Aurelia Bearings

[Norbert Dybus]

I'm rebuilding a B12 2,3 litre engine (along with the car). It was already seized in 1973 which is the earliest
information I have.

I have already replaced the pistons by good quality Kolbenschmidt Lada ones. They have +1mm as standard
and are otherwise identical.

Now I'm looking for better and more easily obtainable main and big end bearings. My crankshaft is in good condition and still in standard size.
Has anybody done this before?
I want to have the engine rebored (the crankshaft axis) so I need a bigger outer diameter for the main bearings.
I have found contemporary Isuzu ones which have the correct sizes +- 1 mm in width,
+ 2/10 mm in outer diameter and some 1/100 + in inner diameter.
Only the little locating 'noses' are on the wrong side.

The same for the big end bearings. Alfa 2.0 big ends fit exactly in inner size and according to my measuring nearly in outer diameter.
I have no 'official' measurement for this.
I did the same with my 1.6 Fulvia. I used Saab bearings after a tip from the LMC and had no problems after 25000 km.
And I had the crankshaft axis rebored (although with std Fulvia bearings which meant machining the mounting blocks).

Is this reasonable? Or madness? Or sacrilege?

Happy Easter.
Norbert

[walt spak]

Norbert,

In all of the Aurelia engines that I have restored, I have never found one that needed to have the main journals align bored. Perhaps your block requires it. If so, you can machine the cap mating surface to make the hole smaller and thern rebore to the original size. I do this with connecting rods on every engine.

I have had no trouble getting bearing sets from Italy, so why not use them.

Walt

[Parisien]

Norbert, are you still on this forum or indeed still have your B12?

P