Ok guys. Trying to put this 6.0 liter back together for my 89 convertible. As some of you know, the color coded bearings for the 6.0 are NLA for the most part. Upon the advice of one of you, I bought a set of 5.3 liter bearings. They look absolutely identical. I installed them, and only torqued the mains to 60 ft lbs, thinking that if clearance are good there, they will only be better once I completely tighten them to spec. I was sort of surprised to see that I have .0015 to .0001 clearance on all bearings, except the rear which is really closer to .0002.
Just wanting to get opinions before calling it a day on this issue, before moving on to the next.

 

I think you meant to say .001 and .002....with .0015 splitting the difference.

What the Jaguar spec?

The ancient rule of thumb is .001" clearance for every 1.0" journal diameter.

I am no authority on the matter but, FWIW, every engine I've assembled I've always had .002-.003 on both rods and mains and never had any problems. That's an almost universal spec, I think.

Let's hear what other have to say

Cheers
DD

 

If I understand correctly that your bearing clearance is between 0.001" and 0.002", one to two thousandths of an inch, I think you are exactly where you want to be.

 

Thanks guys! Got a little carried away with my 0s there. I guess I am still a little perplexed by the extra mile Jaguar went with the 6.0, just to find that 5.3 standard bearings work just as well.

 

So far so good.


But, further torque should not alter the clearances!!!


Are you using plastiguage to measure in situ clearance ?


I agree with Doug's measure comments.


Make sure that you have plenty of assembly goop on the bearings before you crank it.


Dry bearings can go up in smoke in a nanosecond. Don't ask....


Carl

 

you should be fine with what has been said here! its quite common to add 0s.

it wouldnt be surprising that Ford engineers tightened up clearences, old engine designs were rather on the loose side, but newer engines run a lot tighter on most clearances,(better oils, and materials).

what brand of bearings did you finally end up using?

to add; when all torques are final , i always spin the crank by hand, slowly just to feel for any tight spots or something, it should be free and easy!