1cockyZ

iTrader: (46)

I am rebuilding a long block and was looking for acl distributors in the US and Cosworth is listed. It wouldn't surprise me as most of these companies relabel other manufacturers parts. I am doing this build would like some input on bearings as I just read SCC and the article about building a vq35 and the stock bearings being lead free and having very little temp resistance. I figure for the extra money its cheap insurance. Any truth to this or stock is best. I track my car and want reliability. I don't really see many threads about engine bearings.

KRRZ350

I swear by nissan parts in general, and there lower ends have always been amazing. I've torn down two VQ30's w/175k & 210K respectively. The 175k one was beat on, the 205 k one was beat on pretty hard for the last 50k of it's life and was driven for weeks overheating from a bad waterpump, constantly in the red zone until it eventually blew a headgasket.

Anyways, on both of those engines I tore them down and spec'd out a bunch of things for fun.

What did I find? Clearance on rods and mains were not only well within the service limit & acceptable spec, but they actually read close to new! I'll try to find the thread so I can get the specs that they plastigauged out to and post it up just for your reading pleasure.

Anyways, just my experience that the rod bearings on VQ's are amazing, I try not to read into magazine hype to much, you never know who is in there wallet.

Hope all goes well with the build, anything special?

Zivman

iTrader: (19)

I think sizing them properly is the most important thing to focus on.

personally I ran OEM bearings in my build

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

why not just use whatever the person assembling your engine recommends?

I used stock for the very simple reason that they are the only bearings I could find that you could spec to each individual spot on the crank. VQ35's can use a wide range of bearing combos and its not uncommon for there to be 2, 3 , 4 different size bearings on the crank alone. Many other companies don't alot of this and instead sell a one size fits all type thing. Not what we wanted to trust, so I simple went the factory route to ensure we could set clearances to what we wanted them to (edited because I can't spell!)

1cockyZ

iTrader: (46)

Well I asked myself cause I am the one assembling it and ordered calico coated acl race bearings. About assembling with the different sizes and a one size fits all. While I understand the importance of correct sizing, I am going to run the crap out of this engine. If any of the clearances are out I have an excellent machinist, while it might seem like more work and $, I figure by doing all the labor myself I am already way ahead so splurge and live a little.

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

I guess that's your call to make. If the motor is intended to be run hard, all the more reason to spec the bearings to their exact level rather than hope for the best, but that's just my opinion.....there are certainly more than one ways to skin a cat. I'd rather do it once the way it should be done than to try run the possible risk of having something go wrong (and a bearing failure will be catasrophic) and risk doing it multiple times. Are you balancing/blueprinting the rotating assembly?

1cockyZ

iTrader: (46)

Z1 I have to be honest I just read the entire factory service manual about engine overhaul and the bearing grading and fitment. There are some cases where you can be in between grades. I will if necessary have the crank cut and main journals line honed to accept these one size fits all bearings. I find this grading system ridiculous. I am using eagle rods and they only come in one size. this is the rod information from factory manual
51.968 - 51.974
(2.0460 - 2.0462)
0
Bearing grade No. STD 0
Bearing thickness range: 1.500 - 1.503 (0.00591 - 0.0592)
Color: Black
51.962 - 51.968
(2.0457 - 2.0460)
1
Bearing grade No. STD 1
Bearing thickness range: 1.503 - 1.506 (0.0592 - 0.0593)
Color: Brown
51.956 - 51.962
(2.0455 - 2.0457)
2
Bearing grade No. STD 2
Bearing thickness range: 1.506 - 1.509 (0.0593 - 0.0594)
There is a total spread of .0009" on the rods and .0007" on the mains in regards to bearing thickness, thats not even considering journal diameter. I emailed acl to find out what specifications their bearings are designed for. I am doing the same with the pistons if the block still has the factory cross hatching I am measuring the bores if I have any unacceptable variations on the bores I am going .020 over. I am having the whole rotating assembly balanced, also running ati super dampener. I am leaving the heads stock with exception to cams, springs, and retainers. I have the engine in the car to rebuild super nice for next time. Besides "the season is upon us". Seriously wouldn't it have been cheaper for nissan to have one bearing size?

