I always put my crank in & then put the plastic gauge between the bearing & the main caps. Instead of the crank on top of the plastic gauge. That way ya don;t have to lift the crank out to check bearing clearance. Love the step by step Great work.
I'll put it to you this way. Loosey goosey never got stuck, LOL. Will run fine with those clearances. If it makes you a little uncomfortable when the engine is warm and you have 5 psi at idle sitting at that traffic light, just switch to 20w 50 oil. Will give you an extra 10 to 15 psi at idle. I ran my Jeep engine like that for over 15 years. Recheck final torque a couple days later, some of those bolts will come loose.
Really enjoy your series of videos (both the Blazer and the Datsun). Thanks for taking the time to make and post them. Fwiw, when checking bearing clearances, the usual method is to set the bearing shells in the block, set the crank in those shells (in the block), then set the other shells in the main caps and torque the caps in place, then, one-by-one, remove a cap, add some plasti-gauge, and re-install and torque the cap ... then remove it again to check the clearance. The reason for this is that the block (and even the crank) can deform slightly when everything is torqued down as it will be when the engine is eventually running, and you want everything to be as close to running conditions as possible. By only removing one cap at a time, the other caps remain torqued, better simulating the stress that the engine will experience when it's finally assembled. In addition, you don't have to remove the crank to take your readings -- the plasti-gauge will either be on the surface of the crank's journal facing you, or it'll be in the cap you just removed ... both of which are much easier to measure than having to hunt for the plasti-gauge once the crank is removed. But that's nit-picking. Your way will work, and for a regular, low-buck, low-performance rebuild, it'll be fine. Good luck on the rest of the engine build! Can't wait to see how it all finishes up.
I'm not quite clear why you would want to measure the caps separately, I would think you would torque them all down at once and check them all at once because that is the condition the engine will be run in. As far as getting the readings on the cap side bearings, that is fine too. But sometimes the caps can be tough to remove vertically, and if you rock it back and forth there is the chance to smear or distort the plastigage, but realistically I'm sure that works just fine too.
Hi, that was actually my point: by installing and torquing all the caps, then removing one and adding plastigauge and re-torquing it and removing it, you're leaving all the rest torqued (like they'd be when the engine is running) so the block and crank are subjected to nearly the same stresses as they'll experience when running. That was how all the engine builders and manuals I'd ever seen did it, and it always worked well for them, so that's how I've always done it, unless I'm actually mic'ing everything, instead. But I certainly see the logic in doing it your way. Maybe the next engine I do I'll take the time to try it both ways to see if there's any difference ... though I doubt there will really be any. Besides, as you pointed out in the video: plastigauge isn't exactly super-accurate. Anyway, thank you again for the terrific series of videos. And for taking the time to reply to comments like mine. It's definitely appreciated. Good luck with the rebuilt engine!
Hmm. I have heard of measuring that way before, removing one cap at a time, but to me it makes less sense. Doesn't mean anything really, I could certainly be wrong. I would be curious if you measured both ways if you would get different results, and which would be more "correct". Thanks for watching and the kind wishes!
FuzzyDicePimp oh yes without a doubt. Plus if your going through the trouble of rebuilding a motor you want it to have good compression and oil pressure
My crank was machined properly and came back with matched bearings. Measured with plastigauge anyways and the journals were all somewhere between .002 and .003, I run about 20psi piping hot 550RPM idle. About 55psi cruising. Perfectly fine for a street engine. Race engines usually have LOOSER bearing clearance to account for the crank expanding under high RPM heat.
I did my 94 LT1, and from the factory it had a .001" undersized main on the rear. I had to order a set of .001" undersized main bearings just to get the one for the back. I found out they also sell .002" undersized bearing sets for older worn cranks, or for cranks that need that extra polishing that ends up wiping out a .001 or so when doing it.
The way ive always plasticguage checked the crank was to install the crank in the block, put the plasticguage strips on the journals and install the main caps and torque. Then remove the caps, check my clearance, wipe the crank and cap clean, oil the crank and reinstall and torque caps
That works too, and is a tiny bit less work I suppose. Only concern is sometimes the caps can be tough to remove vertically, and if you rock it back and forth there is the chance to smear or distort the plastigage, but realistically I'm sure that works just fine too.
