Beretta.net

Reading this was a great way to start my Monday! Keep up the great work!

3X00-Modified wrote:With the way things are machined these days, Plasti-gauge and sending pistons in with an engine block to be bored are really old school methods and not really needed. I always gap rings on a new ring installation since if you don't it can create some major issues... Especially on a FI build. Most of the checking with plasti-gauge is to ensure the parts you have are within spec as well as the crank, if you can't measure them in another way.

Well, that describes the majority of my processes and much of my outlooks on things, so I am okay with that. When re-using bearings and crank, Plasti-gauge is really a good way to determine if the bearings should be re-used, but if you already know they are fine, it isn't strictly necessary. I can't say I've ever had a problem with all-new parts not clearancing correctly. But I have had issues with old cranks and new bearings... Plasti-gauge is a good way to tell if the crank is worn, so long as it is still round, but I use micrometers for that unless I can't/won't pull a crank for some reason, and do tests at multiple degrees, especially if I have reason to be suspicious of the journals' roundness. It is also good to make sure a new bearing isn't defective, and just a little too tight -I've caught one before, IIRC it was a Federal Mogul bearing- , but you are right, it doesn't happen often, especially now. Matched-bearing sets in crank kits I don't bother with either, unless it feels like something is binding. Still, considering the investment most people put into quality builds, checking clearances really isn't a bad idea and doesn't take very long. It can also show other issues, like tapered journals, although it is hit-and-miss too. I worked with an older guy, he told me his son built a nice 327 back in the day, and they gave him the wrong bearings -mismatched boxes maybe? If he had used Plasti-gauge, he wouldn't have ripped 7/8 rod bearings out of the engine and destroyed his crank. But I doubt he had even rotated the engine through by hand either, so more than one 'old school' process was missing from the build... The last time I walked into an auto-parts store to buy some Plasti-gauge (a few years ago, maybe even more than a few), both of the kids working the front counter looked at me blankly and said "Plasti-what?" They had to go ask an older associate...

I typically send all my critical parts to a machine shop to ensure that they are within spec. I've done that with all of my cranks and whatnot to eliminate the need so that's why I've never used the stuff before. If they say it's within spec and polish it then I'm not going to double check them... LOL

3X00-Modified wrote:I typically send all my critical parts to a machine shop to ensure that they are within spec. I've done that with all of my cranks and whatnot to eliminate the need so that's why I've never used the stuff before. If they say it's within spec and polish it then I'm not going to double check them... LOL

Yeah, I would probably consider that a waste of time too. Believe it or not, I've never dealt with an engine-shop yet, and never had parts from a machine shop to put into an engine. So far, all of my parts are junk-yard re-fries or new over-the-counter parts. If it needs labor, I dip in to the elbows. But I am too cheap to spend $80 per hour for someone else to do the work I can, and if I can't do the work, I replace the part for $150 instead of paying for five hours of labor. Perfect example -I was working on a custom flywheel setup once, and needed a 1/4"-3/8" long collar to sit between the center of the flywheel and the inner hub of the crankshaft, to align it dead-center. I called a small local machine-shop, and the guy told me no problem. I zipped down there with all of my specs, the flywheel, and even a flex-plate that had the right sized center-hole. We talked about it for several minutes, and he picked up a chunk of random scrap metal he had sitting on the floor and said that this would be the perfect piece of steel for the job. It would take him maybe 20 minutes or so to machine the piece I needed. I wasn't even concerned about the tolerances, so long as they were close... Then he decided that I would have to leave everything with him for about 24 hours. As he started grabbing all of my parts off of the counter-top, I suggested that we should settle on a price first, or at least an estimate. To which he replied 'only' about $90, maybe $100. Wow, for twenty minutes and a piece from a chunk of scrap. When I told him it wasn't worth that much to me for this part of the project, he immediately became hostile, asking if I thought he should just do the work for free. While I should have just turned and left leaving him nothing but the bird, I decided to play nice, and told him that while I appreciated the fact that his time and expertise was worth something and should be compensated appropriately, I really didn't see that twenty minutes of work should be worth much more than $20. I left on decent enough terms, but I've never gone back, never will, and had to make the spacer myself, which took about twenty minutes and a piece of a chunk of scrap...

I don't have a crank polisher, a block bore machine a head mill or a valve seat grinder so.... That's really all I ever send my stuff out for.

Sweet looks awesome!!! That paint combo looks familiar. I'm thinking I may copy the black 3500 upper;)