pumps they cost a bit of money though. They were always problematic. Mostly with leaking fuel into the oil. This goes back to even german pumps too. That is why it is important to check that oil level from going up.
@@Mikefngarage I used three Brosol alternator style fuel pumps in less than 250 miles...
First died on cam break in, second after 200 miles, and third was bad out of box 🤬. I am going with an electric pump as soon as it arrives. German pump stand and 4 inch push rod.
I've used plenty of aluminum centers .. not a problem
just depends on how much HP you are running and how many miles your expecting to get out of it. The steel backed centers do last quite a bit longer. And help keep the case from wearing Ad a bit of strength.
10:05 Yes I had the pinching center-main issue and my machinist had to do some careful work. First I've heard that others had this issue. All worked out fine with a little finessing however.
Yea we tried to do that but could not get the exact issue resolved. I bet we will be fixing them now. at double the price.
90% of vw owners, are oblivious or don't care as we know they only know stock and will never see over 3000 rpms or highway use anyway... so aluminum bearings wouldn't hurt them; I posted this over a month ago to some VW groups and they seemed oblivious to it, and were more interested in posting vw trinkets found at the dollar store; Now for us 10% who actually wrench on things and try to maximize performance, well yeah steel backed are the way to go, yes i did hoard a small batch of bearings (3 sets each) as i wanted at least 3 rebuilds out of my current motor and need to get 1 set for the original engine for a future rebuild as a backup; Thats only a stock build so aluminum wont hurt that one; This wont affect many as i said as 90% never see over 4k rpms with their engines anyways and aluminum or tri-metal will hold up to their 'Sunday driving'; Hopefully this is like the periodic temporary cam shortages and someone steps in to fill the gap; Worse is the oversize problem will be forcing many to buy new cases instead of align boring originals;
Well we pulled out late last night. Evacuated my dad after midnight too. Firs are 1 block away possibly. Got our daughters and animals safe. We at my twins. Park fir. Sorry for my intentional misspelling
hope your place gets protected. you in Canada?
@@Mikefngarage mike. Park fire. Mike, please take the time to look at what they think started at all please
@@Mikefngarage butte county California
Let's just hope Mahle-Clevite will stay around for as long as they can. I hate going through 3 different boxes of Silverline just to find the correct sizes. #measurementisabitch :(
yea the mahle dont make any thick thrust cut bearings either. only maybe 20 and 40.....I am not even sure if they are the steel backed ones either. Really need to watch them I got some Mahle from Pacific and they were aluminum centers. and still more expensive than Silverlines. There was an issue during the pandemic on the bearings not being made correctly. They did fix it and stuff was pretty good again. But Apparently the owner died. so everything is in limbo
@@Mikefngarage I saw Mr. Geers & Mr. Leone making the full use of BMW bearings though. So I guess it's not that scarce to find one for the thrust cuts?
From what I know, if there is Clevite printed on it then it must be steel backed. The regular Mahles I believe is not steel backed, but the price is a tad more than Silverline nonetheless. Best to check & weigh em first.
@@luftgekuhltisacult limited sizes too. 20 and 40 maybe over case. 60 not available for sure. No thrust cut. many suppliers are slinging the aluminum non steel back center mains. you really need to watch you Ps and Qs if your doing mail order.
@@luftgekuhltisacult I have a set coming that are not listed Clevite and they are steel backed just red box mahle. they are definitely steel backed. The steel backed have a different color on the center main. on Mahle. the silverlines steel backs look the same. but you can tell by the weight.
@@Mikefngarage yes exactly! As the saying goes, you can tell by the weight.
Sounds like people are going to be forced to buy aluminum cases. Time will tell.
Typo: Should be 'Click bait'
Hey Mike ! Silverline are defects right now .
I am almost 100% SURE that the remaining stock of std std silverlines are going to end up having some portion of them with badly formed center mains. Hoarders are going to get stuck with JUNK......Dont buy any crap off the samba thinking it will be good. It is likely it will NOT BE....$200 stet of boat anchor bearings.....i would only buy from reputable places that accept returns and buy what you need. Otherwise you might get stuck with the defective ones.
Hey Mike ! I got a set of rod std. bearings and got Mahle because VW Darrin posted a video warning that the Silverline were locking up the rods . They are the aluminum cheap ones . It is what it is ?
Yea I kind of addressed that the tangs are not perfect. you need to fit them on the rods. This has been a problem for a while now. I like to use the Klobe rod bearings because they fit better. Autohaus CHEAP...... and good quality. Silverline main bearings are the only source of bearing for opened up cases. Mahle no longer makes 20 , 40 , 60 or 80 over line bores. They only make std std. So if your using an old case.....Silverline was the only thing you could get. No GONE.....We were talking about it. Owner died. if that business goes into probate.....years before anything happens. This could get really ugly before it gets better.
Kamala shut them down because she wants all gasoline cars wiped off the face of the earth within 10 years- Fact check me
Jungle bunnies have absolutely destroyed humanity.