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

I have Eagle rods too, and every bearing we needed we got from Nissan for both rod and mains

1cockyZ

iTrader: (46)

That wasn't my point, although I appreciate your point of view. You are correct in the approach to sizing the bearings that way and for most people it works perfectly fine. You fitted your bearing to your crank and rods. I am fitting my crank and rods to a supposedly higher quality bearing. The advantages to this are when I get the block line honed all the main bearing journals will be trued. Its the builders choice. The way I am doing it is more expensive for sure, and I totally understand your point of view. I will update this thread with the results of what had to be modified or machined in my particular case. Although I have seen other shops use acl or cosworth bearings in builds mrc and forged come to mind. The BC stroker says acl bearings for sale separately. Just for fun I did a search for cosworth and acl bearings on this section of the forum and no useful information came up. I'll be the everyday joe guinea pig, unless they want to post. I actually ordered the calico ct-1 coated acl bearings, now thats bling BTW I would love to know what you did to your lower plenum(I know its the head work as well), cause the powerband on your car is sweeter than a splenda coated ball of sugar.

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

No I understand what you're saying...good luck with the build and post the results!

I can't say what we did to the plenums or heads because I didn't do any of it, my engine builder did. All I know is it worked

track1z

iTrader: (4)

Nissan is good about there bearings.I'm gonna get some heat for this,but i bet if you buy a hi end name bearing your gonna get a nissan bearing wrapped in someone elses name just marked up.

KRRZ350

Just like JWT valve springs = HR :hide:

Eddie@Performance

iTrader: (4)

My thoughts exactly, i agree with this statement 100%. Many of the worlds finest Nissan engine builders prefer factory Nissan bearings over aftermarket units for their on the dot precision. Factory bearings is all i'll use in my book.

Eddie@Performance

iTrader: (4)

Yes there is, its called Nismo. The Nismo bearings is nothing more then a factory bearing but just available in a larger varierties of sizes thats not offerred as factory sizing.

Andy@Performance

iTrader: (92)

That's my mad scientist right here.

SpoilsofWar

iTrader: (39)

To answer the question in your thread title because I didn't see anyone else answer it; yes, Cosworth bearings are ACL race bearings. The Cosworths have ACL stamped right on them.

QuadCam

iTrader: (8)

the JWT springs have been around alot longer than the HR motor has been around.

1cockyZ

iTrader: (46)

Spoilsofwar thanks for the verification. This is the email I received from acl, completely answered all of my questions. Being my engine is not damaged and low mileage I should get lucky on the machinist bill. Also the cheapest place I found these is calicocoatings.com I received the order fast and they sell them coated and uncoated.
Here is the email from acl:
Yes the Nissan VQ35 does have a multitude of grades at STD and is something you need to be cautious of at installation. The specifications on the VQ35 are as follows :

Mains

Housing tolerance = 63.993mm - 64.017mm (when you take into account the numerous grades)
Crankshaft tolerance = 59.951mm - 59.975mm (when you take into account the numerous grades)
Main Bearing thickness = 2.001mm - 2.009 mm
Recommended clearances = 0.035mm - 0.053mm

Rods

Housing tolerance = 55.000mm - 55.013mm (when you take into account the numerous grades)
Crankshaft tolerance = 51.956mm - 51.975mm (when you take into account the numerous grades)
Main Bearing thickness = 1.494mm - 1.502 mm
Recommended clearances = 0.034mm - 0.059mm

If you have a crank/block that are in the mid range of the above specs then you should find your clearances will come out fine. However if you have a crank/block that is on the extreme ends of the grades, then you will find that your clearances are either excessive or too tight. To overcome this problem, many engine builders use the .001" undersize bearings and/or the HX-STD (.001" extra clearance) bearings to juggle the clearances. Basically they can be mixed and matched to obtain your desired clearances. Unfortunately this does add complexity to choosing the right bearing sizes, but as you mention, it is almost impossible to stock the 8 different grades as per the OEM. You will notice on the normal aftermarket (non-Race) bearings we do not offer a STD size on these sets. We have only offered STD size on the Race Series as the engine builders of performance engines are able to overcome the various grading issues.

Regarding service intervals - I'm not sure what you mean here. If it is oil change (service) intervals, then these will be no different to normal service intervals. The bearings don't have an effect on oil change intervals. If you mean "do the bearings last longer?" It all depends on the application of the engine. The Race Series bearings do have a higher load carrying capacity than the OEM and therefore will last longer in that sense.

I hope this helps you out.

Best Regards

Chris Worthington
Marketing Manager
ACL Aftermarket

nismology1

Have you guys seen VQ35 UOA's lately? These bearings are wearing HARD. I don't know if it's because quality dropped off from VQ30 to VQ35 or what, but it seems to be a fairly common issue with non-HR VQ35's. Makes me want to go aftermarket on my build...