What's the story with main bearings these days?
After searching a few forums, I'm reading that the quality of available bearings has taken a dive - No. 2 main is no longer steel backed! Which
leaves me concerned and dismayed to say the least.
My late WD, AS41 case @ 0.50mm over, has been running the same bottom end for over 13 years (have split it to replace cam & lifters only in 2008).
I've ordered a 69mm CW crank from DPR machine and they can supply steel backed Silverline mains. My concern is that I've read else where that their
No.2 steel backed shells do not have a 360° groove at the crank surface.
I'm not sure of the sizes I will require, the case may need line boring to 0.75 and the crank isn't done yet so I don't know how far under it'll
be. I've found that in the past, odd sizes were sometimes difficult to source from either Tooleys or Fermans.
The set that's been running in this motor was sourced from Lionel (RIP): one gruff old bastard, but one of the nicest blokes in the VW trade I've
ever had dealings with. I miss him, but I digress.
So, are steel backed Mahle items still kickin' round on our sunny shores in maybe 0.50 / 0.75mm on the case & either 0.25/0.50mm on the crank ?
Any help is much appreciated.
Just to add, even the genuine vw main bearings (standard sized) are not all too flash either. The machine shop that checked clearances said they were quite inconsistant with their tolerances.
Yep, RIP Lionel, he was a top bloke to deal with. 
I haven't needed to use them yet, but I believe the Silverline are the ones to use if your avoiding the non-steel backed
I have a few sets of silverline bearings with a set in my 2276 and set currently being fitted to a 2054, same issues with the bearing tolerance, a bit hit and miss.
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Lionel Francis Dave, ex Fermans.
Yep, I'll do some chasing today.
Indeed Matt, I think I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than take the chance and use non - steel backed shells on No. 2. But, there's still the
issue of the absence of a 360° groove on the crank side.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this ?
Thank you for your replies Gentlemen
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