hi all.

now that its gotten a little warmer here in nashville, i've gotten around to getting the engine back in the ford.

installed new main and rod bearings, new oil pump and water pump etc...got everything back together, and torqued the rods to 45, and the mains to 95.

with the rod bearings torqued to 45, the engine spins smoothly when turning the harmonic balancer bolt. after torquing the mains in stages up to 95, i can't get the engine to budge.

spark plugs are out, all main and rod caps are in the correct locations, and all bearings are lubricated with fresh oil.

i dont' think i'm being over cautious in assuming that i should at least be able to turn the engine by hand before putting it back in. people have told me that i'll never be able to put as much torque on it as the starter, but it seems like somethings not quite right.

wanted to see if anyone has any ideas. i figure either i've got the wrong torques specs or my torque wrench is out of calibration.

thanks in advance

drew

 

You should be able to turn it over by hand but it will be noticeably harder, but should still turn. Try loosening one main cap at a time to see if you can locate the one causing it to be too tight. You might have a bearing that slipped a little.

 

In addition to checking for a slipped bearing, also double check that you didnt buy oversized bearings. They do come in different thicknesses.

Have you used the plastigauge? Highly recommended. Very cheap (I think I paid like $1 years ago). Insures that you have the appropriate tolerance. Now is not the time to get in a hurry to get it together, though I know it is tempting.

 

Pretty much what I was going to say. Check the clearances with plastigage. Is it possible you have a standard crank but have .010 under bearings?
I dont think its an issue with the torque wrench or having the wrong specs. Once the bolts get so tight the additional tightening stretches the bolts, it does not reduce oil clearance (to any degree that would give you this problem).

 

dug through the garage and found the box for my mains. this is the part # i seem to have ordered


Advance Auto Parts: Main Bearing Set by Sealed Power - Part 5078M 10




the truck has a standard crank, and the part description for the bearings i ordered says .10 undersize............

does this mean they are too big?

 

also,

thank you guys for taking the time to help.

 

Wow, I'm good. haha. Yes you either need to buy some standard bearings or have the crank machined .010 under. Your bearings are basically for a smaller crankshaft main bearing diameter (your crank is too large of a diameter for the bearings). If the crank is in good shape I'd just buy the correct bearings. I'll bet you can even find them locally to get back on the project ASAP.

 

that, is impressive.

going to run out and see if the parts store will work with me, or just buy another (standard) set.

thanks so much for your help,

drew

 

Just the bearings arent too bad, but parts stores are usually pretty good about returns/exchanges.

Get some plastigage while you are there.

 

Now that was a quality question/answer session!!! That is what this site is about.

It's hard bantering through all the useless post on here to get good info. Who cares about how old you are in comparisson to your truck. Who cares what color people want to tell you to paint your truck.

Keep it up and this site will be what it was made for!