So as an update. My friend and I just finished making the fixture to narrow the bearings. We cut the beam off the rod and ground down the casting on either side of the outside of the big end so the lathe tool would work a little more smoothly, if that makes any sense. We chucked it in the lathe using inside clamps and turned down both sides of the outside of the big end so that we could clamp the rod end in the lathe using outside clamps. We then measured a stock 261 rod bearing and the 302 rod bearing and decided to take about .080 from each side of the bearing. We blued the bearing, scribed .080 lines on each side of the 302 bearing, put the scribed 302 bearing in the rod end, chucked it into the lathe and cut the rod end until it had reached the .080 mark on the bearings. We then used a little tool that he had used to scrape bearing on an alcohol funny car and put a little chamfer on each side. Today I will mock up the bearing to see if we cut enough off. I have a picture of making the fixture but don't know how to post it. If someone could post it for me I can email it.
