King Racing rod bearings for BBC - question

[ProPower engines]

Cut a new bearing tang notch in the rod on the other side.

That's what we were doing when Clevite 77s for Studebaker V8s were dropped from the catalog. We resized the rod big ends to SBC small journal dimension and cut new notches. At an AERA tech seminar, a Clevite engineer was there and I complained about them dropping Studes. He's the guy who said, "Just grind off the tangs. Many newer design engines are assembled by robots and the bearings don't have tangs. Tangs are only there for humans who assemble by feel. It's crush which locks the bearing in the rod."

Hi Jack, that's where the brgs are headed, no tangs. We spoke some time ago to Clevite (before Mahle took them over) about this and that's what they confirmed! Some brgs sold over-the-counter through the dealerships now have no tangs, Chrysler is one!

Over the years we've used the King line but feel much more comfortable still with Clevite's, we've had a number of the King's with no chamfers (see below) on a few BBC main sets. One involved a customer assembled build and he totally overlooked the "missing" chamfers, we found the issue upon freshen-up. Fortunately for both of us it didn't come back as a failure but the "loading" on the brg edges was readily apparent. This was a few years back and our first "red-flag" moment.

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. Even with respect to clearances AND fit we feel much better with the Clevites. With Mahle now in charge we foresee no decline in quality and don't expect any future issues. I do have a few of my customers do still want the King's only, it comes down to their choice! Here's a couple shots, bottom shows no noticeable chamfers, top shows "fit", left shell Clevite, right shell, King!

The king design also in the SI series seems to differ greatly compared to the XP series that is coated.
I have seen the differences you have shown but the SI series which is uncoated seems to be a bit wider and does not have the generous chamfer like the coated XP series bearings.

It is also worth noting the uncosted SI series HP bearings are a Bi-metal bearing where the XP coated bearings are tri-metal.

[PackardV8]

generous chamfer like the coated XP series bearings. . . are tri-metal.

The bearings under discussion here are CB808XPN and are $70-90 a set (less than I thought.)

So, I've got a choice between two on-the-shelf rod bearings: Clevite 77s made 11/72 or the King, made last month.

[ProPower engines]

generous chamfer like the coated XP series bearings. . . are tri-metal.

The bearings under discussion here are CB808XPN and are $70-90 a set (less than I thought.)

So, I've got a choice between two on-the-shelf rod bearings: Clevite 77s made 11/72 or the King, made last month.

King uses a CR prefix so are you referring to CR-808 XPN?

[PackardV8]

Yes, thanks for the correction.