forevaford

iTrader: (2)

just about to buy bearing shells for my 430 bhp cosworth yb build, which do you think are best, the acl race shells or genuine cosworth ones??
thanks guys for any advice
mart

cossie4i+

iTrader: (15)

You can't go wrong with genuine ones

Steve

forevaford

iTrader: (2)

u think so?
cheers

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

ACL are the choice of many on here; but i have no experience of them so cannot really comment about the choice between the 2

forevaford

iTrader: (2)

just as good as each other iexpect

t4 and greys

iTrader: (5)

personally only ever used/and will use acl,s .... havnt personally used the acl race ,but always used there duraglide bearings !!

oh and built a few engines now aswell and have never spun a shell either!!

in all honesty i just preferr them over the oe bearings.... as have seen a few on oe with spun shells ..

also worth noting in all honesty it depends on the monkey fitting them , i see so many people building bottom ends without even crush testing the shells first or plastigauging them also
then come crying when its spun a shell and took out rod and crank
funny really

Grov789

Sorry to resurrect an old topic

Bearings is a surprisingly complex subject. Most people assume that "tri-metal" bearings are the best to use (and in fairness they normally are) but there are at least two different sorts of tri-metal bearings, cast or sintered - cast bearings have a higher load bearing capacilty than sintered. Then there is the subject of the bearing slide layer which is even more complicated - and thats before you get into the the eccentricity and overstand measurements!

If anyone wants any information on bearing materials and there construction, feel free to PM / mail me - don't want to witter on here.

forevaford, your local to me mate, I'm down in K'ford

Yura

Grov, what can you say about ACL Race?

Grov789

Yura, I know a few people on here use and rate the ACL race bearings and I'm not going to knock their opinions as they know the YB engine inside out.

What I will say is that ACL race bearings are a sintered material, the original YB bearings are cast - cast bearings are stronger. ACL race bearings also use a pretty standard lead / tin / copper overlay material which isn't great for high performance as it has to use a nickel layer between the overlay and the substrate. This isn't a problem unless the overlay layer wears through - and as it's only 15 microns thick on the ACL bearings (20 microns is the original specification) it only takes a momentary oil starvation problem for this to happen and then your crank is running on nickel which isn't great.

This isn't my opinion, the info is taken from a engineering report I have a copy of that was done by one of mahles F1 engineers. I don't want to post the report publicly, but if anyone wants a copy pm me your email address and I'll send it to you.

BigErn

I usually use Glacier Vandervell bearings from GGR. Not had a problem with them.

Grov789

The Vandervell shells are quality and are cast, but I think they are standard pinto shells? Don't think Vandervell ever sold the YB shells except to OE? Don't know the exact difference, just the number on the shells was different. I think the pinto is a grooved lower main and the YB plain?

Vandervell bearings are no more, bought by and rebranded to mahle.

LHD220Turbo

iTrader: (4)

very good info there!

what would you recommend?

Grov789

My opinion is the OE bearing is a better option than ACL, assuming the OE bearings are still made in the ex Vandervell facility. I've had a quick look at mahle who now own vandervell and they are not showing bearings for the YB on their web catalogue so I'm assuming the vandervell that are being sold are pinto bearings and not YB.

I can't find an online catalogue for vandervell, but did turn up a website stating that vandervell / mahle do produce YB bearings sold as mahle motorsport.... which I've not seen before. If you search for vandervell bearings its one of the first sites.

I'll see what info I can dig up on these next week from a mahle distributor.

james kiely

iTrader: (5)

great bit of info mate ,keep it coming


cheers james

forevaford

iTrader: (2)

hey Grov789, thanks for this interesting info, i did go for genuine cosworth ones in the end, and so far so good (with some hard driving).
kford is verry near to me. thanks for this info, keep it up.
do you have your own companie? maybe i could vissit?
mart

Grov789

hey forevaford,

glad the bearings are holding up No, I don't have my own business mate, just an unhealthy interest in anything that uses petrol and has either two or four wheels

I'll try and get some more info next week from a mahle distributor I know.

forevaford

iTrader: (2)

u seem to have the same interests as me regarding petrol, 2 or 4 wheels. iv lost count with the amount of cars and bikes i actually have now, wooops..
good stuff Grov789

MAHLE

Guys, as you can see I work for MAHLE in the UK with responsibilty for MAHLE Group engine components in the UK, as well as Victor Reinz gaskets. One of our distributors has asked that I look in here and rather than pass information back thought we may as well contribute! Me or one of my colleagues will try to answer any questions you have about our products, but please keep it to product questions!

The information already posted is pretty accurate, MAHLE now own Vandervell bearings and Vandervell produced the OE bearings for the YB in a cast lead / copper material. Vandervell YB bearings have not been catalogued in the past, although the pinto big end bearings are identical in all dimensions and as such are completely interchangable. The shell number is different only because Vandervell supplied the pinto part to Ford and the YB part to Cosworth, hence different drawings were required as the OE markings were different. Note that not all companies pinto bearings are lead copper and most are not cast but sintered.

The main upper bearings are identical to standard pinto parts, the lower main bearing is plain rather than grooved. A plain lower bearing will have a higher load capacity than a grooved bearing - think of it like a F1 tyre with the grooved tread designed to cut through water, where as a slick tyre aquaplanes. With bearings aquaplaning is good otherwise a seized crank results! As the groove disrupts the oil film, it also increases the pressure.

We have a project running which is manufacturing aftermarket high performance bearings in our race unit in the UK (think F1 and you get the idea) and these are currently in the process of being launched with some pretty cool features no other bearing company uses that are transferred straight from the track. These bearings will use a proprietary alloys developed for racing and use a lead / indium overlay material for better fatigue strength and conformability. They will be available from all normal MAHLE / Vandervell distributors in the very near future.

Hope this clears up any confusion, rather than adding to it.

Regards,
MAHLE UK

Yura

MAHLE, thanks, when it will be approximately? because I need it now ))

MAHLE

Hello Yura,

YB bearings should be finding their way into distributors now at standard size, 0.25mm undersize will be available within a week. These have been produced with a "racing notch" which does not show in the bearing face to prevent disruption to the oil film. We use this style of notch extensively in racing bearings - I'd include a picture, but I can't seem to add attacments to posts.

You will need to purchase from a UK distributor (there are a few on here) as these items are UK only currently as my colleagues in Europe think there is no demand for these items.

Regards,
MAHLE UK

Matt Lewis

iTrader: (2)

Id go with Mahle Motorsport Bearings

Matt

Yura

please, who is your distributor in UK?

MAHLE

Yura, MAHLE have our own warehouse in the UK for distribution to various companies. We cannot recommend one distributor over another, but there are certainly people active on these forums who can supply - basically any of the regularly recommended suppliers here will be able to supply our Motorsport bearings.

Regards,
MAHLE

Yura

I tried to ask Matt, but no answer ((

RS2000CUSTOM

Matt do you no longer sell the ACL Race bearings ?


I am based in Wednesbury - does the Mahle Bilston office have a trade counter ?

MAHLE

I am based in Wednesbury - does the Mahle Bilston office have a trade counter ?[/quote]

Hi RS2000CUSTOM,

sorry, we do not have a trade counter as we only sell to distributors who hold accounts with us.

Kind regards,
MAHLE

paddyrs

bttt