Which Main Bearing Set?
 

With regards to Main Bearings: is there a GOOD reason not to buy the Glyco main bearing set for ~$900 LESS than the OEM Porsche set???

As offered by our host here:

Main Engine Bearings

I mean, I'd like to support Pelican, but if there are other mid range alternatives then I'd like to hear them to make a good choice balancing quality and price.

Also, #8 doesn't come with... Is this a replace the O ring and go or just bite another $X00 on the old budget line?

Best regards,

Michael

not 100% sure, but glyco manufactures bearings for Porsche too.........

this are good products...

I've used the Glyco on 2 engines now with good result. I don't see a problem with them. I've been able to reuse my #8 bearing on the engines I've rebuilt.

-Andy

I've used the Glyco bearings in many engines including a highly-stressed 9000 RPM 2 liter and my 3.3L race engine. Teardown showed nominal wear. I use them without concern.

NO reason not to use them.

Cheers

I think they are the same exact thing...

-Wayne

Excellent! :D

-m

Ok, sorry to open an old thread but Im wondering if people still feel the same after a few years.

Ive used the Glyco for 30 years. Once its running and has a sheet of oil on it your bearing is supporting the oil, then the crank. What spec would change because of the embossed Porsche Number on it?
Bruce

Thanks for the reply Bruce. What about the stories of having to sort through sets of them to get all correct size or good ones? Maybe that isnt this brand though.

For the money we pay for the mains, the supplier to the factory, if quality is an issue it could cost the reputation of the company.
Bruce

Were I more adept at this, I'd post the reference to a more or less current discussion here about just this. The assertions were that quality control may have slipped. Factory GT3 bearings as substitutes or something? A search will find it easily. It started with a teardown of a fairly fresh engine, with bearings showing crosswise striations or washboarding (apparently, per the photos). A heavy hitter or two joined in with experience based opinions. The rest of us scratched our heads, wondering what this might meanfor us.

Me, I just send my not yet installed rod bearings to Calico after hearing that, for coating.

One engine builder of good repute likes undergrinding cranks so he can use Clevite bearings. Stronger steel backings? Less ovality? Can be purchased coated?

Hard to keep up with things - Carillo rods had some issues at one point? And they were the gold standard of hot rod engines short of factory titaniums.

Thanks Walt and Fleiger. I had watched that thread before. I am going to use GT3 Rod bearings but I am having a real hard time with the $500 (rough guess) diff between glyco and OE Porsche supplied. That said, $500 isnt much relative to the money I will have in my motor but it still is enough to warrant investigation. Does anyone have info on this "Calico" company or somewhere that does this coating? In the end, I will probably just get them all from Porsche. I think that I would stay up at night second guessing myself. That said, I buy all the parts possible from Wayne whenever possible.

Ok, I found info on Calico if anyone is interested (no affiliation etc):
ceramic coatings, teflon coatings, thermal coatings solutions with Calico Coatings
Maybe this is the hot ticket to use if you buy the glycos?

Calico is great to deal with. Send your bearings, you get them back coated in under a week, plus or minus.

One wants to be careful here with tolerances, though. If you have a crank whose diameters are at the upper end of the tolerance (as if new, for instance), you'd want to be careful that coating your bearings wasn't going to make things too tight.

I think Calico would control coating thickness, if asked, but haven't asked. My cranks have all been well worn and at the lower end of the scale, so I haven't worried for my motor. A slightly smaller bearing ID is a plus for that.

The expensive coated bearings one can purchase off the shelf no doubt have had this taken into account so that the resultant is at "standard" to begin with.

These coatings aren't thick, but neither are they zero. Maybe they are close enough to zero as not to matter?

Does anyone have some before and after pics of coated DFL bearing? I'm curious if it truly stays or if it is kinda sacrificial like the break in coatings for piston skirts.

t