1987 22re rebuild in progress, had spun #3 rod bearing, cracked head. block & crank & new head coming home from the machine shop tuesday. can't wait to get her back together.

I heard somewhere a while back that if you torque rod bearings down (ie. to plastigage), then remove the cap (to read and clean plastigage), then retorque for final assembly, there is a risk of spinning those bearings...don't want that to happen. I know about the tabs, orientation etc...any opinions out there....engnbldr? Should I get a spare rod bearing to check oil clearances then install the new ones for final assembly? am I too anal? just want it to last and have read horror stories of rebuilds gone bad. this is my main worry.
also, is assembly lube needed, or just a slathering of oil on the journals, bearings, cam etc? have heard both ways there...fsm says oil...
thanks!

 

as far as the assembly lube goes, from what I read and asked ENGNBLDR about, it depends on how long it will sit after actually rebuilding the bottom end etc. If it's gonna get built and installed and started in the same day/weekend, then you should be ok with just a 30wt oil. If not, I would use non-moly grease to assemble. I say non-moly because sometimes it makes it a little difficult to turn the motor by hand with it. I used the sta-lube marine bearing grease on both the bottom end and the cam as well as packed in the oil pump. That was rec'd by ENGNBLDR during my build.

When I plasti'd mine I did not use spare bearings. To me that defeats the purpose of the whole process. Not only are you measuring the journals you are measuring the bearings themselves. Just remember no lube when measuring them.

 

That's kind of what I was thinking. There are obviously going to be different tolerances there on each journal, and within each bearing too. how many miles since your build? any issues?

 

6,000+ only issue is a leaking oil pan, because I was stupid and used the cork gasket instead of just RTV.

 

Who in the hell told you this? If someone spun a bearing, it wasn't because of plastigage. Using plastigage, short of a micrometer, is the only way to tell if the new bearings are even the right size.

I like using STP oil treatment. It's kinda tacky, so it holds thing together until you tighten down and it doesn't just run off.