Rod Bearing Supply Issue

[Larry_H]

Well, as a lot of you know, I am building motors. I called around to order bearings yesterday and found out from not 1, but 10 suppliers that I use that undersize rod bearings will no longer be available for the cobra cranks. The SOHC cast cranks, same deal..but, there are more of those still left in the supply chain, but once they are gone......Standard sizes only from all bearing mfg's.....Don't know why this is happening....I just know that in the whole country, I could only find 7 sets of .010 rod bearings...Now, there are none in any distribution center in the US.....So, unless you run across a parts house that has some sitting on a shelf.....they are all gone.

I'm just passing this along for information purposes.....Seems like now, if you have a cobra crank and you need to turn it, your choice is going to be either have it built up and then re-ground to stock specs or not use it.....

It doesn't bother me that much, since I have the capability to do this, but for some of you that only have limited services machine shops, this could turn into a problem...I know that getting a crank welded up and turned isn't a normal machine shop function..They usually send them out to be turned...expensive machinery involved.


I hope I am wrong about this. I would be very happy to have someone prove me wrong, but the evidence so far says I'm right......
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[cekim]

Very strange... I wonder if Steeda has a patent on them?

 

[KIMMER]

Seems like with that being a new crank, places like clevite would carry something soon, unless thats one of the ones you go through. Must be ford expects people to throw these motors away when they wear out.

 

[94tbird]

clevite was part of dana and they filed bankruptcy

 

[Larry_H]

I've checked with Clevite, Speed-Pro, King, last month they all made them, but no more....

 

[KIMMER]

Hey Larry, what other choices do we have besides the cobra crank that we can get bearings for?

 

[Larry_H]

ah....that would be...none...the best thing to do is to either buy a new crank and use standard bearings, or buy a used crank and send it to a crankshaft repair shop, have them weld it up and then grind it back down to standard specs....other options would be...buy a stroker kit that uses chevy journals sizes or even have your cobra crank turned down to match up with chevy SB bearing sizes, then buy chevy rods......before you laugh and scoff at putting chevy parts in your mustang....anyone that has a stroker...usually has chevy spec parts in it. ie: 2.00 inch journals....

 

[KIMMER]

Man, are these cars made by Ford or Microsoft? Seems like its a discontinued item within a month like when you buy a new computer.

 

[Larry_H]

The thing that makes me curious is that last month, they ALL made non-standard bearings....Now, all of a sudden, nobody does...they just quit, all at the same time....it's like the all bought stock in the Kellogg Crankshaft Company or something.....

 

[KIMMER]

So Larry, when are we gonna start a bearing company??

 

[cekim]

The thing that makes me curious is that last month, they ALL made non-standard bearings....Now, all of a sudden, nobody does...they just quit, all at the same time....it's like the all bought stock in the Kellogg Crankshaft Company or something.....

Everyone is cooking the books to make the numbers and its getting hard...

Seeing a lot of strange behaviors like that in my world as well...

My guess is that its a relatively low margin/volume business and they made the call that anything that won't lose them a multi-billion $ contract with the big 2 1/2 can wait a month or 3...

Seems strange indeed now that those cranks would be reaching prime re-build time... I have no data to support it, but my guess is it will come back in a quarter or 2...

p.s. or it could be that toyota has really done that much damage to the american car market and they no longer give a rats ass about a few hundred thousand idiots rebuilding engines...

 

[Larry_H]

I think it is a matter of demand. When the 2V motor was the only modular, there wasn't a lot of demand, then the 4V casme along and lessened the demand even more with thier strong factory bottom end....They probably made their decision a long time ago, but the effects of it are just now showing up.....However, it had to be a concious decision, because they have even pulled the part numbers from the online catalogs. From what research I did do on other motors, none of the bearings for those have been dropped....very strange indeed!!!!

 

[ZmanM3]

So Larry do you have barrings for my engine or do we have to go the weld regrind route?

 

[Larry_H]

I will have to weld up and regrind a crankshaft for your motor, Matt. I've done it a hundred times...It will better than a new one!

 

[ZmanM3]

Cool, I hope it doesn't cause you too much extra work.

 

[Larry_H]

naw...its some work, but not much....I feel it is worth doing just to be able to save these good cranks....I hate throwing away a forged crank....they arent rare, but they arent growing on trees either....

 

[ZmanM3]

I'm hoping it will be in my new motor for years to come going down drag strips and road courses.

 

[cekim]

Great - now we have to hear all about "Larry's Crank"... length, girth, which way and how far it bends - I am cringing already

I wonder if this is an elabroate accounting snafu/trick as I hypothesized earlier or a sign of things to come? Immediate demand is almost certainly to blame, but was never an issue before with a car with relatively high sales volume and modification coefficient....

I hope we don't have to go back to the old days were anything other than OEM, replacement, chromed or Chevy parts basically had to be made...

 

[Larry_H]

I do...that was the best of times....it promoted a lot of creativity...and it will definitley seperate the "assemblers" from the "builders".....lol..

 

[cekim]

I do...that was the best of times....it promoted a lot of creativity...and it will definitley seperate the "assemblers" from the "builders".....lol..

No doubt - but I have to say that I am really enjoying my return to this hobby and the instant gratification factor (at least for the "daily-driver" freindly mods) has been wonderful... If I had to wait weeks/months on end for a cold-air kit like I am for my engine parts, I might not be enjoying this soo much...

p.s. and some of us don't have the time, skill or machinery to do much more than basic fabrication - yet we still want to have fun...