R1 - Main and rod bearing size ?

I am in the process of rebuilding an '00 engine and I have a question about the sizes and color coding of the main and rod bearings. I have been advised to use a bearing size slightly smaller than the R1 Service Manual formula indicates to provide a "loose" fit, as this engine is for race only application. The Service Manual indicates 4 color coded bearings in sequence of sizes as follows: -1 violet 0 white 1 blue 2 black 3 brown My questions is, if the Service Manual formula sizes a "1 blue" bearing and I want to a loose fit, do I use a "0 white" or "2 Black" bearing. Thanks, Joe

I am fairly sure that they are numbered from smallest to largest (that is thinest to thickest). It does not say for sure in the service manual, but I feel certain I have read it somewhere. Meaning if it calls for a "1 blue", using a "0 white" will provide more clearance and theoretically less drag. You could also get the properly sized bearings and wipe off the babbet layer to get the clearance a bit larger.

That's what I figured. We'll measure when the parts arrive. Thanks, Joe

Apologies for jumping on this thread months later, but it is the most relavent thread I have found. Does anyone know what the size difference between the coloured shells are? ie. white to blue = 1 ...............But 1 what?????

the difference is very small between them , its not stated in the manual , its less then few thousands of a millimeter.

With the money it cost to rebuild and engine, is it worth it when you can pick one up for around 1000.00????

depending on how good the rebuilder is, yes. Bearings are an interesting thing - by taking your fingernail and scratching the flashing from the surface, you've just gone down a size - thousandths of a millimeter is really, really small! I've only personally rebuilt 2-stroke engines, but have gone through four Skyline GT-R engine builds. Learning more each time, I've finally gotten it. When it comes to bearings, at the end of the day the plastigage tells you what your clearances are (and ultimately dictate the oil thickness you can use). It's also well worth it to balance everything - rods, pistons, piston pins, anything moving. If you're anal enough, you'll end up with an engine that's better than factory.

u need to check both cases and crank to get letters off them. then correspong cross in book to get color. and yes difference between colors is like 1/2 thousandth or so.

where is the best place to buy ROD BEARINGS? I only see 4 sizes of bearings and I do not believe the fingernail scratch theory. The lines in the crank are not far from each other and the lines determine which color bearing size you will need. p.s. it appears you will need standard bearings almost 100 percent of the time unless you ran out of oil and has to get your crank resurfaced

The engine in question has been run in a race car appliation for over 1 year with no issues in oiling (I'm running a dry sump system). Mains bearings were sized 1 size larger than stock. I run Mobil 1 for MC Joe http://members.rennlist.org/orchardpump/Cheetah%20at%20Jefferson-2.JPG