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Plastigauge not popular anymore?

J

JDemaris

Well-known Member
I got a surprise this morning. I finally ran out of Plastigauge (for measuing engine bearing clearances). I don't think I've actually bought any new for 40 years. Always had lots of it laying around. A little bit lasts a long time.

So, I've got a Ferguson TO35 apart and I'm feeling cheap. I had to pull the sleeves out due to coolant leaking into the oil pan. But the main bearings look fine (Continental Z134 gas engine).
Normally I'd just stick new ones in, but for $50-$60 a set, I want to use the old ones as long as they're as tight as they ought to be.

I went down to NAPA and asked for Plastigauge, and the counter guy gave me the deer-in-the-headlights look. He had no idea what I was talking about. So, I searched through his engine parts book and found it. No longer stocked and no longer available through NAPA.

So, I then went to Advance Auto and got the same response.

Now I'm wondering, what the heck do people use now to check main bearings when the crank is still in there? Or, isn't it popular to check anymore? Rods I can mike pretty easy, but not the mains when sitting in a main-saddle.

I looked around on-line and found several places selling it - but none available locally at big auto parts stores.

Years back, we'd often use special .001 or .002 undersize bearings for tractors with slightly worn cranks. Some came right from Deere Co. We had to use Plastigauge to be sure. Now ???

I guess now I'll have to order on-line and wait. But, it makes me wonder what local shops are doing if nobody wants this stuff anymore? If it was still being used, I suspect the autoparts stores would have it.
 
it still comes with crank kits from my jobber in Houston...i havent tried to buy any seperately either...all the throw away mentality...it dont surprise me counter guy didnt have a clue...i wont do biz with a parts house that dont have a rack of OLD parts manuals and a OLD guy that knows how to read em...hope they outlast me.
 
I imagine it's one of the side effects of living in a society where even relatively big ticket things are becoming disposable. I can't think of anyone I know who has rebuilt an engine in their vehicle. Most of them last for 250-400000 Km anyway, after which the rest of the vehicle is toast. Anyone who knows enough to need it can find it and everyone else wouldn't know that they need it. That said it's common practice where I work to replace main/rod bearings without measuring anything, just replace them by part numbers and gauge the need to replace on visual wear. Sam
 
My NAPA store had some a short time ago i will check to make sure i dont run out if thats the case. Im confused on "undersized" bearings when the crank wears you need oversized correct. Same way when the crank is ground you need oversized to make up the diff when material is removed.
 
checked with my local NAPA in western ny,they have it in stock.think I may pick some up just to have it on hand. bill m.
 
I think you will see the "deer-in-the-headlights" look whenever you have a counter man who is under 30. Locally, the stuff is stocked at the knowledgeable parts stores, but not the chain stores that fight for the "guaranteed cheapest prices".
 
NOT this again!

Look at it ANY way YOU want, but the industry calls them "UNDERSIZED" bearings.

When the crank wear/is ground smaller you need bearings with a SMALLER bore in them, hence "UNDERSIZED", just the opposite of a cylinder bore worn/bored larger needing an OVERSIZED piston/rings.
 
For most of the chain parts stores, rebuilding is not on the radar - they might sell you a new engine in a box, but that's as close as they get to "rebuilding" these days.

You need a non-chain or small chain store to get real stuff, or you need to order it from the internet. Same thing with cylinder hones, etc...
 
Something like an .002" has a bearing wall that is overthick and creates a round hole that is undersized i.e. the hole is a smaller diameter then the original.

Many companies used to sell bearings in .001, .002", etc. to custom fit without any crank grinding involved. And then of course, there are the stanard undersizes when cranks ARE ground . . .010", .020", .030", etc.
 
I dunno. If I had to guess I'd say it likely stems from the fact that not too many actually rebuild engines anymore. Most would just stick a reman in, or a used one... and off they go. Probably a lot of backyard guys just don't check either.... So, probably not a large demand for plastigauge.
It was news to me that it's NLA tho, not that I've bought any recently.

Rod
 
Can still get it at most parts stores here. It isn't cheap, though. $8-$9 per stick. Good thing it doesn't take much.
 
I suspect that part of "clueless" counter-person problem can be blamed on computers and parts database programs. Before they existed, a person behind a parts counter had to actually know something. Now, I guess these stores can hire people with zero knowledge and/or experience and rely on the computer program to do the work.

