installing crank (main) bearing

[dubie]

Do you just lube them with clean motor oil or is there an assembly lube to use?

[bigjimzlll]

Take the time to read Grumpyvettes post from chevy talk...it has all the info and links that concern lubes:
If you pre lube the engine (turn the oil pump enought times that oil runs out of all the rocker arms while also slowly turning the engine ove at least 4 times by hand AND you ad a can of G.M.- E.O.S.part # 1052367 to the oil you should be ok but you ARE TAKEING A MUCH BIGGER CHANCE of something going wrong because ASSEMBLY LUBE CAN HANDLE FAR GREATER PRESSURES, ITS WORTH USEING here read these posts
"first spray the contact surfaces with this ultra penatrateing moly-disulfide lube the carrier in the spray can allow the moly to soak into the metals surface,this stuff has been proven to coat the inside surface of rifle barrels and drastically reduce wear and friction even at temps of over 500 degs(F) and at pressures over 50,000psi,this forms your base layer,moly disulfide greatly increases the load and heat carrying ability of the lubericant and coating the surface with a layer of ultra-fine 20 micron moly before coating things with the lube gets the moly into the metal surfaces (check out the electron microscope photos) next use a good assembly lube that contains moly disulfide and/or zinc dialkyt-dithiophosphate both of which greatly add to the extreme pressure and heat resistance on the bearing or cam lobe surfaces.
heres some sources; http://www.msmoly.com/ http://www.erspros.com/langdon/engine_products/28.html http://www.mrmoly.com/catalog.html http://www.schaefferoil.com/data/221.html
these are proven Anti-Wear Agents
These agents prevent wear due to seizure or rubbing surfaces. Compounds such a zinc dialkyt-dithiophosphate break-down microscopic hot spots and form a chemical filter which eliminates metal-to-metal contact.

also read this because the quality of the oil you use also has a big effect on how your engine wears during its lifetime. http://www.micapeak.com/info/oiled.html

REMEMBER WHAT YOUR TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IS THE TOTAL PREVENTION OF METAL TO METAL CONTACT, AND ONLY THE BEST ANTI-WEAR LUBERICANTS PLACED BETWEEN CONTACT SURFACES AND FLOWING INTO THE CLEARANCES CAN DO THAT !
BTW DON,T FORGET TO PRELUBE THE ENGINE WITH AN ENGINE PRELUBER WHILE TURNING IT OVER BY HAND UNTILL OIL FLOWS FROM ALL THE PUSH RODS ONTO ALL THE ROCKER ARMS BEFORE STARTING A NEW ENGINE! and make sure your oil and coolent levels are correct too!"

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then this http://www.dorianyeager.com/oilfilterstudy1.html
http://www.micapeak.com/info/oiled.html

I know you already checked ALL YOUR CLEARANCES ARE CORRECT!RIGHT? READ THIS FIRST http://www.chevytalk.org/forums/Foru...ML/005908.html
ok first make sure the ignition timeing , coolent levels are correct, all the hoses are conected ETC and a good oil filter is installed, add a can of G.M. E.O.S. to the oil(G.M.part #1052367 )

ENGOILSUP

EOS - Engine Assembly Prelube
Specifically formulated as an engine assembly lubricant. E.O.S. provides outstanding protection against run-in wear and piston scuffing as well as run-in camshaft lobe and lifter scuffing resulting from insufficient lubrication.)

fill the engine with a good brand of MINERAL BASE OIL of about 10w-30 weight (VALVEOLINE, ETC. anything with a S/G or S/H rateing
next prime the oil pump while turning the engine over BY HAND SLOWLY untill oil runs out of all the push rod/rocker arms (if it doesn,t find out WHY BEFORE STARTING THE ENGINE) this is a good time to roughly adjust your valves if you have not yet done so. once everything checks outget the garden hose running if you might need it to cool the radiator and if you have one keep a fire extinguisher handy, check the float levels in the carb and fuel pressure is ok and fire it up with a timeing light on the motor, finish timeing it correctly and get it to at least 1500rpm-2000rpm and keep it at least that high for 15 minutes, if everything looks good take it for an around the block tour for an hour too 90 more minutes, bring it home, let it cool and change the oil filter(after 100 miles change the oil and oil filter again to mobile 1 synthetic in what ever weigth will keep 25lbs of hot oil pressure at idle, after you have changed to mobile 1 synthetic and broken in the rings and cam your ready to run the crap out of it at the 100 mile mark, by that time everthing is lapped in BTW I always stick four of these magnets in the corners of the oil pan sump , you will be amazed at how much metalic dust they pick out of the oil and keep from getting to your bearings,(either one works fine)
http://www.wondermagnet.com/dev/magnet2.html
http://www.wondermagnet.com/dev/magnet42.html

synthetic oil has much greater film strength that it slows the lapping in of the lifters to cam lobes and rings to cylinder walls to a great extent, yes you can use synthetic oil to break in an engine but it will take longer and in some cases the rings don,t completely seal to the cylinders for about 500 miles while breaking in on mineral oil everythings lapped in by 100 miles or 3 hrs of running time. and yes constantly vary the engine speed durring break in but it must be in the 1500rpm-4000rpm window for proper oil flow/splash lubracation of the parts, btw this tool adds greatly to the oil flow to the cam lobes,
http://www.compcams.com/catalog/335.html
and read this


