[T3] The new Main bearings

[Jim Adney]

On 15 Nov 2012 at 19:52, Keith Park wrote:

> The T4 world has lost its steel backed center main bearings in the new
> kits, has the T1 world Run out of the good ones yet?  Is there still
> good stock? 

I don't know if this would apply to Type 4s, but I was sitting in a 
fellow Type 3 owner's can recently when I noticed a "Hot VW's" 
sitting there. I picked it up and found a Gary Berg article about 
main bearings. He now uses some different brand of main bearings that 
still come with the steel inserts, but I can't remember the brand. It 
was not a brand that I was familiar with.   

Someone here must have that magazine; what brand was that?

I also had a conversation with RIMCO about this a couple decades ago, 
they told me that Metal-Leve mains came without the steel inserts in 
all the OD oversizes above +1 mm. 

> What are everyone's feelings on a non-steel backed center main?  Is it time
> to hoard now?

I don't know. I read somewhere that VW supplied the engines with the 
steel backed center main to countries with temperate climates, which 
I took to mean: where it can get cold. It's quite possible that if 
you never intend to start your engine when it's really cold, this 
might not matter.

> BTW. can a CAST crank be turned down undersized like a forged crank can?

I don't know, but I suspect this would be okay.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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