bearings

L

larry harding

Senior Member
i'm in the process of building an engine. i've got a guy to do my line boring and seat the valves. i've called everybody whose catalog i have and cannot find .020 bearings and inserts. i tried antique engine rebuilding back in november
and was told "in a couple of months" i just called today , now they are
saying maybe by spring. i'm 79 and hope to finish this engine in my lifetime.
does anyone know where i can find these bearings in the forseeable future?
 
i need bearings and rod inserts for an a engine, don't know what year the block is. this is going in my speedster. i'm going with a hot cam, high comp. head and dual carbs so i wan't insert type bearings instead of babbit.
 
Seems -0,020 inserts are "Temporarily out of stock" at Snyders. Have you spoken with them about when they expect them to be back?
NO guarantees here but have you tried Sammy Guthrie at Arizona Model A. Super nice guy and very helpful.
 
I've seen babbitted motors with 7-1 heads and loads of go-fast goodies survive provided they aren't advanced too quickly, I got a friend who has a rpu who goes 80 with a babbitted motor with the above parts and more. if you just have to have inserts, i think mikes afordable has them in stock, but can't say for sure
 
when i started this rebuild last fall i called several suppliers and got the same answer.... out of stock, will have them someday. i think most a parts suppliers get their bearings etc. from the same source, antique engine rebuilders supplies to some of these dealers.
how do i contact the supplier mentioned above, i n am willing to call anybody who can maybe help.
 
Well, if you haven't line bored the block yet, I got a line boring machine and molds and would be willing to pour you babbitt bearings to fit your crank. many diesels use babbitt bearings, so do gas turbines. I use 4x nickel which is what Cat uses for their high speed diesels. If you did get it line bored, I can braze it back to stock and pour babbitt. Inserts can and have spun in A blocks and it pretty much destroys the block. Babbitt can always be repoured. I scrapped 3 blocks that were converted to inserts and spun out. I got a couple blocks lined up for pouring, if you can ship or drive your block to me in Charleston, I'll only charge $125 for pouring, boring and fitting to your crank. Now if you are hell bent on inserts, mikes may have em, here is their website. https://www.mikes-afordable.com/
 
Sunny the Model A said:
Well, if you haven't line bored the block yet, I got a line boring machine and molds and would be willing to pour you babbitt bearings to fit your crank. many diesels use babbitt bearings, so do gas turbines. I use 4x nickel which is what Cat uses for their high speed diesels. If you did get it line bored, I can braze it back to stock and pour babbitt. Inserts can and have spun in A blocks and it pretty much destroys the block. Babbitt can always be repoured. I scrapped 3 blocks that were converted to inserts and spun out. I got a couple blocks lined up for pouring, if you can ship or drive your block to me in Charleston, I'll only charge $125 for pouring, boring and fitting to your crank. Now if you are hell bent on inserts, mikes may have em, here is their website. https://www.mikes-afordable.com/
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Race car builders in the 1930's would braze main bearings, line bore them, cast Babbitt, and line bore again. This kept the Babbitt thin and heat conduction was good because the 3 metals were tinned to each other.

The AER insert bearings only fit Model A or B engines, and they work well if the line boring equipment can machine to 4 decimal point accuracy. The inserts are expensive and need to be manufactured in quantity to keep the price reasonable. Contact AER to see what bearings are in stock and consider having your crankshaft ground to fit available inserts.

The 3 scrapped cylinder blocks that had spun inserts could have been salvaged by brazing, line boring, pouring Babbitt, and a second line boring.

Caterpillar engines have used inserts since WW1. What modern Caterpillar engine uses 4x Babbitt and is it a poured bearing?
 
i tracked down sammy guthrie at arizonia model a. he had what i needed in stock and should be on the way. he seemed like a real nice guy, i'll keep him in mind for further needs. i had a long talk with the guy at mikes yesterday, they and a lot or other dealers are waiting for antique engine rebuilding to get the parts from their overseas supplier.
thanks guys
 
Terry Burtz said:
Race car builders in the 1930's would braze main bearings, line bore them, cast Babbitt, and line bore again. This kept the Babbitt thin and heat conduction was good because the 3 metals were tinned to each other.

The AER insert bearings only fit Model A or B engines, and they work well if the line boring equipment can machine to 4 decimal point accuracy. The inserts are expensive and need to be manufactured in quantity to keep the price reasonable. Contact AER to see what bearings are in stock and consider having your crankshaft ground to fit available inserts.

The 3 scrapped cylinder blocks that had spun inserts could have been salvaged by brazing, line boring, pouring Babbitt, and a second line boring.

Caterpillar engines have used inserts since WW1. What modern Caterpillar engine uses 4x Babbitt and is it a poured bearing?
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2 of the spun blocks had been raced by a friend of mine who is a speed demon. he ran the motors waaaaay too hard, and the center mains spun out, but rear main webs had split open from the crank vibrating so badly. Can't realistically fix that. the other block had the cam seize up and blow out the side of the block. Found a brass timing gear in that engine and it didn't shear off like a fiber bearing would. That engine had to go as well. As far as Cat diesels having babbitt, a good example is the d3400 engine, it has traditional babbitt bearings and variants of the d3400 carried on into the 50's and 60's. Now most new cat diesels have a hybrid insert style bearing that has a thick lining of babbitt on them, best of both worlds. the type of babbitt coated on the modern cat diesel inserts is 4x nickel. I won't even work on those engines anymore since they develop knocks and other problems. but that being said, even the steam turbines in power plants use babbitt bearings, inserts would collapse under the strain. I'm planning on building a new 262 engine for my s10 and I'm converting to babbitt, lowering compression doing away with fuel injection and making a points distributor. maybe then I can get the thing to last. I've had so much grief from supposedly modern engines I am convinced that there is not a good engine made after ww2. Only my bone stock A has been reliable.
 
Typically an insert bearing spins from lack of lubrication or improper machining meaning not enough bearing crush it's the actual bearing crush that holds an insert bearing tight not the tangs on it.
 
Fullraceflathead said:
Typically an insert bearing spins from lack of lubrication or improper machining meaning not enough bearing crush it's the actual bearing crush that holds an insert bearing tight not the tangs on it.
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Tragically for their engines, too many people don't understand what crush is about. I read on this forum a while ago about a guy who had filed his inserts down because they were too big - didn't sit flush with the block or cap. He was told to throw those away and buy a new set, fit them and drive on.
Terry's comment about brazing up the bearing tunnel etc would be an excellent way of doing new Babbitt but these days, expensive.
 
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