Does anyone have any experiance with oversize thrust washers for the 308? Basically, I must have buggered up when I put my engine together and put my thrust washers in back to front. When I went to change my oil and do the sump baffle mod i found my thrust washers on the bottom of my oil pan. The engine is now out and in pieces. The end float measurement is way beyond limits of the only oversize thrust washer size that the manual gives. So I'm curious to know has anyone else screwed up as royally as me and what did you do about it? Did you get extra oversize washers made up, have the crank rewelded, machined and heat treated or did you get a new crank and start again? Any other ideas? I'll be off to the expert machinists I know as soon as silly season is over to get their opinions on what to do but I'm interested in hearing other stories or opinions as well.
You need to be sure the crank is where it belongs. I see absolutely no problem with an oversize washer and that is what I would do, as long as the wear problem is on the surfaces the washer touches....you don't want to be shimming the crank out of position and drive the connecting rods crooked.
308 cranks come up on eBay every so often. They dont sell for much because there are quite a few more cranks than motors these days. I seen one that didnt sell for even $100 a while back. I would buy another crank and start over rather than risk it. Price around the various vendors of used parts and see what they offer. And I second what Mark said, make sure the crank is in proper position and hasnt distorted the rods or that it has not damaged the block.