It also seems that "real" auto parts stores get scarcer all the time. Same with good automotive machine shops, etc. In my area , back when farming was still prevalent, we had many good parts stores, magneto shops, starter and alternator shops, machine shops, etc. And even many of the farm equipment dealerships had their own in-house machine shops. Pretty much all gone now.
 
So much restocking these days is done, not by common sense and knowledge, but by computer sales history data.
It makes sense for companies in many cases, but not always for the consumer.
In fact, it works pretty slick for high turn items.
So, to your point about how long PlastiGauge last, that is likely what happened very little has been ordered for a while at these places, especially NAPA.
 
Our NAPA stores here carry it. Or did a coupla months ago. I will find out soon as I am about to start assembling another Allis B engine. My bet is that they will still have it. The last time I ask for spotting blue at the one NAPA store the counter guy didn't know what I was talking about. Owner happened to walk in and said he should have some. Looked around and couldn't find any. He said that will not happen again. The next time you come in I will have it on the shelf. Said he didn't like missing a sale. Two days later he had a half dozen tubes of blue hanging on the peg.

It takes a stick of green plastigage for each B, C, or CA engine. Some times more.
 
Isn't it ironic that in our 'knowledge' or 'service' based economy of today that nobody actually 'knows' anything... or if they do, nobody can afford to hire them?

Rod
 
Ya, today they dont have to know anything about a product or parts, they just have to know how to use the stupid computer. Pretty soon kids wont even know what a water pump is. Just punch the info into the computer, get a part number and go get a box off the shelf. If were not there already. J
 
No plastigage when I started working on engines. We always used and I still do to some extent, various thickness of shim stock, be it brass or paper or whatever. A piece about a half inch wide and maybe one inch long. Works better when checking a in chassis main bearing anyway. No need to support crankshaft. Rebuilders usually recommened using a micrometer (or bore dial gauge) on connecting rods and mains now days.
 
Last time I rebuilt an engine O Riellys is where I got my parts and they gave me a package of plastiguage.You would think NAPA would have plastiguage.Around here racers bought lots of parts from NAPA.They closed the race track because of noise and NAPA is gone now.The towns that do have a NAPA still have race tracks usually.I bet they have plastiguage.Too many people setting at a computer trying to justify their job by saving money,cutting out things they need to leave alone.Next there wont be auto parts stores and then what are they going to do for a job?If I have to go to another parts store to get what I want,I will quit going to the one thats wasting my time by being run by yuppies who dont know what they are doing.Its beginning to be a struggle to work anymore.You have to drive so much to get parts and stuff its just too much trouble some days.
 

JD,

If you don't find any local, I can get some
drop shipped to you . Clevite has it and I'm
a clevite WD.

george
 

twenty years or so ,we used to check all rebuilds with plasti guage even when using new bearings etc. a good check that take only a few minutes.
time well spent if the bearing shaft combo sizes ,arnt right
 
I count myself real lucky to have two good NAPAs with good folks on the counter, each about 18 miles away in opposite directions. One has its owsn machine shop, but both of them also keep a lot of stuff that isn't on NAPA's list. And there's an AutoZone whose help isn't too smart but it keeps a good stock if I need something in a hurry on a Sunday.

But I know the feeling. The neighborhood NAPA where I lived out in Ohio, I went behind the counter more than once and did the looking up myself that the counterman was unable to do, to get what I needed.
 
you hit the nail on the head there. When I was working for o riellys the list would come out about once a month. Now the manager can override that if he wants. We would and wouldnt, depending. I remember loading up a cart of borg warner and complaining. It was what fit my ride to work. Fred
 
My post was supost to be reply to 730. Somebody else said theirs wasnt where they put it last night. Or maybe i should learn to tipe. Takes me forever.
 
went to a NAPA and "counter person" needed model,year,size engine etc. Told her Ignition switch w/starter bypass and some extra spade blades.
Would have been good for a laugh but was in a hurry.
Finally said John Deere 1010. not much help. used to be one of the older guys could just go and get it. Now if it not on the screen it's not available.
 
Goodson automotive machine shop supplies should have it and any other special tools/machines you need since they supply engine machine shops!!!!
 
Ever wonder where the billions and billions of dollars "saved" by using computers went? I know where it did not go. Hint: my bank accounts.
 
Our local Auto Zone carrys it. Sealed Power part #SPGR-1 it cost me $4.95 for two pieces one red and one green last week.
 