Sir if you would lay your crankshaft in the block and put the plastigauge on the journal then torque your bearings. Remove the main cap and check your clearance that way you don't have to remove the crankshaft to get to the plastigauge. Not criticising just thought it might help you. Enjoyed your video!!!!!
It is a good point! The main concern is that sometimes caps that are hard to get off might end up smearing the plastigauge when using this method, but it probably is totally fine and certainly easier!
A high volume pump would be overkill, plus they need an extended oil pan, and I wouldn't even know where to start trying to fit that in the engine bay. Pressures might be a little less than ideal, but a Chevy 350 barely even needs any oil pressure to keep ticking, so I'm not worried about damage occurring from it.
I run 15w-40 oil on mine at 370,000 miles cause it's a little low on oil pressure with the original 5w-30. (started running 15w-40 at about 175-200k-ish miles) Some people even go as high as 20w-50 but you'd have to have some very loose tolerances, or very worn out, to be needing that.
I think the cranck is springing back because it's not balanced unless the rods are in. As i know the v8 crancks are balanced with weight on them,not bare. So,it's not balanced right there. www.enginebuildermag.com/2014/03/weighing-balancing-work/
You- does things in areas i think is over kill Me- wow this guy is more careful than i am Also you- touches the crank bearing with your bare hands Me- STAHP
you put plastiguage material on journal you then put cap on iy then torque.the plastiguage ius to show the machinist if anything is out of tolerance so he has to fix like maybe wrong bearing or something like that.you then just have to pull cap and guage shld. be stuck to crank.good luck
I prefer a beam type torque wrench so I can see where and what the torque I'm applying is doing, but really as long as you have a good and accurate TW that's all that really matters.
I totally understand, and I do want to add one to my arsenal. The click-type is far from perfect for many situations, but they have gotten me through everything so far!
Never put oil on bolts you torque because the oil will sit on the bottom of bolt hole and give you false torque specs and it will cause the bolt to loosen over time
I agree I never lube bearing bolts I thread lock them so they don't vibrate loose. I prefer red thread lock though some may argue My reasoning about this method, But my method never failed me.
hey its a chevy itll be fine. good job.just figured all that you spent you cld. have turned crank and bigger bearings which wld. be same price and you would be good.just experimenting>?
That's if he could have found a reputable company to do the work. Here in Fort Worth Texas forget about it the horror stories will you sit up in bed and weep like a three year old child.
I never lube bearing bolts I thread lock them so they don't vibrate loose. I prefer red thread lock though some may argue My reasoning about this method, But my method never failed me.
Are you taking wet torquing into account wen you work with oiled /wet bolts? Setting to 70ftlbs then going to click on a wet bolt your adding 30% to the 70ftlbs . Just curious
Torque specs for certain bolts (like main caps and head bolts) are almost always given as "oiled", and the use of lubrication is already taken into account. For other hardware I will play around with the values/feel a little if bolts have thread sealer/oil/antiseize on them, but generally torque specs have a bit of a buffer built into them and you won't run into issues. For critical components or soft hardware (Japanese)/aluminum threads you do have to be more careful and aware of that though.
Yep, the only concern is sometimes the caps will stick, and you will need to rock them back and forth a bit to get them loose, and that can smear the plastigauge. Probably just me overthinking it though, haha! You can use plastigauge while an engine is installed in a vehicle, and that is precisely how you would do it, so I'm sure it's a valid method.
Fuzzy Dice Projects btw bro I’m am beyond thrilled to have stumbled across your channel very informative and great editing. Keep it up man I hope to follow all your projects going forward
Yeah, I mentioned that briefly in the video, but for my purposes here I wasn't taking precise measurements or needing perfectly accurate data, so it is fine taking a reading without it installed.
