MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGB Technical - bearing shells

Read lots of stuff about main and big end shells being of inferior quality these days.
What are the best make/type of shells to use these days and that are also readily available?
Neckieman

I used ACL in my race engine. I also heard King are good also.

The ACL are a tri-metal bearing containing lead unlike mass produced stuff.
A P New

Vandervell Tri Metal bearings. They're what the factory used. RAY
rjm RAY

Is Vandervell not one of the ones where there are questions about quality nowadays, its certainly what I would have used, in preference to all others, about 25 years ago.
Neckieman

Go for tri-metal, and follow the race guys, they usually have the best advice.
Allan Reeling

You may find steel backed aluminium will give much longer service life than tri-metal. They take a lot of punishment and we use them in our race engines to very good effect. They also seem to accommodate more distortion under use than tri-metal. Maybe long engine life on modern engines with SA bearings not just a matter of better oils.

http://kingbearings.com/files/Engine_Bearing_Materials.pdf

Peter
Peter Burgess Tuning

Just stripped it completely down tonight. Had a mixture of bearing makes in there. They and the crankshaft looked fine and had obviously been reground 0.10 undersize at some point. However the mains, which were Vandervell, were starting to show copper in a few places.
I will get the block over to the local machine shop ater this week for a rebore and clean and start cleaning and sorting all the ancillaries in the meantime.
Still not sure what to use but will need to order them sometime in the next week to allow me to start putting the block back together once it come back in a week or two.
Neckieman

Follow Peter's advice to obtain the best performance and longevity from your engine. RAY
rjm RAY

I sized the crank today and found that it is -0.10, but the rear main journal seems to be slightly undersized and ovaled.
I have another crankshaft which is still std/std but will probably need machining to clean up as it came from an engine which was rebuilt and sat for years.
Does anybody recognise thie other crank, the pic shows both o the top one is the original 12h1354, the bottom is the strange one which has one number on it, "6"
One of them will need to be put in for regrind but obviously it would be better to do the std/std one if possible if I can work out what it is.
Both came from 18v blocks.

Neckieman

They are both forged cranks, the top one is early (can't remember what years they were but from first five bearing Bs onwards) lower one 18v style flat forged crank. Best test for forged crank is to hold it up one handed ( not grip too hard and have it dangling from hand) tap one of the webs with a hammer and listen to the ring. On forged it is a very clear sound which dies away slowly (like swords ringing) cast crank more of a dull thunk and dies away quickly. Forged ones weigh a lot more than the cast cranks.

Peter
Peter Burgess Tuning

Ernie, milking an ostrich? I thought that you specialized in Bs. RAY
rjm RAY

Ray, don't go there you do NOT want to hear about it. Trust me. I'll tell you this much, it will make your toes curl, and not in a good way.
Rob C

Enough said. RAY
rjm RAY

Ernie, we try to keep a full range of the parts we may need to build engines so we usually have bearings in stock from standard to -060. It is only the last year we have stocked 40s and 60s as B cranks are beginning to get a little rare.
We do not, however, stock rubber tubes, restraints etc for milking Ostriches :)
Peter
Peter Burgess Tuning

Peter, I guess that it's time to start stocking these items as well. RAY
rjm RAY

I told you guys to drop the ostrich thing. Peter knows, tri metal a good option over those plated aluminum or whatever it is. Run Castrol 20/50 GTX and you be riding a rainbow to the next star. I saw some Vanderhall bearings (NOS, oil paper wrapped, in box) in the right size I need not long ago, and they were all rusty and pitted Who needs that headache? Its just another name. Tri Metal is a name and a process. 2 for 1 as I see it, or 3 for 2 for 1 or something like that. Not as good as auto zone stuff but they always out of stock, anyways.
Rob Canook

Another way to tell a forged crank from a cast one is to look a the flash (joint) line on the webs. With a cast crank it is a fine line, with a forged crank it is a wider band.
Banging the crank with a hammer as suggested by Peter can also show up a cracked crank - were the ring doesn't fade away gently.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

The problem with 'my good ideas' Ray is that I end up with a little stockpile of, 'I am sure these will sell well' goodies!
Knowing my luck 'they' would ban 'The milking of Ostriches or any parts thereof on any day with a Y in it'!

Peter
Peter Burgess Tuning

Peter, that sounds like the situation, that I have, here in California. RAY
rjm RAY

Things are now coming into focus Peter. I now see why you rarely post on the other site, as anyone with your sort of good ideas I see as clearly a threat to out simple everyman creedo with our few handpicked experts on google searches , and Ern with those books with part numbers, etc. We've had quite the problem of late with smarties showing up our know noting experts with facts and all. So nothing personal, eh, but nice to see you here and not there.
S Nott

Am I the only one that has difficulty understanding the last post.
I can't work out if it is a compliment, a backhanded compliment or an insult.
Am I missing something here?
Neckieman

It's a hacker that has nothing better to do with his/her time. He pops up on other forums as well, but has been banned from them. However, he seems to find a way of getting back in by using a different IPS. He is persistent, if nothing else. RAY
rjm RAY

Personally I didn't understand what he was saying and thought I was being dim, seems pointless to persist and then post something that doesn't make sense!
Neckieman

Indeed, pointless it is. Someone merely trying to disrupt a forum that's here to help people. RAY
rjm RAY

This thread was discussed between 15/05/2016 and 28/05/2016

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MGB Technical BBS now