Another actual, substantive data point about County parts:
Hi Bob,
I rebuilt a spare engine for a friend of mine after his
original engine came apart twice. The first rebuild, by a race shop,
came apart after 200 miles when two County rod bearings came apart. The
bearing material slid off of the steel shell. They rebuilt it again with
two new rods and a different crank. 1800 miles later my friend showed up
at mine door with a bad oil leak at the real seal kit. Thinking the seal
had failed we pulled the gearbox to get at the seal and found the
crankshaft moving back and forth 3/8 of an inch. We pulled the pan and
found the County thrust washers in the oil pan. They turned out to be
very soft and wore quickly. The rear seal kit had been destroyed by the
movement of the crank as were the crank and the main webs from rubbing.
When we rebuilt the spare engine we used all Vanderville bearings, AE
pistons, and Payne gaskets and the engine has 15k miles on it now with
no issues. I think the County problem is a quality issue and the sources
they use to make parts. Some might be fine and others are crap. I might
use a County water pump in a pinch but, not County bearings made in Israel.
Wayne
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Bob Spidell San Jose, CA bspidell@comcast.net
'67 Austin-Healey 3000 '56 Austin-Healey 100M
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