You cannot measure running torque with a micrometer torque wrench. The way you tried to do torque at the end does not work, only a dial torque wrench will work.
when checking the clearence on the crank-schaft, you only measured one side of the bearings. so you will only get half the actual distance between crank and bearing. but i think, but am not sure, the clearence is meant to be on both sides. therefor you measured double of what you shoud have (i think). if i am correct, everything might me in spec or a little tight.
I know what you are thinking, but you only use plastigage on one side to check clearance. It takes up the space on that side and forces the crankshaft (or whatever you're measuring) to the opposite side, taking up the slack, so it is measuring the total clearance and that is the spec that manufacturers and the aftermarket use, the total clearance.
plastigage goes on top of the crank
Yeah I noticed the same thing. They way he did it, the weight of the crank, and even placing it in block could squish it beyond actual.
I always put my crank in & then put the plastic gauge between the bearing & the main caps. Instead of the crank on top of the plastic gauge. That way ya don;t have to lift the crank out to check bearing clearance. Love the step by step Great work.
Exactly my process, too. Much easier, and less dealing with oil holes and grooves.
I'll put it to you this way. Loosey goosey never got stuck, LOL. Will run fine with those clearances. If it makes you a little uncomfortable when the engine is warm and you have 5 psi at idle sitting at that traffic light, just switch to 20w 50 oil. Will give you an extra 10 to 15 psi at idle. I ran my Jeep engine like that for over 15 years. Recheck final torque a couple days later, some of those bolts will come loose.
The engine will be better than new.... I love this new format of videos!
LOVE the jump cuts on the torque wrench :P "How to basic" almost but with less EGG
that is the best comparison but i need to know what caused you to say it.
Great video very helpful. Going to recommend these to my shop instructor since he likes to use youtube as lesson aids
This is great stuff! Thanks for sharing. Really liked the editing on the torque procedure too.
Really enjoy your series of videos (both the Blazer and the Datsun). Thanks for taking the time to make and post them. Fwiw, when checking bearing clearances, the usual method is to set the bearing shells in the block, set the crank in those shells (in the block), then set the other shells in the main caps and torque the caps in place, then, one-by-one, remove a cap, add some plasti-gauge, and re-install and torque the cap ... then remove it again to check the clearance. The reason for this is that the block (and even the crank) can deform slightly when everything is torqued down as it will be when the engine is eventually running, and you want everything to be as close to running conditions as possible. By only removing one cap at a time, the other caps remain torqued, better simulating the stress that the engine will experience when it's finally assembled. In addition, you don't have to remove the crank to take your readings -- the plasti-gauge will either be on the surface of the crank's journal facing you, or it'll be in the cap you just removed ... both of which are much easier to measure than having to hunt for the plasti-gauge once the crank is removed. But that's nit-picking. Your way will work, and for a regular, low-buck, low-performance rebuild, it'll be fine. Good luck on the rest of the engine build! Can't wait to see how it all finishes up.
I'm not quite clear why you would want to measure the caps separately, I would think you would torque them all down at once and check them all at once because that is the condition the engine will be run in. As far as getting the readings on the cap side bearings, that is fine too. But sometimes the caps can be tough to remove vertically, and if you rock it back and forth there is the chance to smear or distort the plastigage, but realistically I'm sure that works just fine too.
Hi, that was actually my point: by installing and torquing all the caps, then removing one and adding plastigauge and re-torquing it and removing it, you're leaving all the rest torqued (like they'd be when the engine is running) so the block and crank are subjected to nearly the same stresses as they'll experience when running. That was how all the engine builders and manuals I'd ever seen did it, and it always worked well for them, so that's how I've always done it, unless I'm actually mic'ing everything, instead. But I certainly see the logic in doing it your way. Maybe the next engine I do I'll take the time to try it both ways to see if there's any difference ... though I doubt there will really be any. Besides, as you pointed out in the video: plastigauge isn't exactly super-accurate. Anyway, thank you again for the terrific series of videos. And for taking the time to reply to comments like mine. It's definitely appreciated. Good luck with the rebuilt engine!
Hmm. I have heard of measuring that way before, removing one cap at a time, but to me it makes less sense. Doesn't mean anything really, I could certainly be wrong. I would be curious if you measured both ways if you would get different results, and which would be more "correct".