I bought some "plastigage" from my local NAPA dealer a year ago and a friend of mine picked up some at the same place this past summer. Counter man there didn"t "flinch" either. LOL
I"m lucky to have two good NAPA stores within 10 miles and the counter men (one"s even a woman)
seem to really know their stuff. One of the stores stocks quite a lot of parts for older tractors; seems to have more than the local Tractor Supply; course that ain"t sayin" too much! LOL
 
Knowledgeable counterpersons went away some time ago. They were turned out by computer parts databases that "anybody off the street" can operate, according to the sellers of such programs...and store owners started hiring "anyone off the street."

Awhile back I interviewed for a counter position at the local O'Reilly Auto Parts. When I told him that he'd have to do better than the $11 an hour at my then-current job, he got red in the face, and then told me that he didn't even make that much as store manager. So I told him it's no wonder he had trouble keeping good help, if that's all the better their pay scale was...and needless to say, I turned down the job.
 
I've ran into the same problem. One of the places that I used to get it no longer carries it. They said that I,m the only one that was buying it anymore.(and I only use a couple sticks a year) Did finally get it at a Carquest store, But it sure is pricey.
 
I just went to the NAPA online site and typed in plastiguage in the search box. It came back with 5 results. You can still get each size individually or they offer a combo pack of all sizes.
 
Local NAPA store still carries it. I wouldn't assemble engine without it. My cousin was assembling engine for his car and got a speck of dirt between bearing shell and rod cap, put the plastiguage in torqued it and found something wrong. The crank and bearings were a good fit but that spec of dirt would have caused havoc. I bought some 3 months ago and only charged me $1.89.
 
Went into one of the big chain auto parts stores when we lived in California, asked the guy behind the counter if they had any plastigauge. He takes me to one of the aisles & shows me a their selection of automotive gauges with plastic cases...I kid you not.

Keith
 
There are still some good parts places around here. The "big box" ones are hard to deal with if you are buying stuff that they can't look up the make and model for. I was buying some brake shoes for our Lincoln a while back and asked the guy if he had a radiator hose for a Corvair. He started punching buttons on his computer and I felt sorry for him and told him I was joking.
 

I'm gonna check into plastiguage at work this week. It better not be NLA!


Deer in headlights look comes from getting what they (parts store companies) pay for in help. Good help doesn't stick around or show up for less than 10$/hr starting and definitely after 5 years and still under 10. Very few people make over 15$ and even less at 20$. This is fulltime employment. Figure a dollar less for part time. All the big payroll pay is tied up in corporate/regional management and office workers. I started at 7 six years ago and have passed 9. I'm one of the good ones that tries to help you, and researches new things (i have a good memory for the next time). If i know i cannot help, i try to find an alternate source. Alot of times the older guys with more experience ask me about where to find odd or unpoplular things. I also am surprised at the lack of knowledge and attitudes found in other parts store help. I'm not perfect but i do my best. I'm human and I have bad days too.

some companies and locations pay a couple dollars more than i've experienced, but it's about the same from people i've talked to.

It's not as simple as blaming the corporations though. Employees have an attitude today where they expect superb pay for mediocre or below acceptable input. There are jobs out there that feed such poor attitude, if i were to have one i would be counting my blessings and do a good job despite the status quo. IF a CEO poor-performance bonus is huge, just think how big a good performance one is!

Also, the cost of living is out of hand: really i truly believe 8$ or 9 an hour should be a good wage, but then i get my bills and wish my pay was double or even a quarter more per hour. Just like everyone else.

I'm thankful for my job. It's probably done more good for me than the 4 yrs of abundant arts college and it has helped me gain skills talking to people. Hopefully I can use the experience in my future career(s).

Im sure there are even more jobs we wouldn't expect are making under 25k a year in today's economy.
karl f
 

We've got a good napa here (South Bend) and a so so Napa closer to home. the big napa has guys that have been there 20+ years. The local one was good and isn't too bad but they've been going more toward the AZ or AdvanceAuto style of store and don't hire good help. Even with "good" help alot of younger folks have never even thought about rebuilding an engine let alone knowing how to do one. Went to get a new piece of hose to connect the air cleaner to air stack. The kid didn't know how to cut 2" of hose off the roll.
 
I just checked my local NAPA store and they have 10 boxes on the shelf and their distribution center has 17. I think you need to try harder, they have it. Give them this part # SEP SPG1
 
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