Thread: 454 spun bearings... all of em

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so i have a 454 bored .60, 11.5.1 compression, 590 solid lift cam, steel crank stock rods. Iv had this motor for about a year, i raced it down the track three times in a 77 nova, took it home and it started to knock.. bad. i pulled the motor found out all the bearings spun. I figured it ran dry of oil. My question is that how can i tell if i need to have the block align-honed? and how do i tell if i need new rods?

For the money involved always align hone. Every now and then you get a surprise and the crank centerline needs to be bored. Rods should always be checked in a performance application. If the bearings spun they're gonna have to be re-sized anyway. Why not balance everything while you're there?

Here's the deal though, I got a dollar says you're using a stock oil pan. BIG no-no in a git-r-done application. Invest in a good quality pan with baffles and windage. Crank scraper and oil pump baffle (keeps the oil from crawling up the back of the pan under hard acceleration) are big pluses also. Go for the high volume (not high pressure) pump also. Oil control is key on that hoss.

If those are 3/8 rod bolt rods, I would not even worry about rebuilding them. You give Eagle products in tennessee a ring for their set of good rods with ARP bolts. The prices are so good its like bargain day at the mint.

Do you have an oil pressure guage ? You think that maybe you ran low on oil pressure ? Heres a trick old Kiwi stock car drivers use - get a oil light sender switch and a t junction so that you can still use your guage. Then wire a car horn inside the passenger compartment. True the horn will go full toot when you turn on the ignition and crank up oil pressure. But in the excitement of going down the strip and you dont see the oil guage, if the horn sounds at least you know where your at.

well i guess i owe sparky a dollar... i did use a stock pan, unfortunatly. The rods are stock 3/8. So, do you how much it should cost to get the block align-honed? All the the journals on the block are good except one... its the second journal from the front of the motor. I was using a high volume pump. Also, i had the crank checked out at my machine shop, the mains were already ground .20 and the rods were .30. Is this worth saving?

Have a machine shop check your block. It may be too bad for align bore. Depends on how much the metal has moved around. As for the crank. Bearings are available to .040 under.

I ran a big block Nova with a stock pan for years. Car ran 11.60's all the time. Driven to and from the strip. I would look for some sort of other oiling problem. Incorrect clearance, wrong cam bearings, wrong pump pickup to pan clearance, etc.

In this area align bore/hone is around $150.00

I could possibly see a problem using a stock pan with a high volume/pressure oil pump. but heck I ran a stock pan on my 6800 RPM 409 that ran 11.70s for years & have a stock pan on my 454 that sees occasional 6000 RPMs. Oh yeah, & thats with stock 3/8" rods...with stock bolts.
Eagle rods I know are better quality than the old stockers...however I try not to buy products produced in China...If I was gonna buy aftermarket rods Id buy some made in U.S. or atleast from a country that isnt a threat to us. just my 2cents

Ditto on BobCRman, align hone/bore here is right around 150.00 bucks...im having my block done right now. Just my opinion, but I would not use a crank ground that much if you're looking to beat on it occasionally...Mine is ground .020, and I wont go any more, but as I said, that's just my .02.... And as far as Eagle products, I wont buy them...quality control is terrible...cranks have been known to be off several thousanths between throws, and in several other areas....my machinist wont use them either. Scat is OK, they're from over seas too, but their machine work and QC is done here in the US....much tighter controls...and there is actually nothing wrong with stock GM parts. John

I ran a 396 in my Nova c/w stock pan and high volume pump with never a problem due to insufficient oiling. Having said that, Sparky raises a good point just the same. I will have to keep that in mind when I swap my 502 into my Safari awd. I know I've got some major oil pan mods to do there...
BTW, 12.63 in the 1/4 with nitrous in first and what turned out to be a broken valve spring which caused stutter after 4,500 rpm LOL

Petey