<VV> Engine building - bearing clearance

[Chris & Bill Strickland]

>You cannot put bearing shells of different thicknesses in the same journal.
>That will put side pressure on the crank and wear out the tighter
>bearing insert and possibly the crank journal itself and failure of the
>unit.
>

Agreed, that for us average Corvair folks, plastigauge is the tool of 
choice for *verifying* bearing clearances, after a careful measuring of 
the crank and selction of proper bearings.

But as for the above, wasn't it the factory that introduced mixed 
bearings shells into the Corvair engine building repertoire?  First, the 
single vertically offset bearing on #4 journal, then as more original 
engines were disassembled and found to have mismatched bearing sets, 
after many miles of satisfactory service, didn't it appear that this was 
some sort of standard factory practice? 

Bill Strickland