Buick Straight 8 248cu in - Rod Bearings Confused

[Paul ODowd]

Morning Guys

Currently replacing main and rod bearings on a 1946 Buick Straight 8 248cu in

The car is a 1940 Super Coupe RHD out of South Africa (later engine swap sometime in its life)

I am in Surrey UK

Purchased new sets of bearings from Bob’s Automobilia but when we lay the rod bearings side by side the notch/key is on the wrong side (see photos) - have spoken to Bob about this but every set of these bearings he has seen/supplied has always had the notch on the right and has never seen them on the left.

Has anyone seen this before and any ideas what I need to do to rectify?

[automaschinewerks]

In my engine shop, i have this issue sometimes.  You should have an engine machine shop resize the con. rod big ends on a rod honing machine, stick to the tight side of the specification.  Carefully grind off the tangs from the bearings, make sure its flush, i finish with a file to make sure i got all of the tang.  The bearing is held in the rod by the sizing and roundness of the hole, also the hone puts a nice texture on the inside of the rod, helping the grip on the od of the bearing.  the sizing gives the bearing a slight press fit in the big end of the con.rod.  the tang has nothing to do with holding the bearing from spinning, it is only there to locate the bearing.  Of course now you have to be carefull on assembly and make sure the bearing is centered in the rod bore properly, but its not hard to do.

- terry

[Paul ODowd]

Hi Terry 

 

… many thanks for the advise which I have already passed on to my mechanic - truly appreciate you taking the time to respond. 

 

I have now  noticed the markings on the bearings - does anyone recognize them or even the maker which I Imagine is the G in the Diamond? 
 

S1229SA

010 T/B BT

[automaschinewerks]

thats glacier bearing company. they are old manufacturer, i dont think theyre around anymore.  i think they were uk based.

[JACK M]

52 minutes ago, automaschinewerks said:

i think they were uk based.

KInda explains the right/left thing. 🤡

[Paul ODowd]

Hi Guys 

 

Firstly thank you for all the feedback 
 

Finally got to the bottom of the burning bearing issue …

 

The G in the Diamond was indeed the brand mark - it was for Glacier Bearings (thanks automaschinewerks) ironically a British company who after several morphs and take overs are not around as such. 

 

After speaking to a couple of bearing manufactures/distributors here in the UK we deciphered the markings - the SA was Steel Aluminum and the numbers was in relation to the use/car, which unbelievably is a mid 1980’s Mini 1275 GT - oh and they are not even rod bearings but main bearings.

 

The bearings are still readily available - there is even an upgraded LC version. The mechanic was intrigued so had some sent over and they are the perfect match, size etc (lug excluded)as to the ones from Bobs Automobilia.

 

Mechanic is now looking at rods, pistons, bearings etc. - lots of puffing of cheeks and scratching of head.

 

But essentially the rod bearings are main bearings from a Mini - unbelievable 

[avgwarhawk]

Wow! Interesting find! 

[Rusty_OToole]

An old trick from the sixties was to coat the back of the bearing with lanolin, this was supposed to stick the bearing in place and prevent it from spinning or shifting. Anyone heard of this or tried it?

[Oldtech]

I Suspect this may have been originally a babbitt bearing engine and someone has modified the rods to take shells, and Mini  mains is what worked. So... continue on that path.

[Rusty_OToole]

How about grinding a notch in the rod or cap?

[Bloo]

Why not more Mini bearings? I agree those were probably babbitt rods that got converted. Another approach might be to get some later rods that would probably fit the Bobs bearings.