So I was at work today assembling an engine, put the mains in, put the crank in, torqued the caps to seat the bearings, removed the cap, put plastigauge in, retorqued the cap removed it and got really weird results. So I did a few others and they were just way out of spec. So I removed everything out and used some telescoping gauges to measure the bore in the block with the caps on and torqued, measured the main journals and measured the bearings with mics. I did all the math and it still didnt come out right. So I cleaned up the bearings again, put them in, torqued the caps, and used a telescoping gauge to measure the bore with the bearings in and foudn that spec to be ok. I was just curious if and of you engine builders have ran into issues like this. This wasnt a 600hp honda engine, but what do most of you guys use to measure oil clearances on the main journals and rod journals

 

i usually either mic them or use the dial indicator, i hate plastiguage, its always a pain in the ***

 

any others?

 

I use a bore gauge, zero it out with the journal and go from there; not the ideal way, but it works.
As far as bearings i usually mic them just to see for myself if they are in spec, i also use this chart as baseline before mic'ing.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=715505

what kind of telescoping gauges are you using? some i find hard to get an accurate reading.

 

I think they are Starret (sp). They work pretty good. They have rounded edges which I found work much better than the flat end ones because when you pull them out they get slightly smaller.

 

Are you talking about snap gauges? No matter who they are made by they will never give an accurate enough result. Use a dial bore gauge. Much better.