I just got a new forged GM crankshaft for the 396 from Howard's, on sale for $99.95 shipped. I was checking it out and found the rear main journal to be 2.7470 diameter in one position and 2.7468 90 degrees away. This is under the spec I have of 2.7488/2.7478 for the rear main. All other journals meet their published specs. Is this a problem? If so, should I plan on getting a .001" undersize bearing for this journal? Should I complain to Howard's?

Thanks,
Ken

Ken,
Thats why the crank was $99 smile.gif Depending on your application, you will probably never have a problem because of the extra .001" clearance. If you want to be sure, go ahead and get another set of .001" undersize bearings and take the rear main out and use it. You will have a hard time finding just the one bearing. The other thing you might want to do before going any further is to bolt the caps on the block with bearings in them, measure the id, and see what your actual clearance is going to be. Unless the block has been align honed, you might have to run the .001 undersize bearings in the whole thing.

Thanks, Bill. A guy at work also bought the same crank from Howard's. I'm gonna have him measure his and see if he has the same problem. Then I may call Howard's. I'm not going to pay to ship it back, since that would be as much as a second set of bearings.

The engine will not see more than 5500 rpm. The block is a two-bolt that will be align-honed using ARP studs. I will figure on getting two sets of bearings, and will Plastigage everything.

Ken