Hello all! I'm new to the site and new to the y-block. My 6 year old fell in love with a '54 Crestline, so he did everything he could to earn money and we brought it home. The original 239 was replaced with a truck 292 (C2AE). It was running and looks like it may have been rebuilt recently. I pulled the motor anyway, because I wanted to tear it down to see for myself what, if anything had been done and this is what I found on the #4/8 rid journal.

The inside of the motor was spotless and all original standard size Ford parts. Anyone ever see this from what looks to be a factory engine?

Here are some more pics of the condition of the engine.

Sorry to keep going on, but I also noticed the crank counterweights on that journal have significant "damage", but no damage to the rods.

May have lost a rod and got a quickie replacement for the sale. Do all the other bearing surfaces look good?



Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

That's what I was thinking, lost a rod, but it was just strange that it didn't seem like it was ever apart before. Must've reused everything. The rest of the bearings are ok with one or two showing copper.

it looks like it was rebuilt not that long ago.what size is the bore.is the crank std.

Greetings to all:  Looks like that crank at the 4 & 8 rod journal suffered some trauma for sure  There is a lot of grinding that was done on the inside counter weight surfaces and the rod journal took a lot of heat to discolor it to blue temperature. I'm not an expert on crank shaft repair but perhaps heat was applied for the purpose of straightening this crank?  Someone with more knowledge than I will hopefully comment. There may be an oil pressure issue here as it was stated other bearings were showing copper. Interesting that the cam shaft counterweight was retained from the 239 as that part was not used after 1955 or 56, I believe.  May want to do a good investigation of everything to learn what you have.  Hope this helps and good luck, JEFF........................


64F100 57FAIRLANE500

Welcome to the site.
 
There are a number of reasons for an engine to spin a bearing.  Lack of bearing clearance is at the top of the list but add to that list inadequate oil pressure, oil level too low in the oil pan, sucking in air at the oil pump inlet, oil viscosity too high, improperly torqued rod bolts, a rod bolt or rod nut failure, out of round connecting rod big ends, incorrect bearings being used, crankshaft journals have been welded up and reground to restore dimensions but weld started flaking off, extreme rpms on the engine, detonation, too much ignition advance, etc.
 
I’ll suggest looking at the backs of some of the other bearings and get a feel for if the bearings are original or not.  If replacement bearings, then this could have been the result of a improper bearing install.  Many bearings are dated which may help to determine if those are the original bearings or not.  Compare those bearing dates to the casting date on the block.
 
Be forewarned that any crankshaft that spins a bearing becomes ‘bent’ and must be fixed accordingly.  Depending upon how far it’s bent, it may simply be as easy as turning the crankshaft undersize on both the mains and rods to get it straight again.  The more severe instances require straightening the crankshaft before grinding.  Be sure to have the crankshaft checked for crankshafts before having it repaired.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

When I purchased my TBird I thought my engine had been rebuilt recently as it looked fresh inside the valve covers.  Soon after, a freeze plug fell out and the engine started to smoke on startup.  I took the engine apart and found mismatched rods, a welded crank and a Frankenstein short block.  These engines have been around for a long time.  It is common for people to work on them that do not know what they are doing.  These engines are also very forgiving which will hide a lot of issues and abuse.    If I had your engine, I would be looking around for an untouched stock engine to rebuild.  I was able to salvage my cylinder block.  Everything else was ditched.

My thinking is that 292 cranks are not that hard to find (at least in my barn), and that crank has seen a lot of anguish.  I would vote for a better crank core.  Look for one locally, because shipping one would be costly.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"