Rod Bearings Anyone?

**HondaBoy** · 02-20-2010, 09:38 AM

well my 3gee has sat since last october. last night i threw some new standard sized bearings in. car started right up and idle nicely until i put a load on it. i did plastigauge the bearings but nothing looked too out of spec. but guess what, i'm going to have to do it again. what a pain in the ass.

hopefully i can get to this on my days off. i'm going to go ahead and order some undersized bearings so they'll be here when i need them. but damn, i was just too hasty and should have taken more time. well, the 3gee runs now. pulls good vacuum of 20+ at idle. i just dont want to drop the crank and go through all that bs. i'll keep you guys updated. hope to have it back and on the road asap!

**stephensimmons** · 02-20-2010, 10:03 AM

Why do you have to do it again? What happened when you put a load on it? Are you going to get the crank turned before putting the undersized bearings in? Because if not i dont think they will fit unless you have ALOT of wear!

**HondaBoy** · 02-20-2010, 01:33 PM

i'm going the cheapeset route. i get the bearings cheap anyway since i sell them. i'm gonna plastigauge them once more, then see how that goes. the crank wasnt scored or anything so hopefully just the bearings. if that doesnt work, i'll go with one of my first plans which is a completely new bottom end: block, crank, bearings, pistons and rings. that is if this doesnt work. i've got other cars to drive, this ones just to tinker with for now.

i really should drop the crank, have it turned and get undersized bearings, but i dont wanna mess with it at this point. just dont have time to do a lot now days. if i mess the bottom end up any more, oh well i'll just get it redone or buy a new assembly.

but my next days off pan comes back down and i will pastigauge each rod bearing and see how out of tolerance they actually are. mind you i was doing most of this in the dark, i was bored.

**HondaBoy** · 02-20-2010, 02:03 PM

now looking at the old bearings, i'm quite sure which one it is. its the outter piston on the driver side/pulley side of the engine. i did notice the plastigauge i used didnt flatten out on that bearing. i'm going to try and throw and undersized bearing in there, after plastigauging of course.

i do plan to do a full engine build later on, but i just want the car to run ok. maybe not perfect, but ok. i know most of you are probably thinking i'm wasting time doing what i'm doing. but i'm going the cheap route for now.

i'm going to buy a used engine likely and have it custom built, but thats later. possibly not an A20 either, so who knows. i'll keep y'all posted.

**LX-incredible** · 02-20-2010, 05:02 PM

It's going to toast the next set of bearings as well. Save yourself the annoyance and find a replacement crank...

**HondaBoy** · 02-22-2010, 02:57 AM

i may buy a used engine. i still need to get an engine hoist. i have a new engine stand though. but thats no good if i cant pull the engine out. i'm gonna keep thinking about it first before i go any farther. see what i can do and whats needed. tomorrow i'm probably going to work on it some more and see what else i'm going to be doing to it.