6 bolt rod bearing clearances

[AbsolutGS-T]

Hey guys, I have a 6 bolt with stock rods and polished crank. I was checking the clearances on the rod bearings with green plastigage and all the rods came up to .001 with clevite standard bearings. Is this a bit too tight?

Thanks,

 

[ed1380]

That is tight. Are you sure there was no dirt trapped behind the bearing?

 

[AbsolutGS-T]

Yes im sure. They were brand new bearings that I was checking and I made sure they were really clean. Should I just get the acl bearings with the .001 oil clearance?

 

[My1GLaser]

FSM states .0008"-.002" clearance. Might want to get them mic'd to make sure they are actually .001 and not tighter...

did you torque them to 38ft/lbs using 30wt oil?

Either .001 or .002 will keep you in spec.

Aren't the std Clevites aluminum bearings? If your running higher viscosity oil and beating the piss out of your car then a little more oil clearance would be a good thing IMO.

 

[DSMinit4life]

I would never just trust plastic gauge if you have the cash and plan on staying in motorsports invest in some nice micrometers and bore gauges, save yourself machine shop cost in the future. Lots of helpful posts on this site to show you how to use these tools or pay a shop to do this for you. If you have bse kit and no oil filter housing mod oversized bearings should not be a problem.

 

[AbsolutGS-T]

No I didnt torque them with 30wt oil. Would that make them have a looser clearance then without 30wt oil?

 

[My1GLaser]

No I didnt torque them with 30wt oil. Would that make them have a looser clearance then without 30wt oil?

Yes they should have a slightly looser clearance without torquing with 30wt oil. However, I don't see it specify to use 30wt in the FSM, which strikes me as odd. I can't imagine something as critical as a rod bolt is supposed to be dry torqued. Maybe someone else can chime in. I have Manley rods which specify to use 30wt oil.

 

[ed1380]

I used arp lube when I did my wiseco's.

 

[AbsolutGS-T]

If someone who has rebuilt their stock 6 bolt could chime in that would be great. It did look kind of odd that the clearances would be so tight on all of the rods.

 

[AbsolutGS-T]

Well I just double checked the FSM and didnt see anything specifying the use of oil on the rod bolts. If anyone could say what they used that worked on their build that would be appreciated.