dunrite

during assembly of my 90 model 302 the rod bearings don't fit in cab centered.
They sit offset 1/8 inch to one side. One looks like it would interfer with the other rod cab. There clevite bearings, has anyone run across this?

Mustangmutt

Sounds like you have the wrong bearings. They should fit flush with both ends of the cap and rod.

dunrite

I found out the non centered bearing in rod cap was caused by factory poor machineing of rod. Since the crank assembley was balanced it would have caused rebalanceing to change rod. So I ground off the part of bearing that would interfer with its sister rod cap. I checked all the bearings and they were identical. The local machinst says that he runs across stuff like that all the time and says it seems the manufactures are getting worse the last ten years. Thanks for the reply.

mjr46

67mustang302

Wait, wut? Are you saying that the ends of the bearings were sticking up a tiny bit above the cap? They're SUPPOSED to do that, it's called bearing crush. They're designed that way to create the tension and eccentricity needed for them to work properly.

dunrite

the rod bearings do not stick above the cap the one in the cap was sticking out the side of cap that would rub against the other rod on journal. The locating tab that is machine in the rod for the bearing to lock into was machine wrong. Your are right about the crush factor of rod bearings. One machinist told me that alot of the new engines made today dont even use the locking tabs on rod bearings anymore.

67mustang302

Are you sure the bearing shells weren't flipped around? There is a top and bottom, those tabs are slightly offset for that reason.