Crank-Shafted...!
Friday, September 25, 2009
I’ve had an ongoing issue with getting the right crank and bearings for my engine build.
I started with a 2001 block because I wanted to use the main bearing support plate, oil pan, and larger thrust bearings.
As I said in an earlier post, Mike at ABT located and ordered a remanufactured 2001+ crank. the crank arrived yesterday, and was not of the big thrust bearing type. Nuts.
Since I was still waiting for a few parts, I decided to try and source a local crank. Leos at Expolines auto had a 1999 crank, and offered to exchange it for the pitted crank (as I bought that entire block from him).
As it turns out, the 99-00 cranks are indeed different from the 01-05. I thought that all 99-05 cranks have the larger thrust bearing area, but they do not. I believed this because I had previously called Mazda Motorsports to inquire about the cost of a new 01 crank ($580!!), and verified that the part number for 99-05 cranks was the same. In hindsight, it appears that the new crank supersedes the old part number, which means that originally the 99-00 cranks did not have the crank but could use them (without the thicker washer).
The bottom line is that I am using the larger thrust bearings that fit the 01 block and the remanufactured crank, which has the smaller thrust bearing surface.
