The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Bearing cap issue, no dowel hole?

Every time I think I'm making progress I hit a wall, oh well. Was slipping the bearings into the caps to check bearing clearance and when I got to the trust bearing there was no hole for the dowel, what to do? See the pic, old bearing on the right and new on the left, obviously.

Drill a hole in the cap OR grind off the dowel on the bearing. Thoughts??

Is the bearing even the right width? The new bearing looks wider which would be for a 216. (see pics - 216 on the left) Did you put the lower bearing shell in the block instead of the cap? If not, it's easy enough to drill the cap. Don't grind off the dowel on the bearing. It's there to keep it from rotating with the crankshaft.

Bearing is the corret width, was through that unfortunately. Had to return a set that I had purchased. Upper bearing with the oiling holes were already in the block, so no. Bearings were in the correct place. After I posted it did become obvious that drilling the hole in the cap was the best approach. Did that successfully, not a big deal. Thanks!

What engine are you working with? I don't think I've ever seen any stovebolt engine without dowel holes in all the main bearing caps- - - - -216 through 261!
Jerry

I ran into a similar issue on my '60 235. The thrust bearing wasn't the correct width It took a bit of research to locate the correct bearing. I took the measurements from the original bearing and crossed those on the Federal Mogal site.

I learned a while back not to toss the used parts until everything is assembled.

Amen, all parts are in a pile, neat of course, from leaf spring bushings to rocker arms. the parts are the only clues to its history.

A good many of the bearing set available now are a "One Size Fita All" solution. The rest of the bearing set was correct; that st came from RockAuto, an Engine Tech part if I remember.