No, this is not normal. Loosen them one at a time to see if you can find a tight one. Then leave that one loose and retighten the others that you loosened and recheck easy turning.This makes sure there is only one too tight.
Also once you can turn the crank, turn it 180 deg from where it is now.Retighten bolts. See if it turns free for a 1/4 to 1/2 turn. If it does, you probally have two caps mixed up, or possible bent crank.
Those where quick checks without having to pull out the measuring tools.
If no clues where given from above, your going to have to mic each bearing and journal. Sometimes they mix a wrong bearing in a box. And sometimes a line bore job causes more trouble then what you started with.
Right now I'm guessing mixed up caps or a cap on backwards.
Can happen to anyone.

 

I will go out on a limb here, did you make sure the main caps were pointed in the right direction? Were the main caps marked before the engine was torn down? The main caps have a small arrow cast into them. The arrow cast into the main cap should point toward the front of the engine block (timing chain). If the main caps were not marked at the tear down, it's still possible to figure which main cap should go where. With the crankshaft and main bearings removed, install the middle main caps torqued to spec. Check / feel the mating points of both half circles. There should be a nice smooth mating between the top main cap and the block. It's possible you might have to swap a couple main caps to get the right combination. It's only takes one main cap that is out a couple thousands to make the crank tight! Then again you should only need to check the main caps if they were not marked during the tear down.
dave

 

Another thing, since it has been line bored. It is not the orignal position of the caps that matters now, but rather the position of the caps when it was bored. Hopefully the shop had them in the orignal position when they did the job, but you can never tell what a machine shop can do.

 

I checked the direction of the caps, but didnt take them off yet. They are all in the right direction. If I do find one or tow that dont match up, would it have hurt the crank or bearings being tightned down like that? If I put my crank and bearings in another block and the crank spins freely than I know there is something in my new block, right? I have a 305 block, when I took the pistions and rods out of it the crank turned easily.
Is line boreing really often required? The first block I sent to the shop hadent spun any main bearings, but they said it would need line bored. didnt really make sense to me.
Thanks,
Mike

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Checking the bearings and crank in the 305 block is a good idea. It's more common to line "hone" blocks. Line boring is not as common. Line boring will remove about .010" metal from the main bearing caps, then the main caps are bored. Line boring will move the crankshaft closer to the the camshaft. Line boring a block will require a special undersize timing chain and gear set to correct the new line bored closeness of the crank and cam. Line honing will not remove much metal from the main caps, then the main caps are honed. It's common to line bore a block when the main caps are donated from another block. Seems it's common for some people to loose the main caps to there block, then a machine shop will need to line bore the mains to get the mix match of mains caps and block correct.
dave

 

I pulled the crank and bearings out and torqued the caps back on the block. When you run your finger around you can feel a place on each cap but the rear one where they meet the block. When you do this to the 305 you can feel none at all on any of them. the #2 cap is the worst. If I switch #2 and #3, you can still feel it, but not as bad. Is any "lip" at all acceptable? The rear upper bearing half also does not fully line up with the oil hole. It does on the 305 however. If it was line bored wold this be a problem? Also, if it was line bored, and the crank was closer to the cam, wouldnt it also be closer to the deck surface too? Do you have to wory about the pistions traveling too far up in the cylinder (speed pro hypertectic 17cc dish). Any Ideas on what to do??
I need at least 5 years of daily driving out of this engine (1st year of college).
Thanks a million for the help so far!
Mike

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At this point I would carry that block down to the machine shop and let them look at it.
It sounds like a very poor job to me.Or they just had the caps in a different order.
This is why I don't like line boring. It takes a very knowledgable machinist. And the SBC rarely needs it.
If it is a bad job and they say they have to recut it, I would consider scrapping and starting fresh. Two cuts could lead into more trouble, especially if the deck was cut.
I would go with your instinct here, if you are feeling uncomfortable with a part of a job, then there is probally something wrong.
I would hope if the shop did do a poor job that they will do whatever it takes to correct it.
Keep us posted to what you find.

