now to start off with, i know my way around my engine
since money and time is tight i need your opinions on how to procede.

history:
1998 engine with 80k on it
heard knocking upon load, used search , bought bearings (clevite 77's) decided to replace while still attached to car, car on ramps now.

here's what i find







i used a mic on all 4 journals and i found that there are no gouges (all positive numbers from factory spec) all journals are within specs except for the smearing. looks like the bearing added material to the crank. no taper, and all are within 0.0001 of round (i can get all mic #'s if anybody needs them)

i am inclined to polish it and put +0 spec bearings back in and drive it for 500 miles then drop the rod caps and see how im doing then.

so do you all think this looks like just a polish job or do i have to remove the crank and have it machined?
if i do remove the crank should i just rebuild it while i have the engine apart?

thanks in advance

______________________________________
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"Don't fear the weapon, fear the soul of the warrior using it."
"My CEL only goes off when i remove my battery."

Best sum up of working on a 2GNT
DR1665- "#5. Spike that motherfucker on the garage floor and grab a beer. You deserve it."


Ahhhh Priceless . . .
eclipse982nrRST "its actually lightish red"
RoninEclipse2G "yeah, they already have a color for that... it's called PINK"

hmmm... I'd say to gently scrape off the bearing material and use that stuff (I'm sorry but I can't remember what it's called)...

It's a putty or something that you put in there and it changes color to tell you if it is indeed out of round. Magnaflux?

Somebody else will know what I'm talking about. You probably do too, but I'm drawing a huge brain-fart right now.

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-Ryan

i think its plasti guage

Machine it.
Bearing material doesn't stick to a mirror-polished crank, it sticks to a gouge.

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-Ryan

if the bearing added material the bearign journal would now be out of round. Since it is not out of round that means the bearing material has filled a gouge or groove. You can do what you want with it but if you just install new bearings they will go bad quickly and you will be in the same boat.

If your really going to ignore the proper way to fix this then take fine emery cloth and clean the journal up the best you can and remic it. It will have a low spot but at least it will be smooth. Yes it will still fail quickly even with that done.

Crank machineing and ballencing should cost less than 250.00

Terry

sorry terry i think i misspoke, i meant that i wanted to polish the journals and then put the new bearings in.

i think i also confused people with the measurements
cyl #1
left Lateral - 1.8897
Center (smear) 1.8924
right lateral - 1.8897
the lateral portions with no smear are still round, the only portion that is OOR is where the smear is

i understand that perfectly polished journal wont cause bearing material to adhere to it.
however if i were to polish the center hump down so its 1.8897 across the board why would it still need to be machined?
is it bad to do that?

i just dont see why i should machine off .010 and use an oversize bearing if the lateral portions of the journals are within spec?

maybe im missing it and need to be slaped. . .

thanks again

______________________________________
______________________________________
"Don't fear the weapon, fear the soul of the warrior using it."
"My CEL only goes off when i remove my battery."

Best sum up of working on a 2GNT
DR1665- "#5. Spike that motherfucker on the garage floor and grab a beer. You deserve it."


Ahhhh Priceless . . .
eclipse982nrRST "its actually lightish red"
RoninEclipse2G "yeah, they already have a color for that... it's called PINK"

If you polish it down by hand, you may not see that damage to the metal caused by heat either and that will cause the same result. Machine shops take off given amounts for a reason, if they could remove less metal, companies would def make the size bearings so the cranks could last longer.

Captain Caveman

96 RS Turbo 11.414 @ 119.62 MSNS, Crower 2 NA cams, BW366, 10.5 comp, UDP, 60mm TB, W/A intercooler, 3.55 tranny 567.9whp 430tq
97 RS NA 13.188 @ 103.87 MSnS powered 12.5 comp, Crower 3's and 219.4whp with 175tq
98 RS DD 12.5 comp on stock ECU, LTH, Crower 2's, Koni, GC, Hypercoil, DG hats
99 OZ 5sp Stocker 15.856 @ 85.97
99 GS stocker auto 17.7@77mph!

wiki home page:http://www.2gnt.com/index.php?d=bullettdsm

thank you all for your valuable insite and help

i will be rebuilding my engine from bottom up and having the crank ground and polished (along with other work)

again you have pointed me in the correct direction and after thinking had about it, doing it the correct way first will be more valuable in the long run.

thanks again
foggy45

______________________________________
______________________________________
"Don't fear the weapon, fear the soul of the warrior using it."
"My CEL only goes off when i remove my battery."

Best sum up of working on a 2GNT
DR1665- "#5. Spike that motherfucker on the garage floor and grab a beer. You deserve it."


Ahhhh Priceless . . .
eclipse982nrRST "its actually lightish red"
RoninEclipse2G "yeah, they already have a color for that... it's called PINK"