ok guys i'm building my ls/vtec with using ls crank, rods, arp rod bod bolts, pr3 pistons.
just got my motor back from the machine shop. had crank mic'd. block line bored
said everything set for std. bearings. i told him i wanted acl tri metal bearings but he couldnt get them. what he could get and hes ordering me are Clevite P-series tri metal bearings.

now i know most of yall are going to say those bearings arnt the best to begin with but i dont plan to keep running this motor for long i plan to find a b20 and use my eagle h-beam with but anyways on to oil clearances.

at work we got a program called all data im getting all my specs off it
main journal oil clearance 0.024- 0.042 on 1,2,4,5
0.030-0.48 on3
rod journal 0.020-0.038

Guy at the machine shop told me that i should just set/read my clearances for around 0.030 and i should be fine

I also went to the local part store to buy plastigauge for when my bearings get in and they had red and green. green being finner and red beeing i think .020-.040 i bought the red but from research i did on here everyone says i should have gotten the green and that the red was for more industrial use.

pretty much my question is are the oil clearances suppose to run tighter?

 

you need the green plasticguage,.001-.003. most will say that anywhere between .0015 and.002 is fine.

 

well the all data specs are what the factory specs are suppose to be. the numbers you say are smaller then factory specs.

 

Your both kinda right on this one. Just need to collaborate a little on your units of measurement.

The green strips will work better for the type of ranges you are gauging for. The red strips simply gauge higher and arent needed in most cases (in this application).

 

yea ima need the green the finner one. would have helped if i brought my measurements with me when i was at the part store i just happen to be up there and it poped in my head that ima need platigage. but the smallest measurement on the red isnt even set for the largest oil clearance. but its only like a buck 50 for the stuff so ill pick some more up when my bearings come in.

and i didnt realize that guy was posting thousands i was postings mm but .002 still seems high on my all data. .0020 in. is the service limit in oil clearance in this here alldata.

 

thats the service limit for the ls motor. you gonna go vtec then you need to loosen them up by the vtec standard.

 

i got papers for the ls, gsr and si and they are all showing the same oil clearances and service limits and 0.050 (.0020) being the limit in alldata. but i was going to aim for .030mm since thats what the guy at the machine shop said to aim for.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4g hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats the service limit for the ls motor. you gonna go vtec then you need to loosen them up by the vtec standard. </TD></TR></TABLE>

your saying to loosen them up and i got other ppl saying that i should run them tighter to run higher oil pressure which is it guys?

 

factory clearance is key here. .0015in and you're golden.

 

yea thats pretty much right in the middle kinda like setting it at .030mm like the guy at the machine shop told me. so i guess thats what ill aim for. right in the center.

 

.0015 is great to shoot for. people who abuse there motors go for around .002. also the looser the clearances the less oilpressure means the motor will turn faster,which is another reason for it. .002 is within the factory spec so its not that bad. any way you should leave your #3 main alittle looser than the others

 

why leave the #3 main a little looser than the others, is this to help avoid spinning that bearing?
I ask because Im currently building an H23 for turbo and it had a spun #3

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pilotx1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why leave the #3 main a little looser than the others, is this to help avoid spinning that bearing?
I ask because Im currently building an H23 for turbo and it had a spun #3</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you look on the specs of the #3 main journal it's a tad larger than the others.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by skoodles2k6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok guys i'm building my ls/vtec with using ls crank, rods, arp rod bod bolts, pr3 pistons.
just got my motor back from the machine shop. had crank mic'd. block line bored
said everything set for std. bearings. i told him i wanted acl tri metal bearings but he couldnt get them. what he could get and hes ordering me are Clevite P-series tri metal bearings.

now i know most of yall are going to say those bearings arnt the best to begin with but i dont plan to keep running this motor for long i plan to find a b20 and use my eagle h-beam with but anyways on to oil clearances.

