[zigbigadoru]

so i put together my 5.5L motor a few weeks ago and all the rods are attached but when we were spinning the crank we were afraid to snap the aluminum crank bolt so my dad used a pipe wrench to spin it.

im afraid that the bearing clearances are too close so i ask how hard should it be to spin without the heads on? i grabbed a steel bolt the other day and im gunna try to spin it but im just really worried about this. the main caps are torqued down to 30 ft/lbs excluding the extra 90 degrees as i dont have the correct torque wrench.

[NickPohlAandP]

Did you just slap it together without checking clearances? If it's too tight you won't be able to turn it at all, but Jesus, you've got to check your clearances. Also, don't turn it over with a pipe wrench or the bolt. You either need to get a crank nut, or install your crank key and use an adjustable wrench.

[Tang Stang]

Agreed. First off, what aluminum crank bolt? Secondly, get a torque wrench. Torque specs on the mains matter just a little bit. Thirdly, how do you not know what your bearing clearances are?

[zigbigadoru]

because i dont have a micrometer or have plastigauge.

to turn the crank it is taking over 140 ft/lbs of torque and the pistons STILL arent moving. i have a torque wrench and the mains are torque down to 30 ft/lbs like i said in the first post.

yes i did "slap it together", what is a crank nut or adjustable wrench? i think i have an idea what both of them are i just want to be sure

[NickPohlAandP]

Originally Posted by zigbigadoru ...to turn the crank it is taking over 140 ft/lbs of torque and the pistons STILL arent moving...

OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have successfully crushed your bearings. Go ahead and tear it all apart again and get some plasti gauge, or get a shop to mic it out for you. I can't imagine it taking more than 20 ftlbs to turn it over. Sorry dude, you've screwed the pooch on this one. You have pinched the crank or rod bearings. If you moved it at all like that, you've ruined the bearings as well, I mean if you've moved it AT ALL

[NickPohlAandP]

And here's a crankshaft socket from Summit. $14.95
Proform Parts 66901 - Proform Crankshaft-Turning Sockets - Overview - SummitRacing.com

[bulloch27]

Hmmmmm. That's about all I can say.

[slow02gt]

fuck it sell it to me i will give you a working motor in trade lmao......

but yeah thats a no no...these arent push rod motors where you can get away with throwing them together and being on your way... you will need to pull it apart completely and bring it to somebody who knows mod motors please

[BakerFX4]

damn...

[NickPohlAandP]

Put the tools down and step away from the engine... For the love of the horsepower gods

[bulloch27]

Look, no one is intending to be mean to you I don't believe...... but there is more to assembling an engine than just bolting a pile of parts together. It's not rocket science by any means but there are steps that need to be taken to ensure the engine will last more than 50 miles. I would stop while you're ahead or find someone from the forum that lives close by that's willing to lend a hand. You'd be surprised how many nice people will come work on your shit for free in the Mustang world.

[04MidnightGT]

[zigbigadoru]

hmm my usual reponse to what some of you have said to me is to get very angry but im going to keep my calm.

anyway, i had the crank checked out and polished because it didnt need any material taken off, with that in mind i ordered standard sized bearings. should i have had it mic'ed? eh probably but if i hadnt of had a problem with it then it probably would have been fine for what im building it as. im not particularily concerned about if i screwed up the bearings but i will be removing the main caps tommorow and seeing if it turns then. no i wasnt able to move it at all and i was just curious how much force was being used to try to turn it. im not sure why you guys are in such a hissy fit, i must have gotten oversized bearings or the bearings/crank need to have a few thousanths taken off of it.

[zigbigadoru]

Originally Posted by NickPohlAandP And here's a crankshaft socket from Summit. $14.95 Proform Parts 66901 - Proform Crankshaft-Turning Sockets - Overview - SummitRacing.com

thank you for that link, would that be something an advanced auto or murrays or whatever would have or do i have to order it?

