360 Main Crank Engine Bearings - Out of Production?

Hi, This may not work for the 360 but it is available for the 430..attached below is the status at eurospare's.
May be a worth your time to see if they will cross reference.
https://www.eurospares.co.uk/Parts/195307/Ferrari/New/53309
195307-upper
200194-lower

 

https://www.superformance.co.uk/360/eg.html

 

Where I live (France), a few companies do make custom bearings. I had a positive experience with Embiellage Collector. I would assume that some companies do offer a similar service in your area?

 

All the rod and main bearing sizes from 250 to 360 with the possible exception of V6 and flat 12 are the same size. There will be some differences in oil grooves, oil holes and on late bearings possibly different champfer for bearing radius. Point is something from 328,348, 355 will fit.
Rods from 250 to 348 are interchangeable and will also fit 355 but are steel. The 360 has a bigger wrist pin and is otherwise same as 355. The tools for measuring and repairing the main bearing housing is the same from 250 to 360.

 

If there need to be a few modifications to get oil holes to line up. It's not too difficult. I ran into a similar problem rebuilding a Countach engine years ago. I used Espada bearings and drilled a few holes. The car has been fine for 23 years since.

 

Holes and grooves are not a barrier.

And I should say I am not sure of the sizes of 456/550/575 bearings. on V12 from 250 to 365 all the same. V8 308 to 360 same as above.

 

I’ve given up on Superformance. Their service is hit & miss, you never really know if they will fulfil your order when you check out & pay. Sometimes you only discover this days later when the order arrives but missing some of what you thought you’d ordered. They have poor communication and information, and to crown it all, their prices are in-line with OE pricing, yet you often get grey box pattern parts without that being clear on their website (eg. they use Ferrari part numbers). They used to be much, much better, but now I don’t bother with them at all.

 

I just discovered in the last couple of days
A. Global shortage of 360 main bearings. No one has them.
B. The 355 and 360 crank is drilled very differently than earlier cranks. If any earlier bearings are used it will reduce oil flow to the rod bearings and cause advanced wear. It will also cause trouble with some of the mains. There is a way to mix and match but there are no intermediate lower half shells available, I am going to be exploring getting the wider front/rear half shells and have them machined down to the correct width. The barrier here is we need non grooved shells. I had never paid attention to the completely different oil passage drilling in the 355/360 cranks until now.

 

What happens in a case like this? It would have been a big bearing supplier right? If one found the correct one would they be able to make a set and not stamp it with a Ferrari part number? So it’s similar to the F131 family but different, same supplier for the whole run?

 

Maybe you can contact one of these guys.....

 

Ferrari invariably gets a contract with suppliers of parts like this for exclusive rights. Do you really think they'll violate a golden goose contract to sell a few hundred dollars worth of bearings? You're kidding right? They'll lose that contract and get sued and lose everyone else too because they cannot be trusted. Ya, sure, they'll do that for you. I have an in at Mahle and asked about Ferrari pistons. It was a conversation they simply were not going to have. Maranello Classic Parts will get more made when by their standards there is enough interest.

Ferrari sells engine bearings ala carte. Right now I am figuring out how to mix and match from different motors what shells I need to buy but for the intermediate lowers I will need to buy wider shells and machine off 2 or so millimeters in width and maybe drill a hole.

 

I have no experience with Ferrari engine bearings. If I had to make a wild guess, I would think they probably work closely with Mahle or maybe Clevite back in the day.

I like Brian's idea of machining off part of some other bearing and making something home brew. Are you using Bi or Tri metal stuff for that? Tri-metal is getting harder and harder to find (next to impossible now as far as I know).

Ray

 

Old Tri-metal was lead-indium on steel backing. New stuff is environmentally friendly aluminum. When Mahle swallowed up Clevite many bearing parts numbers went away. Even Packard bearing were available before the merger.

On many modern engines undersize are not available. This includes engines in current production. The engines are disposable.

 

Yeah, I had a heck of a time finding .020" over Tri-Metal bearings for my last motor. Found some NOS, but couldn't find enough shells to dial in the oil clearances to where I wanted. I ended up using some of the newer Bi-Metal Clevite bearings in the end. As you say above there, the shift to environmentally friendly aluminum has made the Tri Metal stuff a thing of the past.

Ray

 

So..basicly..don't blow up your 360 engine.

 

Is re-using old bearings an option? It wouldn't be my first choice. Just curious.

 

Just leaving a comment to follow the thread. Had a slight dip in oil pressure (still within low end of tolerances) and luckily the bearings I needed, and fixed the issue, were available. But I was told about this issue and am concerned naturally. There has to be a solution somewhere because you don't just throw away a car over bearings...

 

Someone needs to reach out to Embiellage on this as they have made production runs at the request of others. I forget what the minimum batch order is for the run though, I want to say it's around 100 sets. Sounds like the market needs this though

https://www.embiellage-collector.com/en/290-ferrari

 

I needed outsized bearings, which they custom made for me, so I am pretty sure they made a single set. The order was organized by my machinist. As far as I remember there were quite some exchanges about the oil ports, grooves and tabs (or whatever it was). In the end it's my machinist who trimmed the part upon reception.

Not sure if what I just wrote is perfectly clear, but as long as they were discussing with a professional that was capable of refinishing the part, I got my one-off (no minimal order).

You can get in touch with Paul Malezieux ( [email protected] +33 (0)3.25.72.13.24 )

 

That is fabulous news. I know at least one parts supplier orders from them in bulk, very happy to hear they will make a set! I can confirm quality is outstanding having used 2 sets in Maserati engines to date.

 

Depends on the condition of the bearings and what oil clearances you are aiming for. Also depends on if you are machining the journals, mains, etc.

The short answer is probably not. But then again, if you are dealing with a motor which has seen super low miles and has always had great oil pressure, anything is possible.

Technically, the oil wedge between the bearing and the journal is supposed to prevent metal to metal contact (har har).

Ray

 

I've also got a 360 engine apart and will need main bearings soon. I've just visually compared a new set of 355 main bearings (aftermarket) to the ones taken out of the 360 engine and they look identical. Obviously I need to do some proper investigation but the overall dimensions, grooves (or lack of), tabs and holes seem to be there.

 

Good day,

Read Rifledriver's post above... post #10, as he details the difference between the 355 and the 360 bearings/crank.

Cheers,

Sam