Thanks for watching and the kind wishes!
Its a small block chevy they will run completely fine on 5psi of oil lol
I've heard even less than that haha! They are tough cookies, indeed. But it's nice to be thorough anyway!
FuzzyDicePimp oh yes without a doubt. Plus if your going through the trouble of rebuilding a motor you want it to have good compression and oil pressure
This main clearances are just fine for what you're doing.
Though you might want to run thicker oil than specified.
Yep, my goto is 10w-40, but if pressure gets a bit low when hot I am willing to go to 15w-50 or so.
Do R/C! I think a little 15W-40 Rotella would probably make those clearances a non issue ....not that they will be anyway
My crank was machined properly and came back with matched bearings. Measured with plastigauge anyways and the journals were all somewhere between .002 and .003, I run about 20psi piping hot 550RPM idle. About 55psi cruising. Perfectly fine for a street engine. Race engines usually have LOOSER bearing clearance to account for the crank expanding under high RPM heat.
Really good and educational
Funny how the lucas assembly lube looks almost exactly the same as their oil stabilizer.
It's probably very similar or identical, they serve similar purposes so it's not too surprising that they would appear mostly the same.
I did my 94 LT1, and from the factory it had a .001" undersized main on the rear. I had to order a set of .001" undersized main bearings just to get the one for the back. I found out they also sell .002" undersized bearing sets for older worn cranks, or for cranks that need that extra polishing that ends up wiping out a .001 or so when doing it.
The way ive always plasticguage checked the crank was to install the crank in the block, put the plasticguage strips on the journals and install the main caps and torque. Then remove the caps, check my clearance, wipe the crank and cap clean, oil the crank and reinstall and torque caps
That works too, and is a tiny bit less work I suppose. Only concern is sometimes the caps can be tough to remove vertically, and if you rock it back and forth there is the chance to smear or distort the plastigage, but realistically I'm sure that works just fine too.
Torque edit was pretty cool 😎
Sir if you would lay your crankshaft in the block and put the plastigauge on the journal then torque your bearings. Remove the main cap and check your clearance that way you don't have to remove the crankshaft to get to the plastigauge. Not criticising just thought it might help you. Enjoyed your video!!!!!
It is a good point! The main concern is that sometimes caps that are hard to get off might end up smearing the plastigauge when using this method, but it probably is totally fine and certainly easier!
Increible trabajo exelente sigue asi con los videos.
Really great videos. I cant wait for the next!
"Its not good but it's not Insain" 🤣🤣
Awesome as always!
Plasti gauge goes on top of the crank shaft...
yes saves you taking the crank out to check stuff......even Mahle Clevite video shows the correct way/easy way
If you're worried about clearances affecting oil pressure (I wouldn't be), think about a high-volume oil pump, if you aren't already.
A high volume pump would be overkill, plus they need an extended oil pan, and I wouldn't even know where to start trying to fit that in the engine bay. Pressures might be a little less than ideal, but a Chevy 350 barely even needs any oil pressure to keep ticking, so I'm not worried about damage occurring from it.
I run 15w-40 oil on mine at 370,000 miles cause it's a little low on oil pressure with the original 5w-30.
(started running 15w-40 at about 175-200k-ish miles)
Some people even go as high as 20w-50 but you'd have to have some very loose tolerances, or very worn out, to be needing that.
I think the cranck is springing back because it's not balanced unless the rods are in.
As i know the v8 crancks are balanced with weight on them,not bare.
So,it's not balanced right there.
www.enginebuildermag.com/2014/03/weighing-balancing-work/
michaelovitch it's because of the viscosity of the assembly lube...basic physics
michaelovitch crank not cranck ,also say the guy using internet pages for info stfu another wannabe car enthusiast
You- does things in areas i think is over kill
Me- wow this guy is more careful than i am
Also you- touches the crank bearing with your bare hands
Me- STAHP
I love Lucas products
you put plastiguage material on journal you then put cap on iy then torque.the plastiguage ius to show the machinist if anything is out of tolerance so he has to fix like maybe wrong bearing or something like that.you then just have to pull cap and guage shld. be stuck to crank.good luck
Why did you not plasti-gauge underneath the bearing cap. Dropping the crank in on the strips can give you a flatter strip thus false reading.
