I just pulled the old gimbal bearing on my Alpha One but I haven't put in the new seal or bearing yet and I'm wondering if it would be easier to align the engine now.
I have an alignment bar complete with a bearing mandrel, so I can insert the bar into the splines and then slide the mandrel down into the socket where the new bearing will go. There's about 1/8" gap all around the mandrel, actually very slightly less at the bottom, probably due to the weight of the bar, but side to side, it's perfect.
The bar went in quite easily before I removed the bearing but it looks like the front of the engine may want to come down by just a fraction.
So my question is, would this method of alignment be as accurate as trying to read grease marks after the bearing is in, or not?
I have an alignment bar complete with a bearing mandrel, so I can insert the bar into the splines and then slide the mandrel down into the socket where the new bearing will go. There's about 1/8" gap all around the mandrel, actually very slightly less at the bottom, probably due to the weight of the bar, but side to side, it's perfect.
The bar went in quite easily before I removed the bearing but it looks like the front of the engine may want to come down by just a fraction.
So my question is, would this method of alignment be as accurate as trying to read grease marks after the bearing is in, or not?