rod bearings

Has anyone done rod bearings with the engine in the car? Are there any tricks? It doesn't seem like there is much room to R&R the top half. I got the cap off and put rubber hose over the studs, pushed the rod up off of the crank, turned the crank till it was the farthest away and it still seemed like there wasn't enough room. What about rotating the rod 45 degrees to pull it down a little more? If anyone has done this in the car, I'd sure appreciate hearing from you. Thanks, Joe

I have done it a number of times. Start with a pair rods at the bottom of stroke, You also don't need to move the rod up much to slip the upper bearing in. The secret is that you can tap gently with a straight blade screw driver or other tool and turn the bearing shell out of the rod (on the side opposite of the bearing tang). Next slip the new bearing back in the reverse order watching to see that the bearing tang is fully seated. Make sure everything is very clean (rod bearing surface and crank throw i.e. no oil, sludge, grit, etc. and use plenty of lube or some white grease on the crank and rod cap. You should only do one pair of rods at a time and reassemble it before turning the crank to work on to the next set of rods. This method can also be used to do main bearings too, good luck :

Thanks Bubba, I already did the mains using a cotter pin to turn out the top shell, worked like a charm. The mains were original Ford but the rods are Clevites, std, someones been in it before. Joe

Yep the rod bearings will wearout faster then the mains. Good luck on the rebuild.

I'm up to the 3rd rod bearing, I put a paint dot on the front of the cap so it goes back on the same way. On the 3rd cap I thought maybe I wasn't paying attention because it didn't want to go back on. So I looked closer and saw that the Ford logo was on the right side on all of the caps and I was trying to put the 3rd on with the logo to the left. So I flipped it around and put it with the logo to the right and the paint spot to the rear. It went on easier, snugged it down, not torqued, and rotated the crank. At a certain position it felt like it was binding a little, so I pulled the cap and reversed it, logo to the left paint spot in front, as originally attempted. Snugged it down and rotated the crank, no binding, torqued it, no binding. Thought maybe the last person put the rod in backwards, but , realized when I removed the upper bearings, they all had the tang on the left and had to be pushed out from the right. I'm a little perplexed by this. Joe

Is there any numbers on the rod and cap? If the engine still has all the original rods the numbers will match the cylinder number. The numbers will go on the same side when it is assembled right also the bearing tangs will be on the same side of the rod.

I don't remember what side the lower bearing tang was on. Is it a problem if the tangs aren't on the same side? With the Ford logo on the right side as all of the other rod caps, there was a definite binding in a certain position, the lower half of the bearing had wear starting at the 9 o'clock position. Flipped it around and no binding and it was how it was because my paint dot was in the front. I've got 3 more to do, and I'll look at #3 again. By the way, this is been done in the car. Joe

I don't remember what side the lower bearing tang was on. Is it a problem if the tangs aren't on the same side?

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Yes rods and caps are machined and honed to size as an assembly they will only be right going back the same way.

With the Ford logo on the right side as all of the other rod caps, there was a definite binding in a certain position, the lower half of the bearing had wear starting at the 9 o'clock position. Flipped it around and no binding and it was how it was because my paint dot was in the front.

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The binding and wear mark would be a sign of incorrect assembly. since it freed up after you turned it around that would be the way it should go. The Ford logo not being the same as others is hard to say but if the rod and cap have the bearing tangs on the same side then the rod might have been installed backwards to the others (easy to do they have floating piston pins) or it may be a sign that a replacement rod was installed (or it was rebuilt) at some time during the past. It's been many years since I tore down an original early model engine (IE never been apart), but I was taught to check for numbers on con rods & caps, also the main caps if they did not have them marked yet you got out a number set or a punch and marked them before taking them apart. Good luck on the other 3 not much fun doing it in the car.

I have 1 more rod bearing to go, I'm thinking about shimming the spring in the pump for a little addded pressure. I don't want to have gone through all of this for a measley 10lb increase. Any ideas on how much to shim it? Joe

Seems like I remember old timers saying to maybe use like a spark plug washer or it was 060 to .125 but it was by a trial and error process. If you have 35 to 45 psi on the road at speed you should be good to go. What kind of clearance did you have on the rods and mains with the new bearings?