Have You had problem with King -ford flathead main bearings? - I installed 020 undersize King main bearings to my italmeccanica blower engine. There was one bearing 010 in vacum packed set. I was made misstage, didn´t see that. Problem was oil pressure. Cold engine = 45psi. Warm engine (180farenheit) 7psi. I was try to find reason for that problem,.... found that wrong size , 010, bearing in second repair. Now engine works exelent. 55psi cold, 45psi warm. -yesterday started to put together long stroke (4.25") and big bore engine. Once again I had on the board KING main bearings. 59L block, new eagle 4.25" crank, new King Std main bearings. Last bearing was 0,73mm (0.028") too tight. I have 2new set undersize bearings on stock and those were right widht -> last bearing fit on its Place 100%. I took 3hours to make tools and lathe King bearings to right dimensions. Everytime those King bearings are not good. Is it only bad luck ,.....or widely problem,... aulis
A lot of racers use them and you can't beat the price. I have them in my 8BA. My machinist recommended them and he builds some high end race engines.
I have had bad luck. I was decided that I drive carefully with my blower engine before I find that problem. Now problem is over, and have dyno engine, works great (+400N torque and good HP). I do not know what would be happened, if I was go to dyno with that "wrong" bearing.
Probably LOUD noises & expensive parts scattered everywhere!! You are ABSOLUTELY correct: Check all dimensions at least 3X & never ASSUME the vendor is correct, as you have found out! ( We have a saying in English :" When you assume anything you make an ASS out of U and ME") No intention of making fun of anybody, just making a point! You were very fortunate to discover the problem BEFORE it "went BAD"!!
You´re right. Engine was run ok. all short block was balanced. Only thing I was worried was that oil pressure when engine was wrong. I have been racing 25years drag racing, so that was big big misstage for me. Have done so long time engines for own racing use, for friends and customers,... But nobody is 100%. I was lucky that I have forged axle and I found problem. I will use King bearing in future. I use what they send from USA and need to remember that many parts are made "somewhere" but not in USA.
Everybody gets a chance , friends get Two ,Family get three . King would have lucked out with me . Harsh but fair .
Two ways of building a motor. Buy 2-3-4 sets of bearings and measure every bearing and find sets that are within specs of each other for a crank that has already been ground OR Insert bearings into block and torque the bolts and measure each bearing clearance and have crank ground to specs. If running ARP or other brands of studs instead of bolts, make sure they are installed before torquing to get proper torque spec per manufacturer. This will take a very skilled crank grinder to grind to the exact tolerances.
I use them with no issues in my hemi but would prefer to use domestic products but none made here anymore for the most part...
I believe the best method is to order the bearings first - and take the block, caps and bearings to the machine shop and specify the exact clearances you want. Very few people have a quality 3-point dial-bore gauge to accurately measure the main bores - so if YOU do the measuring, and they grind the crank to your spec, then the final clearances are on you. If THEY do the measuring and grind the crank to the clearance spec you want, then it is on them. This is especially true in flatheads, where we don't have the luxury of .001 looser bearing selections.
I have a bunch of old stock flathead bearings out in the trailer- guess I should dig them out and post them
I recall some years ago when I was into early hemis, that King bearings were the only option for some of them. They had a good reputation. I believe they are made in Israel. Did you get the bearings from a parts house, or from ebay? Sometimes ebay sellers get hold of seconds or oddball lots that may be mismatched or salvaged.
As of today Rock Auto still shows later model main and rod Flathead V8 bearings in stock in several sizes. Clevite 77 and Sealed Power..
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