If so, please tell me more.

Rick

RICK
I NEVER HEARD OF THE BEARINGS BEING CONVERTED...CAN THAT REALLY BE DONE?....GARY

Model A Ford owners have been doing it for many years. When I restored my 1930 Ford Coupe I made a point to convert to insert bearing, as it was required to shim the rods and bearings every 5000 miles. Well, after a couple of times doing that I said that when the engine was rebuilt, it’d be converted to inserts and no more Babbitt.

Now when it comes to the Continental engines that Durant used, it’s always been my belief that in many ways they were and still are superior to the Ford engine. But like other engines of their era they use Babbitt bearings. Just an idea I was tossing around since my
14L is currently being rebuilt.

Rick

Hello Rick,
I started locking into finding bearings that would fit within tolerance to what the W5 engine needs.
My thought to this is to just assemble the babbit bearings without the crank and line bore the hole thing to match to a modern bearing.
Should not be that difficult finding a replacement is the problem because there is no bearing cup table by size that I know of.

Where Are You From? www.vancouverdurantstarcarconnection.ca

RICK WHEN REBUILDING YOUR MOTOR HAVE COUNTERWEIGHTS WELDED TO YOUR CRANK HAVE IT AND THE FLYWHEEL CLUTCH ASSEMBLY BALANCED THEN FEEL THE SMOOTH POWER OF A CONTINENTAL MOTOR.
BRIAN

Has anyone had counterweights welded to a crankshaft and then been able to run the engine with success? Are there limitations to how hard you can run the engine after you have done this?

My dad told me many years ago, that when he built my w5 motor (circa '48), he used Dodge rods 'cause he could use the insert style bearings. I can't verify this (as he passed away 3 years ago) until I get around to tearing down the motor.

BTW my machine shop tells me that if you have insert rods, you can up the compression ratio to around 8 to 1. Don't try anything more than 6 to 1 with poured rod bearings.

Curt.

After calling around and talking to some machinist
around the local area, I found that almost any engine from that era can be converted to insert bearings. Price is about $80.00 for each con rod and $100.00 for the mains. I have not done this before so I don't know what the result will be.Should run like it always has... I am checking on 12 v and electronic ignition conversion for this motor as the Model A club has been doing this for their cars for some time..Keith N

Keith, do you have a phone number I can call?

Rick

live and learn:....i asked my engine rebuilder if he knew about converting babbits to insert bearings. he surprised me by saying he has done it. he says....
"you must put new bolts in the connecting rods, bore out the bearingsurfaces of the rods to the outer diameter of the insert bearings, and machine the tangs in and get the right sized inserts. then grind the crank to fit the bearing inserts....i asked about the crank pulley/ balancer....he said that it needs no changes.....i got the impression that it cost about $250 to do....i am not sure what the "tangs" are ....but "tang you" reading dis......
regards, gary k

Gary,

Do you have his phone number?, believe me, I want to speak to him. The person rebuilding my engine will need to regrind my crank anyway, and I still have to have the rods and mains rebabbited, so why not convert to inserts. Hmmm, that rhymed.

Rick

rick...i will get his number tomorrow and let you know.gary

Gary. The tang is a small cut in the rod and then a small matching tab that is bent out of the insert bearing to keep it from rotating in the rod. Later Lance Haynes

thanx for explanation , Lance.....rick..will try again monday..he was out today...i did not forget...wrote myself a note...lol....gary

Back in the early 60s we converted the rods in a Studebaker Champion engine to recieve modern insert bearings, the main bearings on that engine were obtainable so just the rods needed resized to fit an insert, as I recall just a local auto machine shop did the conversion....I think the bigger problem is not resizing the rod eyes but to come up with a sutiable insert to machine the rod too....It may or may not be a problem but be aware that when you machine or hone your rods to an insert that you will no longer have the cast babbit side thrust on the rod bearing, so be sure that when converting you haven't created another problem....
In regards to main bearings, most engines of this erra have a thick brass/bronz backed insert and the standard prochedure would be to have the shells recast in hi-speed babbit then you would line bore the main bearings in the block to the undersize that your crank has been ground...I think that Franz may have a good idea using the old main bearing shells to line bore for to fit an obtainable insert...One more thought on main bearings is to be ascertain that the oil gullet in the bearing is in alignment with the oil gally and is wide enough to also line on with the crankshaft gally, I learned the hard way on my 31 Chrysler...Anyway, hope you can come up with a solution...Bill

Hello Rick,
I have a spare W5 engine block and in three weeks when I am of this movie I am working on I will see how I can change my motor over to modern bearings.
Like I said its not the how it has more to do with finding the right bearing.
A while back I found a supplier for engine parts that listed the pistons and valve springs by size and not by model or car make.
So maybe I get lucky and find the right bearing that will work after regrinding the crank.
I also talked to a lot of racing guys and sometines they just use for the piston steel on steel bushings without problems. There is alot of info out there just a matter of finding it.
Regards Franz

Where Are You From? www.vancouverdurantstarcarconnection.ca

It will take about 4 weeks to make and then ship my new pistons. In the meantime I'd like to have the rods and bearing either re-babbitted or converted to modern inserts. I'm seriously looking into inserts simply because I plan to drive my Durant a lot once it's done and back on the road. I had good results with my Model A after converting it to inserts as I averaged 12,000 miles a year on the Ford.

It won't be a Hot Rod, but I want it to be dependable and since everything is apart, now is the time to look into this.

Rick