Cooking bearings...

[Randy Forbes]

At least one (>1) person here will be excited, okay, two (2); I'm excited (they're done, and) I don't have to do them tomorrow!

More pictures: https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album215

 

[Superwrench]

Yeah ! ! Are they done yet ? :hammer:

 

[Patrick67BJ8]

At least one (>1) person here will be excited, okay, two (2); I'm excited (they're done, and) I don't have to do them tomorrow!

More pictures: https://www.rfdm.com/gallery/album215

What are we looking at? The cooked bearings I've seen were from an engine with lots of miles on it(not a pretty sight). Is that a beer can next to your laptop?lol
Patrick

 

[Randy Forbes]

Yeah ! ! Are they done yet ? :hammer:

They're done, but I'll let you burnish them (fine Scotchbrite, unless you know a better way).

Now you just have to get me to ship them... :angel:

 

[Randy Forbes]

<span style="font-weight: bold">What are we looking at?</span> The cooked bearings I've seen were from an engine with lots of miles on it(not a pretty sight). <span style="font-weight: bold">Is that a beer can</span> next to your laptop?lol
Patrick

Four (4) sets (12/set) -.010" undersize connecting rod bearings, three (3) sets (8/set) -.010" undersize main bearings and three sets (2/std, 1/+.005") thrust washers__all for the Big Healey 100/6 or 3000 engine, and one (1) set of BMW S-54 (3.2L) std. connecting rod bearings (12/set).

Interesting to note, that the high-revving, high specific output (>100bhp/litre) BMW inline six (I6) has bearings that are very nearly half the width of the industrial BMC engine. I have a used set of main bearings from an S-52 (BMW I6) that I'll compare to the Healey bearings later on, I was too tired to drag them out last night...

... that's a can of Mountain Dew <span style="font-style: italic">Voltage</span>, and after an all-day marathon of baking-soda blasting, preparing, coating and curing bearings, it was of little benefit.

Before getting started on the bearings, I had to run a set of +.040" oversize pistons across town to the machinist with the BN4 cylinder block. It seems the high-school shop class <span style="font-style: italic">Healey project</span> had suffered the indignity of someone using a ridge-reamer to open up the top of the cylinders a bit further than the +.020" pistons could account for. Moss was/is out of stock on the +.030" pistons that I would've normally ordered.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Randy,

What's your recommendation for Healey bearings; i.e. I've seen 'bi-metal' and 'tri-metal,' etc. In the past, there have been reported problems with some brands (e.g. County). Do you have brand/type recommendations?

 

[Randy Forbes]

Historically, (I've been building Healey engines for a long time, since the late 70s) I've used Vandervell, Repco & AE, and never had any trouble with them. Those would be my first choices.

What have you heard about County bearings, as those are apparently what's currently supplied by Moss?

The two (2) sets of the main and rod bearings pictured below are County (box says "King" but shells are stamped county); a set for Superwrench, and the other for the 100/6 2-port I'm building.

 

[Superwrench]

I never had any trouble with King Bearings in race engines, but these are marked County. King might make County or vice-versa. Who knows these days ? I couldn't find Vandervell or Federal Mogul. We don't have too many choices. Now I just have to get Randy to ship them ! Ha !

 

[Bob_Spidell]

...
What have you heard about County bearings, as those are apparently what's currently supplied by Moss? ...

A while ago--couple of years, actually--there was a discussion about County quality on the email list and, possibly, here (memory's a little foggy). There were some very negative comments made--IIRC both against water pumps and bearings--but the most vociferous were from a racer who had apparently had bad results with County bearings (I think he's on this forum--I'll leave it up to him if he wants to speak up). Essentially, the bearings self-destructed very quickly (like after one race).

Note I have no first-hand info--I have a County water pump I haven't installed and it looks fine, and it even came with new studs and a gasket--but there was some discussion and some negative reports. Maybe their quality has improved; I believe at least some of the parts are made in India but may be from different suppliers at different times.

Again, this is second-hand, hearsay info, but the racer has good cred in my book. Of course, the source and/or quality could have changed--I doubt Moss would continue to sell any product if they got a lot of complaints from customers.

 

[BoyRacer]

Bob, I may have been the racer who posted a complaint about the poor quality of the County bearings. But first -- Randy, what are you seeking to accomplish with those bearings in the oven?
Secondly, a little history here. Vandervell bearings were the best quality by most accounts but they are no longer available and most of the NOS stuff is also gone. AE and Glacier were also very good quality bearings. Repco is the name under which BAP-GEON sold its engine bearings. Those bearings were actually made by ACL. They are also top quality bearings.
Now we have "County". County is a name sort-of-like Moss Motors. They sell lots of different products made by different people - some are better quality than others. King makes the engine bearings for Healeys that are sold under the "County" label.
Third, I am only one of many racers who have had bearing failures with King/County bearings. In my case it was a loose harmonic damper that then fretted the snout of my crankshaft which then necessitated my pulling of the engine to remove the crank. I then discovered that after only 4 hours on the engine (two race weekends) that the bearings were fracturing. That was the one and only time I ever used County bearings.
With no other source of bearings on the horizen I contracted with ACL back in 2001 to produce a batch of engine bearings for our 6 cylinder engines. So, if you are in need of quality engine bearings, I have ACL rod and main bearings in .010 and .020 sizes for sale at $63 and $68 per set, respectively.

 

[Randy Forbes]

Bob, I may have been the racer who posted a complaint about the poor quality of the County bearings. But first -- <span style="font-weight: bold">Randy, what are you seeking to accomplish with those bearings in the oven?</span>
Secondly, a little history here. Vandervell bearings were the best quality by most accounts but they are no longer available and most of the NOS stuff is also gone. AE and Glacier were also very good quality bearings. Repco is the name under which BAP-GEON sold its engine bearings. Those bearings were actually made by ACL. They are also top quality bearings.
Now we have "County". County is a name sort-of-like Moss Motors. They sell lots of different products made by different people - some are better quality than others. King makes the engine bearings for Healeys that are sold under the "County" label.
Third, I am only one of many racers who have had bearing failures with King/County bearings. In my case it was a loose harmonic damper that then fretted the snout of my crankshaft which then necessitated my pulling of the engine to remove the crank. I then discovered that after only 4 hours on the engine (two race weekends) that the bearings were fracturing. That was the one and only time I ever used County bearings.
With no other source of bearings on the horizen I contracted with ACL back in 2001 to produce a batch of engine bearings for our 6 cylinder engines. So, if you are in need of quality engine bearings, I have ACL rod and main bearings in .010 and .020 sizes for sale at $63 and $68 per set, respectively.

Polymer coatings, a dry-film lubricant in this case, requires the part to be cured for one (1) hour at 300* (part "at setpoint" for an hour, so a larger part could take several hours to "soak through" to reach the setpoint). Hence the data-logger__a lot easier than the 50# Honeywell strip-chart recorders I used to use.

Incidentally, Trent at rockerarms.com says he's getting ready to run another batch of billet rocker arms; wanted to let you know.

I'm still sitting on a few sets of NOS bearings, but I too am concerned about the availability of quality replacements, so I'm interested in some ACL -.010" mains (I only have the one__1__set of AEs). Anyone with some NOS "STD" mains/rods? I have a perfect std/std crank for my car's original 100/6 engine that I'll put together someday.

Richard, are you doing any oil analysis to watch for trace metals, or do you feel you tear the engine down often enough to render it pointless? Examples of Titan & Blackstone reports here: https://www.rfdm.com/Randy/Maintenance/oilAnalysis/01/ Clicking on the "date" at the bottom of each column will bring up that report.