Well, I just did mine laying on the garage floor in zero to 15 degree weather. I used a quilted pad and piece of cardboard as a thermal break for my back.

I recommend identifying and purchasing only the bearings that you actually need. Mine were not all the same. It was 6 and 2. The bearings are sold individually, but yes, the bearings for each individual connecting rod should be the same size - unless maybe when you Plastigauge them and they are out of spec.

I had great difficulty reading the codes on the crankshaft and moderate difficulty reading the codes on the con rods. Ultimately, I used a borescope that took photos to get the codes. I opted to install new OEM connecting rod bolts as well. I tore the bottom end apart after the fact to dothis given that my research suggested that torque to yield bolts were intended for one time use.

You will want some Plastigauge (green) to verify clearances. Use the old connecting rod bolts for this. You will also need some engine build lube. I formerly used a Permatex red engine lube, but eventually found that would "run out" if the engine sat for a time. Now I use a paste, Assemblee Goo by Lube Guard.

Before starting the engine, I pulled the plugs and the fuse for the fuel pump and spun the engine until the oil pressure light went off, indicating that I had good oil pressure.

 

"Well, I just did mine laying on the garage floor in zero to 15 degree weather."

Holy crap! Cold cement sucks the life out of you worse than anything. No matter: floor covers and heavy boots.

I hope your engine is dead-set reliable, now!

 

Hmmm. At my company, i once had the task to glue two parts together by hand (Stepper motor on a linear guide) with .03 mm height tolerance. A small dust spec wich you dont see and it´s toast...
Clean it, clean it, and if you think it´s clean, clean it again. With Dustfree lints and Acetone.

The bearing clearance is in the range of .03 mm in the F20C engine, if i remember correctly ?
So, when i read "Garage floor " and Plastigauge i am and think "maybe on a old engine from the 60s or on a engine wich i can buy cheap by the dozen at the local scrap yard, but on a F20C Engine? ... " I keep my fingers crossed for everybody!

I would pull the engine, dissasemble it, try to get the proper measurment tools, do it in a relly, really clean, dust free area and take my time. But that´s maybe my german genetic defect: To overthink mechanic things.

 

Thanks for this! You basically outlined my plan! I'll take your advice and only buy the bearings I need. I had planned to pull the fuel pump fuse but didn't think to pull the plugs at first start-up - will take this onboard.

I also plan to plastigauge the old/new bearings to see where they sit in the spec range specified in the owners manual.

How did your bearings look?

 

UPDATE

I have pulled the pan and attempted to obtain the codes and despite reading the manual, I am unsure.

Letters stamped on block near flywheel: CBCBC
Numbers on connecting rods: 3333
Does this mean (for connecting rods):
1. Green/Brown
2. Green
3. Green/Brown
4. Green
If the above is the case - I guess I best order 8 of each colour - How do I then decide between green and brown!?

Crank Counterweights (here is my confusion): XM1'Lambda' (this must be wrong!?) EDIT: I misinterpreted the manual and will need to grab all of the letters/numbers from the front counterweight.

My intention is to take note of the main bearing sizes since I'm under the car. For now however, I will be replacing the conrod bearings.

Condition - See photos of Cyl 3 and oil pan.
Note the black material at bottom of the pan. This was also on the conrod bolts when they came out - is this the top bearing layer?
I have only checked cyl 3 at this stage.


Cyl 3 crank photo - Not sure what to make of the "lines" and if these are from heat only. It is smooth to the touch.

Sump as soon as it came off. It had not been cleaned - note "black" residue.

First layer compromised in places - These probably came off at an opportune time. Note "black" film bottom left of bearing and where the rod bolt holes are. Noticed an odd smell when the bearing cap came off too. Could both of these factors have been caused by high fuel dilution, causing 'leeching' of the lead from the bearing? See slight pitting on bottom of photo too. *I only looked at the bottom bearing.

 

Do the marks catch a fingernail? Think of it like this: the gap between the bearing and the crank requires a smooth surface, and if there is a scratch in the crank that catches your nail, that can affect oil pressure. Some marks are normal as there is basically no oil pressure on startup which is when those marks are likely to occur. I think it's impossible for a crank to have no markings whatsoever if a car was driven normally. That'd actually be insanely impressive. I'm sure the technology may exist one day but for now I don't think it does.

For the rod bearings, you already caught it but you need the markings on the counterweight. Then you'll know what bearings you need.

 

Thank you!

Nope! Nothing catches the fingernail - Aiming to check the counterweight today

 

So I just pulled the letters/numbers off the counterweight - I couldn't believe how difficult it was to read the numbers - For anyone doing this job in the future, you will need to play with the angle of your torch. The numbers are on the front counterweight.

So I now have:
Crank Bore Code: CBCBC (No 5 to No 1)
*Main Journal: CCDD and 4453
Connecting Rods: 3333

* I can't quite work out which is cylinder 1 and which is cylinder 4 in the manual - I copied these down in order (left to right/passenger side to drivers side *rhd*)

Grateful if someone can help me verify bearing choice and position for mains and conrods.

EDIT:
Connecting Rods
Cyl 1: Brown
Cyl 2: Brown
Cyl 3: Black
Cyl 4: Black

Mains (not confident)

No 5 (thrust?): Brown/Black
No 4: Green/Brown
No 3: Brown/Black
No 2: Green
No: 1 ??

If someone could confirm I would be grateful!

 

There's 5 main journals, 4 rod journals. If your thrust washer is fine you can reuse it. If you want to replace it, the K series thrust washer is an upgrade.

 

So the number readings are weird. For the block codes, you read is left-to-right which is ordered back-to-front. When you read the crank codes, you read them left-to-right but they're listed front-to-back. So let's say your block codes are ABCDE and your crank codes are 12345. You would read it A5, B4, C3, D2, E1. This is confusing but this is what it states in the service manual.

> Crank Bore Code: CBCBC (No 5 to No 1)
> *Main Journal: CCDD and 4453
> Connecting Rods: 3333

So the block bore codes (CBCBC)--which you called the crank codes--and you got off the block near the flywheel, as stated in a previous post. That's the first set you need for the main journals.







Then, you have what you titled the main journal, but that should have two rows of numbers. One row has 4 (for the con rods) and one row has 5 (for the mains). See the image below for reference.


Then you have the con rod numbers, which are just 3333. That's easy. No problems there.

That said, you're missing a number. You only have 4 numbers for the mains. If you have 5, you can figure out what bearing color to get for the forward.

Hope that helps.