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Originally Posted by chrs1961815
This is a whole debate with babbit vs inserts and personal opinions. Let me offer you this. Babbit is a little more tougher than inserts but is a big problem to replace if something goes wrong. Inserts are much more easy. Every modern engine since the 50s for the most part has had inserts, even before that too. Babbitt also takes somebody that has the tooling, equipment, and knowledge to do it. Inserts are easier to install.
In Northern Illinois we have Antique Engine Rebuilding. Rich has been doing it for over 30 years and does 100 to 150 engines a year for people all over of the country. He knows what he is doing and uses inserts. There are other places but personally I like them and I would not use babbit anymore because it is very hard to find somebody that truly knows how to properly do it.
Btw, a touring engine usually has the aforementioned hotter camshaft and high compression head, but also larger intake valves and bores to suck more air. I do believe they also have a lightened flyweel and sometimes a counterbalanced crank. Depends what you want to do with your car. You can go faster and have less take off time from a stop.
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Something worth mentioning in this. There is a misconception that if an insert bearing goes bad, it can be replaced with another insert. While the logic of this seems like that should be so, the issue is that most people wait until it is too late to replace the insert shell. When the thin bearing (soft metal) coating on the insert shell has been worn-away, the hard metal of the shell begins scratching the crankshaft journal pin causing that ground surface to become rough. So we can all imagine what happens next when a new insert shell is placed against a rough crankshaft pin.
Also, I have experienced several situations where the inserts were worn enough that before the driver could catch it, the bearing rotated in the main cap. When this happens, it will distort the cap. The proper way to correct this is to grind the cap and line-bore the block again. This generally means the pan rails and the main web needs to be surfaced by about 0.0005"-0.001" to make all the mains round again. Then the boring bar set-up must be changed to make sure the timing gear lash is not too tight.
So while the inserts can seem easier to do on the front side, there can be stress involved in redoing that conversion too. And for what its worth, there are plenty of quality craftsmen that can still cast bearings. The longevity is generally longer when the cast bearing is done correctly, however many hobbyists just want something done that will last them until they are done and then the next owner can "cleanup the mess" if something goes wrong.