360 main bearing differences by years?

Remow2112 said
It appears that the last time I did the motor (72 casting 360) I bought 74 and up bearings. They fit and seem to work fine. MY new and proper (71 - 73) bearings came yesterday. When you put the #3 (71-73 style) bearing in you can see it leaves a lot of of the machined recessed viewable. When I put my old bearing on it almost completely fills the machined area.

I will get a picture tonight. It is really starting to look like any 360 mains will work. Anybody have any insight on this? I am really curious. I could have bought the 74 and up bearings in town no problem. Had to order the 71 - 73 bearings.

This great to know because the 74 and up bearings are much cheaper.

I also have a 75 360 block laying around and the flange cut / recess on #3 appears to be the same size as the one in my 72 block.

Dan...

Good info Dan. Thanks for sharing. If you can get a couple pics that'd be even better. I always knew there were 2 different bearing designs used but never had an old and a new block to make comparisons. I am re-building a 73 360 right now and bought the bearings for a 73. Wish I had known the 74-up bearings would have worked because they are alot cheaper and sounds like they have more surface area for thrust.

BTW: did you look at the thrust area on the crank to see how the 2 different bearings line up to it? I wonder if the thrust flange for the older 360 crank is any different? I'm using a stroker crank in mine so I have no stock stuff to do comparisons with.