Brand new main bearing nicked. Usable?

nm9stheham said

I suspect that is due to the block and webs being the least supported, and thus the weakest and subject to the most flexing, at 2, 3, and 4.

Bearings are not evenly loaded all around. The bottom area is the most loaded as it takes the peak force of the combustion process, which can be well above 10,000 lbs peak on each rod with any significant HP. Check it out here in the Clevite-Mahle performance catalog; look at page 19, which leads into interesting info on why full grooved bearings are not always the best for the mains. (It is a trade-off versus better rod oiling.)

https://www.mahle-aftermarket.com/m...s-and-literature/engine-bearings/eb-40-16.pdf

Click to expand...

Tell that to the Chrysler engineers who still recommend a full groove main bearing for a performance application to adequately oil the rods. Although I have noticed on modern clevite "H" series bearings that the oil groove is not nearly as wide as it was in years past.
To my knowledge at the time of assembly Mahle did not offer a full grooved main bearing set for the sbm.
But I noticed later that Mopar performance was selling "H" series bearings fully grooved with the narrow #5 main. They must have had them made by clevite. So Chrysler still believes in fully grooved mains.