Don't just stick the new bearings in, Plastigage them, to make sure you still have proper clearance.

 

I cant find the specs for the rod's clearance. Does anybody know what it should be?

And secondly, After reading a little , the pins are shrink fitted to the upper rods correct? I was able to slide the rod from one side of the pin to the other with minimal effort. Could that be a cause of one side of the bearing failing?

Thanks Ivan

 

From the Factory Service Manual, which I highly recommend you have:

Pin bore diameter… 0.9104-0.9112

Connecting rod clearance… 0.0008-0.0015 (desirable) 0.0008-0.0026 (allowable)

 

For a '64-73 289, your Main journal clearance should be 0.0005"-0.0024", your connecting rod journal clearance should be 0.0008"-0.0026", your connecting rod side play should be 0.010"-0.020" and your crankshaft endplay should be 0.004"-0.008"

 

Guys, thanks for the specs!

Where can I buy a factory sevice manual?

 

any place that sells classic mustang parts, amazon, fordmanuals.com, among others. they all seem to be around the same price.

the factory manual for your year is 100x better than the aftermarket manuals that cover 10 years of cars.

 

Thanks for the help. I was able to download a pdf of the service manual for 16 bucks. That haynes manual, what a disappointment it was. I am happy to see the detail information in the manual. Thanks fellas, I will keep you guys posted.

 

Hey guys,
Maybe you can answer this. When I pulled the heads off to replace the head gasket, I used fel pro head gasket. When I looked at the original and the new one, they were identical. I noticed that the hole for the coolant passage was smaller than the blocks hole. The heads had the biggest opening , which was more than double of the blocks. I added a pic of what i am talking about. Question is this should I have opened it up?

Red is the block
blue is the gasket
yellow is the head.

 

nope leave it alone thats how its supposed to be. remember one of those head gaskets goes on upside down too or you'll be blocking off a passage at the end of the head.

 

Brother, don't mess around. Take the block, and rotating assembly to a competent machine shop. Have the block boiled out, bored 30 over and decked.

Get a new set of pistons and rings (i like hypereutectic-better than cast-you don't need forged for this application) and have the shop check your rods and resize if required. They will install the new pistons and rings as well.

Have them check the crank and at minimum polish. They will also check the block journals and line hone if req'd. All this shouldnt cost more than 500-600 bucks for the shops labor. They will also take the correct measurements and tell you what size bearings to get.

Heads are already done, so buy a decent midsize cam, lifters and new timing chain set and you will be good to go. By the way, if it is the original timing chain (nylon teeth) it needs to be replaced regardless of anything else. May want to consider a 4bbl carb and manifold as well.

Good luck.