Micro CoGen.

At the risk of breaching some sort of forum etiquette,  PLEASE RSVP status on this.

Thanks!!

  Well, you're right. Still tight along the parting line with a shim. Crappy photo,
but I think you can see it in the upper left.
 


The scotch brites I was thinking of are the gray ones for scuffing a car before painting.
I think there are white ones that are even finer.  Are those bad too? I would feel a lot more
comfortable with a scotch brite wrapped around a small piece of  2 and 7/16 ish 
ground/polished shaft. It might take me forever, but I don't think I would eff it up.

Thanks!

  Heres a pic of the shims I have.



  Some are steel, some are copper.  They all measure .005.  You can loosen the cap,
  slip them in and retorque. Real easy.  They do not engage the insert.

   Geno, is this what your shim looks like? Did you do anything to your
   dipper (cap end) to index the threads for the best engagement of the insert?

   Crofter, hand scraping bearings is one of those mystical processes that
   I always wanted to learn but never had the occasion to. I know
   this is a ridiculous subjective question but - Is it hard? Or would
   I plan on ruining a LOT of inserts first. The thought of scraping
   my brand new, hard to get, somewhat expensive bearings with
   a chisel, scares the hell out me.  Even after a bunch of pratice
   runs on junk. If you can do it, I am envious. Ever done a video?

  Heres what I think I know now:

  If Geno's shim looks like mine, I can safely install a 5 thou COPPER shim on one side.
  Anything more might turn a lack of crush into slop.

I may need to fit the dipper for best engagement by:

   turning the shoulder at the insert end
   removing material from the end to prevent the dipper from protruding into the insert too far

  I want it to be all BUT touching the hole in the insert.

  If its still a whisker tight (turns, but feels draggy) , scotch brite (thanks NoSpark) on
   a shaft built up with duct tape to taste.

I can't thank you all enough for helping me with this. I will definitely report on how it all works out.

Thanks!!

  Crank pin - 2.4985 - 2.499

  Big end  -  2.4965 - 2.497

  Crush: - .004 - almost .005 (measured by the loosen one side and feeler guage method)

  Locks up tight when torqued. One "stock" shim (.005) on one side fixes (well , it turns anyway)  pin/big end clearance but negates the crush (doesn't it?) as the shim material  is only between the cap and rod.

Thanks

  Thanks for the replies.  Heres what I think I know.

  The "stock"  shims are designed to NOT shim the bearing, just the cap, which kills the crush.
  Shims kinda suck as a solution to the problem anyway.
  I could make custom shims that would also engage the insert, but seems like the compression stresses between the cap/rod and insert/insert would be totally different causing uneven squishing of shims, cracking, breaking,  

  I can turn a shaft of the appropriate dimensions for a die(s) to lap with.
  There must be something that will cut the babbit but is soluble in lacquer thinner (or ) to remove the grit.

  If the babbit is too thin, I'm back to shims. Is there a definitive answer anywhere as to how thick the babbit is? Do you make shims that engage the bearing insert? OR use the dipper in the cap to pin the inserts and not worry so much about crush, OR Red Loctite, OR
  Again, what I THINK I know - -

  I'm hoping my bearing supplier chimes in soon. Surely he's dealt with this before.

  Thanks!!

  Hello,

  I'm fitting a new set of rod shells where crush is good (not great) but bearings are too tight. (verified by measurement)

  After studying all the options, I'm seriously considering simply lapping them to fit. I would start with paint polish.

  I only need a couple/few thou. Surely the babbit, if there is any, is thicker than that. Clean up with lacquer thinner

  Any input would be greatly appreciated.

  Thanks!