i bought eagle rods, and im about to use plastigate but then i started thinking...why couldnt i jst use the bearings off the old rods into the eagle rods since they worked perfectly and gapped perfectly. so why not...

 

You COULD, if they were in perfect condition, no scratches or anything, but your spending the time and money to rebuild the engine, why not put in new bearings.

 

The first question to ask is "are they all the same color bearing?" If not, then you will have different clearances. The color system is thrown out the door when using Eagles.

 

Plastigauge them. Dont be lazy or cheap! Never assume anything.

 

one thing i dont get is...u plastigauge them with the old bearings, correct? thats weird. or do u buy new bearigs and use plastigauge to confirm they are right?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by earl &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The first question to ask is "are they all the same color bearing?" If not, then you will have different clearances. The color system is thrown out the door when using Eagles.</TD></TR></TABLE>

why are you not using the color system on eagle rods?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by earl &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The color system is thrown out the door when using Eagles.</TD></TR></TABLE>

from my experience with my rebuild last year. We bought the bearings that matched up with the stock rods, then plastigauged them and were within the stock clearances. I could have just gotten lucky though. I woudl go ahead if they are in good condition and plastigauge them to make sure. Im not exactly sure but i believe all of my stock rods had the # 2 stamped on them.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by G"UNIT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

why are you not using the color system on eagle rods?</TD></TR></TABLE>
eagle rods have their own coloring system????

 

question,whatsize is eagle rods? (2) ?

 

From what Ive read is that the Eagle rods are supposed to be ecuivalent (sp) to a "#3" stock rod. So you can match up the bearing accordingly with the rods to the crank. What I plan on doing is plastigaugeing all the stock bearing with my eagle rods and ordering bearing accordingling to my measurements. Then plastiguageing agian with the new bearing just to make sure they are in spec.

 

You can never CYA enough. Just plastiguage every bearing clearance just to be sure. No point in spinning a bearing and throwing away your motor just becuase you didn't check your clearances.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98B00STED &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">one thing i dont get is...u plastigauge them with the old bearings, correct? thats weird. or do u buy new bearigs and use plastigauge to confirm they are right?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You normally use the old bearings to plastigauge the clearances before ordering new bearings - it gives you a [free] starting point. You take the color/thickness of the old bearings and compare it to the factory clearance or desired clearance you want to run (usually loose end of the factory specs), then do some math from Earls bearing chart and figure out which new bearing color/thickeness you need to order.

The idea here is so you dont end up buying two sets of new bearings and only using one. Of course it wouldn't be a good idea to use a spun bearing as the thickness might be compromised (unless you can mic it).

Of course remember to plastigauge it again with the new thickness bearings to make sure your at the clearance you want. Here's Earl's bearing chart.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=715490

 

after you check for clearance, you can loosen the rod bolts and then retorque them again? Would it stretch or anything?