The Ford Barn

Licensed to kill · 09-17-2017, 07:02 PM

So while I have the pan off I wanted to check my bearing clearances. Did alot of searching and due to necessity (can't find any plastigauge locally) decided to do the go-nogo method. Kind of a hokey way to do things but most things about these cars is kinda hokey and they are not exactly precision pieces of equipment. Started with the rear main since i already had that one off to fix the missing oil tube issue. With 4 shims removed, the crank turns freely and drags with a piece of .002 tin foil in but does not lock up. remove one more .002 shim and the crank drags with no tin foil. Seems too snug to me and to my way of thinking if it drags with .002 foil in there, then the actual clearance would be something like .0015 would it not??. Drag suggest to me that there is virtually no clearance. I'm thinking go with the 4 shims removed rather than the 5. Am somewhat surprised that I had at least .004 too much clearance (2-.002 shims from each side.

09-17-2017, 07:02 PM	#1
Licensed to kill Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Alberta Posts: 930	Checking bottom end bearing clearances So while I have the pan off I wanted to check my bearing clearances. Did alot of searching and due to necessity (can't find any plastigauge locally) decided to do the go-nogo method. Kind of a hokey way to do things but most things about these cars is kinda hokey and they are not exactly precision pieces of equipment. Started with the rear main since i already had that one off to fix the missing oil tube issue. With 4 shims removed, the crank turns freely and drags with a piece of .002 tin foil in but does not lock up. remove one more .002 shim and the crank drags with no tin foil. Seems too snug to me and to my way of thinking if it drags with .002 foil in there, then the actual clearance would be something like .0015 would it not??. Drag suggest to me that there is virtually no clearance. I'm thinking go with the 4 shims removed rather than the 5. Am somewhat surprised that I had at least .004 too much clearance (2-.002 shims from each side.