I prefer a beam type torque wrench so I can see where and what the torque I'm applying is doing, but really as long as you have a good and accurate TW that's all that really matters.
I totally understand, and I do want to add one to my arsenal. The click-type is far from perfect for many situations, but they have gotten me through everything so far!
Never put oil on bolts you torque because the oil will sit on the bottom of bolt hole and give you false torque specs and it will cause the bolt to loosen over time
a smear of thin oil on the beginning of the threads and on the shoulder
I agree I never lube bearing bolts I thread lock them so they don't vibrate loose. I prefer red thread lock though some may argue My reasoning about this method, But my method never failed me.
Thinking about that video you showed me. Excuse for my english
hey its a chevy itll be fine. good job.just figured all that you spent you cld. have turned crank and bigger bearings which wld. be same price and you would be good.just experimenting>?
That's if he could have found a reputable company to do the work. Here in Fort Worth Texas forget about it the horror stories will you sit up in bed and weep like a three year old child.
7.03 almost sound like Michael kelso right there.
I never lube bearing bolts I thread lock them so they don't vibrate loose. I prefer red thread lock though some may argue My reasoning about this method, But my method never failed me.
Are you taking wet torquing into account wen you work with oiled /wet bolts? Setting to 70ftlbs then going to click on a wet bolt your adding 30% to the 70ftlbs . Just curious
Torque specs for certain bolts (like main caps and head bolts) are almost always given as "oiled", and the use of lubrication is already taken into account. For other hardware I will play around with the values/feel a little if bolts have thread sealer/oil/antiseize on them, but generally torque specs have a bit of a buffer built into them and you won't run into issues. For critical components or soft hardware (Japanese)/aluminum threads you do have to be more careful and aware of that though.
Nice.
Now wouldn’t you also be able to put the plastigauge ontop of the crank and under the main caps and achieve the same result with less work?
Yep, the only concern is sometimes the caps will stick, and you will need to rock them back and forth a bit to get them loose, and that can smear the plastigauge. Probably just me overthinking it though, haha! You can use plastigauge while an engine is installed in a vehicle, and that is precisely how you would do it, so I'm sure it's a valid method.
Fuzzy Dice Projects btw bro I’m am beyond thrilled to have stumbled across your channel very informative and great editing. Keep it up man I hope to follow all your projects going forward
So I just watched you do the plastic gauge.... I guess I was right.
You are a little bit loose....
So probably worth grinding....
Your rear main should be checked with the oil pump bolted on because that will change the rear main clearances
Yeah, I mentioned that briefly in the video, but for my purposes here I wasn't taking precise measurements or needing perfectly accurate data, so it is fine taking a reading without it installed.
.004. Not good, not terrible
get bigger bearings and you be ok.
rubbed my belly counterclockwise till it turned red still no new video..
i hope i dont have to pat my head at the same time because i cant handle that
You cannot measure running torque with a micrometer torque wrench. The way you tried to do torque at the end does not work, only a dial torque wrench will work.
You couldn’t find a bigger scissors huh?
I'll get some ceremonial ribbon-cutting scissors for next time!
Jon Smith scissors any bigger are called hedge trimmers!!
when checking the clearence on the crank-schaft, you only measured one side of the bearings. so you will only get half the actual distance between crank and bearing. but i think, but am not sure, the clearence is meant to be on both sides. therefor you measured double of what you shoud have (i think). if i am correct, everything might me in spec or a little tight.
I know what you are thinking, but you only use plastigage on one side to check clearance. It takes up the space on that side and forces the crankshaft (or whatever you're measuring) to the opposite side, taking up the slack, so it is measuring the total clearance and that is the spec that manufacturers and the aftermarket use, the total clearance.
who else rubbed their belly counterclockwise?
@Fuzzy Dice Projects... where in MD are you?
Montgomery County, Northwestern MD
Washington County here.
Increible trabajo exelente sigue asi con los videos.