[performerrpm]

are these available anywhere? hows the best way to go about making holes if theyre not? i saved some old rod caps and thought about trying to drill and make a jig but if theres a better way

[Formulas]

I have a stock rod cap that a machinest drilled and installed a drill bushing in it for me for my BME rods i can loan it to you, might want to verify same size hole first i can check tomorrow

[Jim Zeek]

what size bearings? you can buy a jig

[performerrpm]

Originally Posted by Formulas

I have a stock rod cap that a machinest drilled and installed a drill bushing in it for me for my BME rods i can loan it to you, might want to verify same size hole first i can check tomorrow

i may take you up on that, i dug up a few caps to ask my machinist if he could make me the sa.e thing. i free handed one and actually got a good fit but ii probably couldnt duplicate it to save my life.

im working with a set BME rods too

[performerrpm]

Originally Posted by Jim Zeek

what size bearings? you can buy a jig

pontiac rj size

[Jack Gifford]

A drilled old cap works fine for me. Not enough use to warrant a drill bushing.
I've also bought pre-drilled bearings at times.

[performerrpm]

does the hole need to be exact in size or can it be just a little bit loose fitting?

[steve25]

It can be a couple thousands too loose since the dowel is there to keep the bearings from outright spinning during loads where the big end gets distorted .
It's not ment to replace Bearing crush, it's just the last line of defense against a spun Bearing.

If the dowel hole is not dead on then it's better to have some play so that the ends of the Bearing line up the way they should at each parting line.

[performerrpm]

the one i free handed was .003 off from being perfectly centered, but. the hole was exact and once i bolted the 2 halves together, the parting line match perfect but to me it looked like the bearing moved closer to the radius of the rod. i went a tad bigger on the hole and it gave enough to match it up both at the parting line and along the radius.....a jig should work wonders...i might just buy a drill press

[steve25]

Oh gez yes!
Trying to get it right without a drill press is not the way to do this.

[performerrpm]

Originally Posted by steve25

Oh gez yes!
Trying to get it right without a drill press is not the way to do this.

lol , no i wasnt gonna. i was meaning i might get a drill press and try making my own jigs as well as do my own bearings. vs having them made at the machine shop.

[Skip Fix]

I did the same when I ran pinned bearing aluminum rods-an old cast iron rod cap. Made a paper template of where on the luminum rod it was located and transfereed that to the rod cap. Then drill press for sure!