i just finish building my bottom end and i feel its too tight...i had the machine shop make my p2w clearances .0040..all my bearings clearances are withing spec at .0015 according to plastigauge the engine spins nice but i feel too much resistance..at 1/2 way i can lean on it a lil it bit before it spins....any ideas how to check...ive dealt with oem and turbo builds before and they dont feels this tight..

 

they can feel a little tight depending on how they honed it. but the best way is to make sure all bearing clearances are dialed. do you trust the machine shop?

 

yea the machine shop was recomended by my tuner..he told me the guy machines al his engines...all the bearings are within spec i plastigauge one by one

 

what piston u using?

 

manley 81.5mm

 

get a torque gauge and get a reading, The max for the 350 chevy motor that i build was- Max torque is supposed to be 30 pounds max i think and 5 pounds for each cylinder. So i would say around 20 pounds max for a 4 cylinder but every build is different.

 

So you trust that method to be enough?

Did you spec out your crank?

 

i used std size bearing but the resistance seems to be coming more from the pistons that from the crank...the cranks spun freely with the bearings after the pistons thats when it got tight...might be normal i just dont have another engine to compare too..

 

Ring gaps are good?

 

Nothing is hitting right? Is this a stroker or aftermarket crank?

 

i set my torque wrench to 20lbs and turn it and it didnt click...and the crank is oem..rods are scat and pistons manley...maybe the rings are putting alot of pressure on the walls thats why it feels so tight...turbo motors are run mucj looser so maybe thats the difference..

 

Spray a little wd-40 in the bores to lube the rings and see if the effort changes. Im thinking you might just be feeling the tension from the rings against the cylinders.

You could also take off the center maincaps and see if it feels different, but if everything is lubed well and within spec,you prob shouldnt feel much change at all.

 

Did you check the crank for straightness before you assembled it?

 

What id do is take all the pistons and rods out putt # 1 piston/rod in and spin it to see if its the one causing problems and then take it out and repeat it with 2,3,4. Try it out. maybe someone has a better idea.

 

might be the tension..and i lube everything walls, bearings and rings with royal purple assembly lube...and rings were gapped one by one to spec...

 

On a fresh assembled engine it will usually binds more than a motor that's already been broken in, here is a LS motor at 50K miles, crank still took 12 ft. lbs. to turn over, this motor ran perfect.

 

so if im under 20lbs i should be ok..i did notice the rings had alot of tension outwards...i set my wrenche clicker snap on to 20lbs thats the lowest it goes and it didnt click so my guess its under 20lbs or torque to move it...i would say 15 tops...