ok first thing..i just pick up my crank from Lingenfelter and had it balanced...i will NEVER BUY an EAGLE crank again...cost me 500.00 to balance the damn thing. But Lingenfelter does damn good work and i wanted to make sure it was down to a nats azz..i went and bought .002-.006 ( i think it is those specs) plasta-gauge. what kind of clearances am i looking for on my Rods and then on my Crank mains??

Also...i was fitting everything together as far as my melling HV pump, new melling metal shaft w/ metal collar and my stock pump drive and i noticed there was a ton (up to 1/4in or more) of play up and down on the metal drive shaft that goes between the pump and drive...though it did not come off of either of them i thought this was pretty odd because it seems like if you hit a bump that rod would be jumping around and maybe get bent??
Can anyone help me???..

THANKS!

 

Chunk the platigage. Do you know anyone with a 2-3" micrometer??

How are you establishing the clearances? Dial bore gage??

-Mindgame

 

a friends grandpa has a machie shop and i'm sure he would have that tools...i figured i would be save with putting a peice of plaista gauge on and torking it down then take the caps off and measuring the clearance that way?? What is the best way you suggest? any ideas on the melling pump issue?

Thanks!

 

Some people use plastigage and get away with it for stock builds. I don't like the stuff for performance builds though.

To check the clearances, you will need to mic the rod and main journals. Then you will need to place the bearings in the main caps and torque the caps down to spec. I'd suggest doing this in 5 cycles, each to 50% of final load using the manufacturers suggested lubricant, then go to spec. Check the bearing ID 90º to the parting line (dial bore gage) and record your measurement. Then subtract the ID from the OD of the main journal for your clearance. You're looking for .0024-.0027.
The rod journal clearance is checked the same way, same procedure on the bolts. You'll need a rod vise or a vise with a couple pieces of hardwood to hold the rod while you torque the bolts. Which brings up the question of, what type of bolts are you using? They should be torqued to provide a given amount of stretch, specs are available from the manufacturer. All said and done, clearance should be .0023-.0026.

If you can't do all this yourself then your best bet is in taking the block, crank, rods and bearings to a trusted builder and have them do the checking. If you've never used a micrometer and dial bore gage before (or if you don't know the calibration of the tools)... I'd highly suggest that you let someone else do it.

Good luck.

-Mindgame