I have been rebuilding my 289 V8 after a bearing and crank failure. I started reassembly on the weekend. Everything was going great and I thought I had the bottom finished until I was tightening the crankshaft bolt. The resistance on turning over the engine became noticably greater. So, I pull the hub off the crankshaft, take off the timing cover and pull the crankshaft gear. I discover that the from main bearing cap has a .010 to .012 overlap with the block, which of course means the bearing halves are off by the same amount. This threw out the end play in the crank. By now it was Sunday late afternoon, and I was pretty discouraged. I wasn't sure if I had the main cap on reversed (I know now that there is only one way for it to go on, but I didn't know that at the time), and I didn't know what to do.
I called StudeRich for advice. He went to his shop where he had a disassembled engine and walked me through what everything should look like. He suggested I take off the pan, back off the bolts on the front main cap and see whether the cap had some forward/backward movement because the holes in the cap are bigger than the bolts. Sure enough, I did just that and I was able to lightly tap the cap back so that it lined up perfectly with the front of the block, which of course brought the bearing halves into perfect alignment. I retourqued the bolts, and put it all back together. Problem solved.
I know you experienced guys will shake your heads. Such a simple thing, I should have checked before putting the pan on, etc. Anyway, I wanted to thank StudeRich for taking my call and making the effort to help me out - it is very much appreciated.
John
1953 Commander Coupe
1954 Champion Sedan
1963 Lark
I called StudeRich for advice. He went to his shop where he had a disassembled engine and walked me through what everything should look like. He suggested I take off the pan, back off the bolts on the front main cap and see whether the cap had some forward/backward movement because the holes in the cap are bigger than the bolts. Sure enough, I did just that and I was able to lightly tap the cap back so that it lined up perfectly with the front of the block, which of course brought the bearing halves into perfect alignment. I retourqued the bolts, and put it all back together. Problem solved.
I know you experienced guys will shake your heads. Such a simple thing, I should have checked before putting the pan on, etc. Anyway, I wanted to thank StudeRich for taking my call and making the effort to help me out - it is very much appreciated.
John
1953 Commander Coupe
1954 Champion Sedan
1963 Lark
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