That is a cool read. My current problem is still the balance shaft bearings being tight. I've put a second set in now. I even spent cash on a proper bearing installer. they went in cleanly. but are tight to turn and can barely do it by hand. thoughts? will they settle in or am I doing something wrong.

the clearance on the journals spec out. and the bearings are plenty loose outside the block but get tight when pressed in.

Before and after rebuild. ready to breathe new life in the old girl. should go in next week.

Canadian,
I'm probably going to do the same thing if I have to pull the engine do address the flywheel problem. Did you source your rebuild parts on RockAuto or did you use a kit? I've never done a 2.6 before. How did your bearings and crank look? Did you need oversized bearings?

James

This is my first full rebuild. I've freshened up 2 other gen 1s. I do get most of my parts from rock auto. I live on a border town and before COVID, I could ship to just across the border and drive to pick up for cheap.
my donor engine had 170k on it. all journals were within spec, so no oversized needed. I bought the rering kit from rock auto and various other parts. not the complete kit as I didnt change the pistons. the rings I also bought at stock sizing. hardest part was putting in new balance shaft bearings, a very steady hand and 90 bucks worth of messed up bearings later.....
I debated doing the balance shaft delete but after much research here I've decided it was best to leave stock.I was leary because I'm sure a slipped silent shaft chain is what took out my last engine.

also splashed out of a weber carb kit. kinda expensive on the north side of the border but I'm eager to throw out all my vacuum lines.

let me know how yours goes

Sheldon

My recollection on the BS bearings is that they are one-piece. I say that, as I recall being surprised that they weren't two-piece. I don't have direct experience rebuilding the 2.6.

One key question for you is why is this the third round? What has gone wrong in the past? Usual consensus has been that if the cooling system is well maintained, and if the timing/BS chains are periodically retensioned, the engine is pretty solid.

Well, my first 2.6 blew a head years ago before I knew anything about them. The second one was a refresh that skipped a balance shaft and blew apart, this is my third engine just rebuilt. Hopefully the last lol.
I put 150 miles on just did an oil change and now that things are broken in a little I started swapping in the weber.
[img]https://flic.kr/p/2jXbx6T[/img]
[img]https://flic.kr/p/2jXg37E[/img]

Finally finished. Should have put a weber on years ago. And since I've never been able to figure out how to embed pics. They're attached below