Was thinking of trying the new H series bearings. Have used Clevite 77 with no problems....hesitate to change. Advantages/disadvantages? Bruce BQUICK JAGUICK
J.W. please elaborate. I'm going with (what i believe is) the 3/4 grooved H bearing, what would be wrong with this? I'm mainly racing this engine, but it'll see a little bit of street use. thanks.
Yes, please enlighten us here. I have built several motors with H series bearings, not just Buicks. Have not had any problems. ???? Jim Burek
Jim, These are not Clevite 77 "H series" bearings. Like you, I have built many engines with those bearings. All 494's use that 745H bearing. The Aluminum rod stroker motors use the 743HD bearing, as well as a BBC rod motor would use that same bearing, without the dowl pin hole. The Federal Mogul Performance bearing available for the BBB, is one of the "hardest" bearings out there now. Although Federal Mogul owns Clevite, I have it on good authority from my crank grinder and the Fed Mog reps, that the this particular bearing is rather unforgiving. It has very low imbedablity. Were I to use them, I would nitride harden the crank, as I do with the other H series bearing motors. And of course be certain that the engine and the environment it is built in, are perfectly clean. The reason for my one word answer was that I did not have time to elaborate at the time, and since Bruce did not indicate he has had any trouble with the standard Clevite 77 908 and 762 bearings, and he was hesitant about changing to something else, my recommendation would be to go with what has worked for him in the past. I am no fan of overly "hard" bearings in these motors, especially if the cleanliness and environment they are built/used in is not as good as it can be. A bearing that will imbed some foreign material is your friend. I use H series Clevite 77's on the 494's and the stroker stuff with a hardened stock or billet crank, but everything else gets the good old Clevite 77 P series bearing. And I have seen no reason to switch from those. your mileage may vary... :grin: JW
OK, thanks Jim. That's what I was thinking. I do FINALLY have a clean room for building motors but feel that the softer bearing will work better for me though I can see that a real high HP motor would need the harder bearing just to survive. However, it might be taken apart after 75 runs where I go at least 250 or more if it seems to be a happy motor......no fighting going on inside. :laugh:
