Start over. Plastigage and get some hands on help/experience to assemble that lower end. IT sucks if you make a mistake.
Ok so this morning i re disassembled the whole thing down to the bare block. I got some plastigage from the parts store. What should the plastigage read on the mains and rods? I wish I had someone here that had done this before but I've only lived here for a couple years and dont really know to many people that actually build motors. But I appreciate all the help you guys are giving me.
Main bearing clearance 0.0025-0.0030 inch (0.0027) Rod bearing clearance 0.0020-0.0030 inch (0.0026) these should get you into the ball park
Hope you have green pastigauge - reads between .001 and .003 I like to see my rods and mains at .0015-.002 If you don't have green - look at the package and see what it has for a high and low on the scale. And here is a quick "how to" if you never did it before -- http://www.ehow.com/how_2142943_use-plastigage-measure-clearances.html
I did get the green and thanks for the quick response and the how to. Ill get at it this weekend when I have more time to work on it. Thanks again.
Ok I checked it and three of the rod bearings smashed the plastigauge so much that i couldnt hardly read it. I called the machine shop and they are going to look at the crank and the rods just to double check everything.
GOOD WORK I think you have found your problem. I can't tell you over the years how many mismatched bearings I've found. Never ever believe what is found on the bearing box or what the crank grinders says is grind size. Can for cam degrees - test and check all this stuff when building a motor.
Just as a point of reference for the next time you tackle this type of project is to check the bearings and clearances after getting them back from the machine shop. Invest in a cheap set of micrometers, check each bearing half, and the rod or main throw, also the rod caps with the rods torqued down (this can easily be done in vice), this will give you the exact dimensions and you can calculate what your clearances are before you assemble the motor. I always assemble the crank first.............you should be able to spin it by hand. Next I install the cam and timing chain............you should still be able to spin it by hand, then the rods and pistons. It should turn a little harder but take maybe 25lbft to turn the motor over without the heads. You can never go wrong doing it this way. I don't use plastigauge because I don't believe you can get a consistant reading..............and don't like doing it more than once..................IMHO
