LarryMaine
Member
OK, got my 850 engine onto an engine stand, removed the timing cover, oil pan, and oil pump, and am getting ready to pull the bearings and crankshaft. Everything seems to be standard and close to original, i.e. gear pump with hexagonal drive shaft (which fell out freely onto the floor when I flipped the engine on the stand). Governor is the original style disk with balls and not the newer Pierce type Gov. Am going to replace my old Gov, rebuild the oil pump, etc. The camshaft and crankshaft gears are not getting replaced as they are tight on the shafts with no play and the teeth are all fine. Ring gear was also fine. Clutch was 10 inch 15 spline as per the book, but plate was well worn, so going to replace entire clutch. So, as I am ready to pull the bearings and crankshaft in the next couple of days, does anyone have any suggestions or recommendation that I should be aware of outside of what the manual says? I do have some plastigauge but have never used it before. My other question is, if you only use plastigauge on the main bearing and not on the connecting rod bearing, doesn't that give one uneven results on the clearance of the crankshaft? I mean, when you bolt down the connecting rod bearing onto the crankshaft, you are compressing the plastigauge against the shaft journal and the main bearing, resulting in zero clearance to the connecting rod bearing but all the excess gap on the pastigauge side. I hope this makes sense to someone. Any thought on this issue or anything I need to look out for prior to removing the bearings? Thanks as always, Larry.
