Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Tapered shim stock query

Hello, all,

I'm putting a friend's engine together at the moment, and just plasti-gaged the main brg clearance....

The crank was ground .010 on the mains, and, unfortunately, the grinder went just that .001 too far down....its showing between .002 and .003 clearance, and, as you know, we'd really like to see .0005 to .0015, the factory spec for the old Mopar flat sixes.

The cure, obviously, is the old .0015, down to nil, 'tapered shim' made for the purpose....but all of the engine supply houses in this area we used to deal with no longer exist.

Can anyone recommend a supplier who still carries the taper shim stock?

If so please give me an e-mail, carla@tactical-link.com

Thank you

cheers

Carla

I would try & use actual inside bore gauges & mics, just to make sure of your clearances.

If plasticgage is not stored in the refrige, you could have inacurate readings.
.001-.003 is fine.
Two cents
Goodluck.
MBHD

Carla I'don't believe you will have trouble with .002-3" clearance. I have all of mine done at that but they are used for racing Actually I've done them to .005". I still have never had a problem. Bearings have always looked good. Years ago a .001" under was available and you see them on Ebay occasionlly. Perhaps they have they at .011" also. Try Egge Machine if you feel you have a problem. Good Luck

Generally a bearing clearance between 1 1/2 and 3 1000ths is fine and most automotive manuals will bear that out. The "old timers" used to say ,, a thou for oil and a thou to thou and a half for clearance is good. I've assembled numerous smallblocks at around 2.5 thou and wailed on em pretty hard,,no bottom end failures .

I also use 002 - .003 on my racing engines and don't think you will have a problem with one caveat: when you double the bearing clearance you increase the oil flowing through that journal by a factor of about FIVE TIMES. So just make sure you have a good oil pump - maybe a hi-volume one if it is available.