Cam installation

[bubba22349]

Was the block cleaned in area of the bearing saddles, do you see any signs of damage or rubbing to the bearings (shinny) spots?

To know if there is trouble it would be best to check the bearing clearances if you don't have a microm. you can get fair result with plastagauge. Ford listed the main bearing clearance at between .0005 and .0022 inches, and between .0008 and .0024 inches for the rod bearings. If you always warm up the car good than tight clearances are fine, you also could have the crank micro polished (is a good idea anyway) and this also gives a bit more clearance too. Forget about the Chevy crank as a reference it is probably being set up for racing (loose). On a streetcar as long as you have about .0010 to .0015 its’ should be good.

 

[wsa111]

If all your bearing clearances are right, street .0015-.002 mains, rods .001-.0015.

Then you have a bent crankshaft, main journals out of round or the block needs to be align bored to true the mains.

You did lube the rear main seal?

Check the thrust clearance on the crankshaft. Bill

 

[ArtemisI6]

I had not lubed the rear main seal previously, but I have since. I checked the clearances using some green plastigage. They all vary but they're all within .0015-.0020 with the exception of the 5th, which is a very tiny amount over .0020 (not even close to .0030)

I also recorded a video of myself spinning the motor. I know it's kind of dark but hopefully it'll help to visualize the situation. This is with the timing chain and cam already in/on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RbH0q5awgY
Please excuse the dirty garage and the thuds of the family stomping around upstairs. Mind you, this is with minimal force on the end of the wrench. I tried to portray as obviously as possible the ease of spinning everything. Since relubing and reinstalling it all it seems easier than before, but still not "spinning by itself" easy.

Is this something that really needs to be taken care of, or is it just "less than ideal" but still capable of functioning safely? There's really not much more room in the budget for more machining costs, and this motor really needs to leave my engine stand post haste, which is why I'm getting somewhat desperate & discouraged at this point.


Thanks in advance for any additional advice.

 

[bubba22349]

Looks to me like it's going to be okay

 

[MPGmustang]

IMO, I think your engine spins fine, especially if you can keep it spinning with 1 finger... I would put it back together and ger her on the road. over time it will loosen up, I think that because our blocks are longer and have 7 main bearings and more contact points that we probably won't get as loose as an 8, honestly I hope never to be loose enough to keep spinning.