http://www.melling.com/engoil.html

http://www.melling.com/highvol.html
Im NOT recommending you rev your new engine to 4000rpm, I Am saying its ok to let a new engine get to 4000rpm MAX for brief periods OCCASIONALLY going from gear to gear shifting under light load as a max rpm level as you accelerate going thru the gears in the car during that first 3 hours or 100 miles and during the first hour of running time there is FAR MORE HEAT ON THE CONTACT POINTS AS THE RINGS AND LIFTERS LAP IN and those magnets I mentioned pick up lots of metalic dust, and that can get embeded into your bearings without those magnets. BASICALLY what your doing durring that first hour and to some extent the first hundred miles is letting all the high spots wear away and the metalic dust formed wash into the sump in the oil pan where its picked up by magnets if your smart or by the oil pump and hopefully trapped by the filter BEFORE IT GETS TO THE BEARINGS ETC.another reason they tell you to keep the engine rpms low durring breakin is to try to insure the oil filter bypass valve stays shut by keeping the oil pressure in the mid ranges to hopefully allow ALL the metallic dust to pass thru the filter,btw the main reason they tell you to keep the rpms at at least 1500rpm is because the cam is mostly lubracated by oil thrown from the spinning rods/crankshaft and below 1500rpm there is significantly less oil being thrown around in the lower block by the rotateing assembly and that the cam lobes on a flat tappet cam need to have that oil film on the lobes for the metal to lap in and work harden the mateing surfaces between the lifters and cam lobes. that tool I refered to causes high pressure oil to constantly spray on that lobe surface greatly increaseing the oil flow to the contact area and helping to prevent lobe failures, it also helpd spray extra oil on roller wheels on roller cams/lifters, look here at lifter #866
http://www.compcams.com/catalog/261.html
notice the oil groove! that is there to do the same job!


theres several brands and types, basically its a spray that leaves a thin coat of moly thats (molybdenum disulfide) in a fast-evaporating carrier. Typical applications are *engine assembly/run-in *mechanical assembly *as a wear reducer & silencing medium *as an anti-sieze *as a high temperature lube *on chains and springs *machine tool gears *sliding surfaces and a variety of many other uses particular to the user's requirements.
http://www.msmoly.com/

http://www.msmoly.com/article/page9.html

http://www.mrmoly.com/catalog.html

http://www.tsmoly.com/ts801.htm

what were talking about here is a chemical spray that leaves a film bonded to a metal surface that increases that surfaces ability to hold oil and increases that oils ability to prevent surface to surface contact.the guys that shoot alot wear out very expensive rifle barrels sometimes costing over a thousand dollars by the time they are installed on a match rifle so because the barrels wear out from heat and pressure a way to slow that wear was needed ,experimemtation has shown that coating barrels and bullets with moly greatly slows wear, now thats under heat and pressures that no car engine will ever see but its been found that the moly spray leaves a coating on things like bearings,rings,pistons, cranks,and cylinder walls that adds to the load carrying ability of the oil and the oil to metal retention at a microscopic level, it almost like haveing a very thin coat of assembly lube on the surfaces,here read the specs
http://www.schaefferoil.com/data/221.html
moly is one of the additives in some of the better oils that makes them work better under high load high heat conditions

[crazy longhorn]

after you have checked all your clearances with plasti gage, I would use michigan bearing guard, or you can mix motor oil with STP for a lube that will stay with the parts for a while. crazyL

[dubie]

Thanks a bunch guys. I will be putting my bottom end together in the next 2 days.

[dubie]

Got another question........ Do you lube up between the bearing and the block as well?

[O'l Buck]

I've never put any lube on the back side of the bearings. I just use STP on the crank side.

[Class of 69]

dubie, I've always used GM Assembly lube, but I neeeeeever knew it did all that stuff in bigjimz post!!!! It just works. Also prelubing the motor like he say's is a MUST!! You can buy a prelube tool or make one from an old distributor, but please turn that pump till you get oil out of ALL the push rods. No lube on the back side, or during the plasigage process. And O'l Buck, we didn't need to know you lubed your crank while assembling your motor!!!

[Fred T]

Class of 69 said it right. Use a good pre-lube and you should be okay. Don't dump the extra pre-lube in the crankcase, it will plug things up. If you have the money, you can get 10w-30 break-in oil from your John Deere dealer. I've never priced it, but it's supposed to be good stuff, my advice coming from a JD mechanic.

[oldsub86]

I used Lubriplate Motor Assembly Grease the last time I put a motor together. It seemed to be fine. It is a white grease like substance in a big tube (like a big toothpaste tube). I know it is available in Canada as I got it at Softy's in Winnipeg.
One reason I used it was that it took me quite a while to get the motor all together and it didn't dry out while it was waiting for me.
I guess the main thing is that you want to change the oil fairly soon after getting the motor running to get rid of all this sort of gunk and get down to normal running.