There are about 30 sets of 235 main bearings on Ebay today. Also try NAPA, Rock Auto, JEGS, and Internal Engine Parts Warehouse. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
'54 261 rebuild, I placed all my main bearings it all looked good beside the number 2 bearing. no matter what we did we couldn't get it to line up. Is this a serious concern? if so how do we remedy it?
Please run your fingernail inside from top to bottom. The image you posted makes it look like you have a ledge where the two bearing halves meet...and you shouldn't.
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
'57 GMC 102, Original 347 V8, HydraMatic, 3.08 rear gear, added A/C, disk front brakes, HEI, AFB carb, '98 Honda Black Currant paint. T-boned and totaled 10/12 '52 GMC 152 Stake Bed, Original 228, SM420, added A/C, HEI, disk front brakes, '67 Chev 3.55 rear gear. Gets used as a real truck.
Thinking about it, I believe one is a mismatched half and it may be a different size than the other also (example: one is .010 under one is .020 under).
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
Newbie- - - - -unless you have a crankshaft that's broken in half, it can be welded up with a machine called a "submerged arc welder" and reground to any size you need. The cost might be higher than finding a different crank, however. There is a salvage yard in Albert Lea Minnesota that usually has multiple ads on Ebay for stovebolt crankshafts.
Roadworthy- - - -try turning the main bearing cap around- - - -there should not be a noticeable step between the upper and lower bearing shells, since even the thickness of a strand of hair is too much misalignment. There is a procedure called "align boring" (sometimes mispronounced "line bore") which makes all the main bearing bores the right size and perfectly in line, but most machinists recoil in horror from a stovebolt when asked to do that, because the bores are four different diameters. If you're anywhere close to Tennessee, send me a PM- - - -I've got the right equipment, and the job doesn't scare me.
Edit: If there's a step at both sides (not an offset) Jon's on the right track with the mismatched bearing shell idea! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
"There is a salvage yard in Albert Lea Minnesota that usually has multiple ads on Ebay for stovebolt crankshafts." Last time I tried to find them on Google Maps, they were apparently no longer in business. Don't remember their eBay username either.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Too bad- - - - -they had a bunch of interesting stuff, at pretty reasonable pries. Maybe they got rich and retired! Thanks for the update! Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
You know since I first saw the image the poster attached it has bothered me...something is wrong and I knew I had missed it...but couldn't say what until this afternoon. I dug up two sets of used .010 over bearings from 235 engines and below is what both look like. I should add these were made by 2 different companies. The top bearing grooved with no locating dowel. Bottom one smooth with locating dowel. So I don't know what is going on but something isn't correct. I think we need to see images of the other main bearings...
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
Is the bearing shell in the main cap on Roadworthy's photo just turned 180 degrees from where it should be? That might line up the oil grooves (and the edges of the bearing), or maybe it's just offset on the cap. But if there's a difference in thickness, between the block and cap inserts, then one of them is not right.
Last edited by klhansen; 08/24/20225:31 PM. Reason: clarified who posted the photo
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I think Jon's onto something here- - - -the lower bearing carries most of the load, and usually doesn't have an oil groove. It's possible you've got two upper bearing shells, and no lower. How about the other mains- - - - -do all of them have grooves in both bearing halves? Jon, the 54 and 1st. series full pressure 235 and 261 main bearings use dowels in both bearings, like a 216 and spray-oiler 235. 1955 2nd series engines and later ones use a locating tab at the end of the bearing on the upper shell, which makes replacing mains a much simpler procedure. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
That's right, Jerry...but the conversation has switched from a 1955 235 to a 1954 261 so there is that. These bearings I have are from 1956 and newer engines. Sorry but I have nothing earlier than that to see around here. Very possible the 1954 bearings had grooves top and bottom, but I know the later ones didn't nor did the V8s. The OP seems to have gone silent for a while...
~ Jon 1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
When we got together at John's place to assemble his 261, we had gotten some misinformation about it. It was supposed to be a "1954" block with the high water pump, but it was apparently a replacement block- - - -high water pump position, which should have had the doweled upper bearings, but the main bores were machined like the later model engines with the locating tab at the side for the upper bearing shell. The block had a 1959 casting date! Of course, the main bearings we had on hand were for the earlier design- - - -"no bueno!". I simply did the "measure twice- - -cut once" procedure, and drilled the block for the dowel-anchored upper bearings! That style of bearing also uses shims between the cap and the block to set the oil clearance. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