 

I re-arranged the caps so the "lip" isns as bad. But on all but one or two of the seams can you run your finger across and not feel anything. The ones that arent perfectly aligned have a lip that is still big enough to snag up a finger nail. The rods rod caps meet with no noticable seam, as do the mains of my 305. Im going to call several shops tomorrow and get other opnions as well before I go back to the one that did the work. Kinda makes you wonder what kind of balancing job they did? Do you guys have anything else to add. Am I correct in assuming that there should be absolutely no feelable seam where they meet?
Thanks,
Mike

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In your case the joint should appear seamless. Being they are the orignal caps.
I did do a big block once where I took 4 bolt caps off a block I didn't care to use, and installed them on a 2 bolt case. Since there was a slight lack of meat doing it this way,a couple of the joints didn't appear to line up perfect.
But it worked just fine. This was a 8000 rpm race engine,and never had a bearing failure.
But like I said, in your case they should have come out perfect.

 

I agree, the joint between the main cap and block should be seamless. I've had some blocks that I was able to catch a finger nail on, but the crank would turn freely. I would not use a block that had a less than perfect seamless fit for a daily driver. If it was an engine that was for weekend fun, that would be a different decision all together. I will say that getting a crankshaft with all the correct bearing clearances is no doubt the most important part of the engine building process. I don't mean to say that the other critical engine part clearances are not important. It's just that for long engine life and good oil pressure the crank has to be correct with all the clearances. If a piston is off by plus .001", the engine will run and most likely not even smoke out the exhaust. If a main journal is off by plus .001" the engine just lost 15 PSI of oil pressure, if a main journal is minus .001" there's a very good chance of spinning out a bearing. I usually shoot for .0018" clearance on main bearing, then after a few thousand miles, the clearance will grow to about .002" which is going to help make an engine last a very long time with regular oil changes.
dave

 

Very good point dave.

 

Update:
I took the block to a diffrent machiene shop today. I showed two of the guys what I had. They felt them, then measured it with a telescoping gauge and caliper, and some other long tool with a dial? They said the seam was OK since it was so small and the mains checked out to be within acceptable limits (what ever that is).SO I am guessing that the caps got out of order somehow, thats why the crank wouldnt turn at all. After re-arangeing them it will turn if you push on a rod journel with tow fingers. Im going to talk to the shop that did the work tomorrow and tell them what I have (not going to tell them that it was their work at first) and see if they say it is acceptable. If so then Im going to go ahead and start building it I guess. And I found the tag that came with the block. It was line honed, not bored.
Another question...what does line honeing do for a block? Does it just help hold in the bearings in? Would a block like the 305 that I cant feel any seams need it?
Thanks for all the help! If all goes well Ill post back and let you know how good it runs in a couple weeks!
Mike

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Line honing is to get the main journals round again. As the crank spins, there is some twisting action. The twisting action of the crank can cause the main journals to go out of round. It's only a small about, usually measured by the .0010" scale. The main caps sometimes will not sit flush with the block, so a little material is removed from the main cap to make the main cap flat again. Then a light hone will make the main cap round after the main cap is flat. Here in the rainy Northwest, blocks are often cleaned with a hot oven to bake the rust off the blocks, including the inside of the block as well. The heat of 500 degrees will tend to warp the mains some, so it's common practice to line hone the mains after the block has be oven cleaned.
dave

 

I called the shop that did the work and told the owner what I had. He said there should be absolutely no seam if It came from his shop. Im going to take it to him tomorrow. Its good that they are makeing right on thier work, but if it is going to take any longer Im going to have to put a new clutch in real soon (tomorrow). Im going to have to atleast drop the T-case anyway to put a gasket between the tranny and T-case. If I put the newly ballanced clutch and flywheel on the curent motor, shouldnt it be OK to switch the clutch and flywheel to the rebuilt one when it is done?

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