[327amc]

Ive managed to pull the pan and pull a couple bearings to see if they are std. or undersized.
Heading to town now to buy new ones.

The question, can i change the main bearings without pulling the crank?

And are there any tips and tricks along the way?

Thanks in advance

 

[Crosley]

Hi... If you see a message box about 4 second wait to post or similar message... ignore that message. Do not clik again to post your thread. There is a problem with the forums. Tech support knows and is working on it. thanks

 

[ericnova72]

Yeah, you can do it, but most guys with a little experience consider in-car to be a total pain in the ***.
Rod bearings aren't badm just some crank rotating for position and unbolt rod, remove cap, push rod of journal enough to get upper half bearing out, replace both bearing sections and reassemble in reverse of disassembly.

but the mains, a trickier deal, since you need to have all five caps loose and drop the crank down a hair to be able to get upper main bearing halves rolled out.
One tip is to use a low headed common wood nail slid into the oil feed hole in the crank to use as a means to lever the upper half bearing out as you rotate the crank....head of nail hooks one edge and pushes the bearing out as crank is turned.

Then you've got to hope you can get the split rar main seal to seal up, that the timing cover seal is still good and that you can get a good seal on the pan gasket in-car.

I find it a bunch easier to just pull the motor and do it on the engine stand....you trade unhooking a bit more stuff and time pulling the engine for a lot less frustration, cussing, and hair pulling under the car. Plus you can make sure everything gets sealed up properly.

 

[2old2fast]

Yeah, you can do it, but most guys with a little experience consider in-car to be a total pain in the ***.
Rod bearings aren't badm just some crank rotating for position and unbolt rod, remove cap, push rod of journal enough to get upper half bearing out, replace both bearing sections and reassemble in reverse of disassembly.

but the mains, a trickier deal, since you need to have all five caps loose and drop the crank down a hair to be able to get upper main bearing halves rolled out.
One tip is to use a low headed common wood nail slid into the oil feed hole in the crank to use as a means to lever the upper half bearing out as you rotate the crank....head of nail hooks one edge and pushes the bearing out as crank is turned.

Then you've got to hope you can get the split rar main seal to seal up, that the timing cover seal is still good and that you can get a good seal on the pan gasket in-car.

I find it a bunch easier to just pull the motor and do it on the engine stand....you trade unhooking a bit more stuff and time pulling the engine for a lot less frustration, cussing, and hair pulling under the car. Plus you can make sure everything gets sealed up properly.

Couldn't agree more , poor working conditions , chances for dirt to get into things , just the overall difficulty makes the 2 hours or so to get the motor out well worth it !!

 

[327amc]

Thanks. Great tip. The rear main seal is a one piece. Although, id imagine keeping from hurting it still applies.

This is in my tractor. So i have clear fully open working conditions under the motor. Just did all the rod bearings in less than an hr. I'll give the mains a go.
If all else fails, i'll pull the motor. Thanks!

 

[ericnova72]

One-piece rear main seal makes your job harder, you may have to unbolt the seal adapter from the block. At minimum the seal would have to come out to allow the crank to drop a bit for bearing removal.
Can't deal with that unless the flywheel is removed.

 

[327amc]

Got them all changed. The rods were pretty simple ofcourse. Less than an hr. The mains were a bit tougher. About 2hrs. #1 was the hardest. The rear upper was a stumper at first. Couldnt get the bearing started. Looked closer, and needed to shift the crank forward a tad. The amount of play was about .006" I split the difference when installing the bearing.
Thanks for your help. FWI, horseshoe nails are the bees knees for this.