Rookie with an engine problem

[Shelby1962]

Mr. Rogers...Thanks for the suggestions on the tinfoil and everyone else that replied. As you can see from the photos the engine maybe fresh but whoever did the babbit work should be banned from doing this kind of work! The clearance was .006 but the thrust was good at .004. Had a friend come over with Les Andrews book and he helped with the main clearance. It's now within spec. Put it all back together and ran it for 45 minutes and no leaks yet. Not sure how long it will live but it appears to be OK for now. Not the most confident on the engine but it sure is a pretty thing.

[James Rogers]

Originally Posted by Shelby1962

Mr. Rogers...Thanks for the suggestions on the tinfoil and everyone else that replied. As you can see from the photos the engine maybe fresh but whoever did the babbit work should be banned from doing this kind of work! The clearance was .006 but the thrust was good at .004. Had a friend come over with Les Andrews book and he helped with the main clearance. It's now within spec. Put it all back together and ran it for 45 minutes and no leaks yet. Not sure how long it will live but it appears to be OK for now. Not the most confident on the engine but it sure is a pretty thing.

Glad I could help and, you are right, that is a shoddy looking job. Others are correct in that, there should be wells at the sides of the bearings. These wells should go from where the groove intersects the parting line to the same place on the other side and there should be one on each side. This, among other things, could have been what contributed to the clearance being wrong . Even if you only have one on each side of the cap it is better than none.

[Kohnke Rebabbitting]

Originally Posted by Shelby1962

Mr. Rogers...Thanks for the suggestions on the tinfoil and everyone else that replied. As you can see from the photos the engine maybe fresh but whoever did the babbit work should be banned from doing this kind of work! The clearance was .006 but the thrust was good at .004. Had a friend come over with Les Andrews book and he helped with the main clearance. It's now within spec. Put it all back together and ran it for 45 minutes and no leaks yet. Not sure how long it will live but it appears to be OK for now. Not the most confident on the engine but it sure is a pretty thing.

I would guess that front flange will crack off at some point, as it looks to be just hanging out away from the cap serface. You can see the babbitt wasn't peened.

Oil will go through the mating surface of the cap and block with shims.

I always put a light coat of RTV on the shims, and both end's of the main bolt's.

If the RTV comes out past the part line"s more then you want, you have put on to much.

Oil will go through the shims, no matter what.