New bearings - second reassembly - problems?
 

Hello Everyone,

This forum was a fantastic source of information for me and helped me successfully complete a full rebuild on my 3.2 (which has been running great for over a year now).

I am now on to another Porsche engine project and I was hoping to get some advice:

In this case, the engine is a 2.5 L 4 from a 1987 944S. The 944 series blocks are all Alusil. Originally I was going down the road of leaving the bores untouched. I had subsequently re-assembled the motor with new main and rod bearings (and all sorts of other new parts). However, I have since had a chance of heart, and I plan to have the block machined to accept the 0.5 mm oversize pistons Porsche provides for these engines (I have found a machine shop that is experienced with work on Alusil).

My question is this:

When I put this engine back together the second time, can I keep the same new main and rod bearings that I had already installed the first time, or is there some risk? I recall someone opining that the bearing shells slightly crush when assembled and if taken apart and put back together, they may not fit as perfectly?

Thank you for looking!
Allan

You will be fine reusing the bearings. Make sure you tag them so they go back in the same place. It's no different than assembling the bearings to check clearances with Plastigauge and taking them back apart.

Thanks Rod, that makes sense to me, although the one difference here is I will also be removing the shells (which you would not do with Plastiguage)... Still though, I think your logic would still hold...