Allic C turns hard after engine kit

Hello,

Todd, OK, I will start pulling things apart and double checking my clearances... Yes, something is not right.

Tom, Wow, I wish I had seen that video before I bolted it together.... I have some serious work to do..... I think the engine is coming back out.....

"Turns hard" is hard to determine....compared to what? A loose worn engine?New cyl kits will have a LOT more drag that a well worn engine.

I had the same problem when I rebuilt my CA engine. It turned out to be the main bearing bores were not in line. With no rod/pistons installed, torquing the main caps made the crank almost impossible to turn. I had it line bored and did away with the shims all at once.

Engine is back out. Starting over. I did have the crank on my workbench to work on the rods. I did not think they were tight, but as SteveM said, compared to what... They certainly were not as loose as that video... They were snug and gave me platiguage readings within tolerance.  

Thanks Dick, I am one of those newbees and need to take a few extra steps.  I've done a couple now but not enough to call myself an engine builder.  The rods on the one in the video each had a couple thousands taken from the rod caps then torqued on to the rod with no shims then honed until a bore gauge said they were just right.  I checked with plastigauge anyway and they all were consistent at .002 clearance.  It was fun using the hone too.  I used shims on the mains though I think those ended up around .002 as well.  With the mains all tightened you should easily be able to roll the crankshaft with no drag, make sure of that before putting any pistons in.  The rods alternate so the narrow side is always toward a main bearing, although I don't know if they would fit any other way.  Then I had to play with the video feature of my daughters camera.  HTH Tom

Sure Tom,
I saw your site and pictures from someones post over on YT and was looking for a chance to tell you what great pictures you took. Much better than mine. Without reconditioning the rods it will be hard for everyone to have the .015/.002 clearance without a little more drag than you have. The rods that I had reconditioned turned like yours.
Fantastic job in all ways. The valve job was just and good. I loved the lapping witness on your valves showing the seat area on the valve.

you can have quite a drag on a rebuild just from the new rings and hone on the cylinders. Since you are already together, you can loosen the main caps a half turn on all the bolts and then try to rotate. THen you can loosen the  rod caps half a turn on all bolts and try to rotate. Whats left is in the rings. Get an oil gun and keep the bearings lubed during the testing, it makes a big difference. I normally have to get the bearings closer to .003 clearance to roll with no binding, but i alwalys use the old crank, no line boreing, etc.  The more machining you get done, the closer your tolerances can be.

Edited by steve(ill) - 24 Jan 2010 at 7:45pm

All caps - rods and mains, need to be assembled where they originally were.  They should all be numbered and are machined in place.  The only way to replace one is to torque it on and then machine it.  If it is a main bearing cap then they all need to be bolted on and line bored, then stamped so they always get bolted back where they were when the machining was done.  No two ever get to be the same.  HTH Tom

always need to check the side clearance of a rod with a feeler gauge . I like .020 side clearance but it can cost you a psi or 2 of oil pressure.  usually you can hear the rings and feal the rings bite but its not for the entire 360 degrees of rotation.

Edited by mlpankey - 26 Jan 2010 at 8:13am