Quote:
Originally Posted by ford35lh
Never having built an engine with full floaters ;
what is the Scotchbright and lacquer thinner for ???
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There are a couple reasons:
1) Some of these old bearings have coatings and/or may even have a bit of surface oxidation . . . so polishing/cleaning them with ScotchBrite polishes the surfaces and cleans the crap off of them.
2) Then: When it comes to "floating", what is really happening is that we're removing slight bits of material from the inner and outer surfaces . . . the net effect is increasing clearances. It is surely a rough hand-done operation and far from perfect - and I have tended to see more work done on the OD than the ID for fitment. One has to try to apply consistent pressure and hopefully remove material in a manner that is the same over the surface (I know, hard to do). It is no different than hand sanding a paint job for polishing - you learn to not leave "finger marks" and to do it in a manner that is consistent across the surface. (More 'Art and Skill' than science!)
One mistake some make is trying to use ScotchBrite to resolve an issue where a bearing is just plain out of round. If the shell needs a whacking with a rubber mallet to get it concentric - by all means that is the FIRST thing you do.
Only after you see that it consistently touches/mates to the rod-bore, do you then start the ScotchBrite phase. I have frequently used 6 pairs of rod bearings and hand-select/fit them to find the "best four". Just the things you learn to do.
Best of luck!
D