at work we got a program called all data im getting all my specs off it
main journal oil clearance 0.024- 0.042 on 1,2,4,5
0.030-0.48 on3
rod journal 0.020-0.038

Guy at the machine shop told me that i should just set/read my clearances for around 0.030 and i should be fine

I also went to the local part store to buy plastigauge for when my bearings get in and they had red and green. green being finner and red beeing i think .020-.040 i bought the red but from research i did on here everyone says i should have gotten the green and that the red was for more industrial use.

pretty much my question is are the oil clearances suppose to run tighter? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Pretty much this will solve urs or anyone who is confuse about oil clearence for an application.. a while back i spoke with DonF (DFE) "Don flores Enterprise" for ones that does not know who he is..Anyways he stated to me that this is what I should do, for .0015 oil clearence should be run on a engine that is not going to see any kind of abuse (drag, auto cross, ect. ect) for .0017-.0019 can be on a (daily driven, weekend warrior) and for .002 and + should just be for (race cars, Drag)..
hope that helps...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pilotx1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">why leave the #3 main a little looser than the others, is this to help avoid spinning that bearing?
I ask because Im currently building an H23 for turbo and it had a spun #3</TD></TR></TABLE>

cause honda cranks tend to flex a bit and on the #3 main journal is where it will see more stress.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4g hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

cause honda cranks tend to flex a bit and on the #3 main journal is where it will see more stress.</TD></TR></TABLE>
yep, nothing wrong with clevite either

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by quicksilver1689 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
yep, nothing wrong with clevite either</TD></TR></TABLE>

i got clevitte's in my ls soon to be v now. the engine builder says thats all he uses from 35 pounds of boost on dsm's to eight mile v8 bracket racers and hes never had a problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by quicksilver1689 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
yep, nothing wrong with clevite either</TD></TR></TABLE>

well i ended up not going with clevite he called me yesterday and said he called his acl provider and said they offered a race bearing which they called an H series. which i got today. on the rods its solid with no groove in them. on the mains its got the center groove in them but only for bout 1/4 to half inch on each side then it lvls off to flat. suppose to be their better bearing set. i paid a pretty hefty price for them. so im hoping for the best.

 

well i hadn't done the rods yet got too late tonight. but i did the mains and it was
.0015 on 1,2,4,5 and 3 was .0018 car isnt a daily driver more less a drag car but wont be driven to drag all the time either. more like weekend call out. im not really too worried about it. went to do the first piston and then when i went to tq it crank turned some so i said expletive it. time for bed ill mess with it tomorrow.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by skoodles2k6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well i hadn't done the rods yet got too late tonight. but i did the mains and it was
.0015 on 1,2,4,5 and 3 was .0018 car isnt a daily driver more less a drag car but wont be driven to drag all the time either. more like weekend call out. im not really too worried about it. went to do the first piston and then when i went to tq it crank turned some so i said expletive it. time for bed ill mess with it tomorrow.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Be very careful about using plastigauge. You can distort the plastigauge on the rods when you separate the rod cap from the rod. Can lead to a false reading. I think your mains are too tight, but this is just my opinion. You should always use the proper measurement tools when attempting to get good clearance numbers. 1 to 2 thousandths of an inch is pretty small.

-s

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dude_123 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If you look on the specs of the #3 main journal it's a tad larger than the others.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is correct, but...why?

Look at the crank, you'll see a difference with the #3.

 

well i got the rods done too locked the crank from moving by inserting a long screwdriver on each side from the front side of the block so the counter weights of the crank would hit them and lock it in place and they were also within specs dont remember exactly what they were i got them written down inside my garage and im not at my house right now but they were all the same aswell. this motor is really just a temporary motor. im in the look for a b20 block i got a set of eagle h-beam rods and looking for some high compression pistons somethin around 12.5:1 for a solid allmotor/nitrous setup. but the same machinist will not be machining my next motor. he really didnt seem to know alot about these 4cyls.