[glittle75]

if you go to vato zone or o'rielly's or somewhere they should have plastigage if you ask. if not, stop by a machine shop or any place that will rebuild it for you, most times they will have it and sell it to you. There is no way it should be taking that much torque to turn it. hell when i was degree'ing cams in my 2v, i have all the valve train connected with heads on and it still would turn over by hand with just a regular 1/2 drive ratchet and one hand. without heads on, it should be just about effortless to turn it. If you know its taking that much, im assuming you have a dial-type torque wrench, ditch it for a KNOWN calibrated click style. Also did you torque the mains in the correct sequence?

[zigbigadoru]

i torqued the mains in the right sequence and it is a click style torque wrench

[NickPohlAandP]

Yeah, you don't have to mic it, plastigauge will work. When you pull the mains if it's still hard as hell to turn then you're going to have to check the rods too. If you pinch any bearing it's going to sieze up. I agree with Bulloch27, find someone near you who knows how to do this sort of thing. No offense, but it really doesn't seem like you have any idea of how to put this together. If you've gotten this far and just realized you have a problem, I'd almost put money on it that you're going to have more if you don't get some help.

And as far as that Crank socket I linked you, you might be able to get one at an AutoZone or some place like that, but it will be hit or miss. You'd probably just be better off ordering it. Summit can have it to you in two days, overnight if you pay extra.

[WickedSnake00]

Plastigauge is cheap, blowing up a motor is not.

To put it in perspective, I had to put a piston stop in to keep my engine from rotating when I torqued the balancer bolt to 90 ft-lb.

I didn't even get close to that torque without the piston stop, and that's with the transmission in 6th gear, sparkplugs in, and 4 bumpsticks it had to rotate as well.

Tear that puppy down, and pull the crank out. Check and make sure you didn't damage anything trying to turn it. If it all checks out, go get some plastigauge and check your clearances. It's cheap, quick, and easy. I couldn't imagine building a motor without checking clearance.

If the plastigauge shows the proper clearance, put plenty of assembly lube in and put it back together.

[bulloch27]

Don't know where your crank came from but I can tell you from unfortunate first hand experience I bought a pre-assembled short block 350 from a local engine shop because I was in a bind. 10.2 miles after initial start up the mains were knocking. I pulled the motor back out only to find that when I mic'd the crank the mains were 0.030 undersized from the cleaning and they installed 0.100 oversize bearings (the oversizes are stamped into the back of the bearings). Don't just throw a motor together, parts are sometimes packaged wrong and even 30 year old engine shops can efffff up and assemble those wrong parts if you don't follow the appropriate steps.

[zigbigadoru]

i want you guys to know that i didnt put this motor together and think this was how it was supposed to be. come on guys, why would i make a thread about a problem if i didnt think it was a problem? i wasnt sure on how bad the problem was which is why i asked. when we were assembling the engine my dad and i thought it was hard to turn but we didnt think much of it. when i used the torque wrench, my thought was "holy fugging sheet theres no way thats right and that someone must have messed up my main bearings." this happened BEFORE i even posted to you guys so i know there was a problem.

i would not have run the motor in this condition and i hadnt gone any further than intalling the pistons before i stopped and was like "theres something not right".


now i torn it all down today and started taking off rod bearing caps and main bearing caps. i finally got it to spin with all main caps off and 4 rod caps disconnected (still like 40-50 ft/lbs). well when i was spinning it one of the main bearings spun with the crank and i took a look at it....yeah the bearings were definetly off. it appears like it has a mirror finish on a part of it. i will try to get pictures of it tonight but for now ive got to go to work.


also there are things that should be done that im just not doing. for instance i didnt have my rotating assembly balanced even though its bored .002 over. yes i SHOULD have it done but i want this motor together and if it were a forged assembly i would say absolutely but since its only stock powdered metal and hyperutetic, im not as concerned. i have done a few things that have made the motor perform and just be easier to work on (romeo heads vs. windsor, cobra oil pump, pan, and pickup) but some things are a little more frivolous imo (arp studs, timeserts, adjustable cam gears, balancing, etc)