Question about that WPC treatment for con-rod/main-rod bearings

[EsChassisLove]

OEM Nissan Con-Rod Bearings : SR20, RB25/26 (http://www.phase2motortrend.com/oemnicobesr.html)

[QUOTEInfo on WPC Treatment (WPC - Metal Surface Treatment / Micro Shot Peening (http://www.wpctreatment.com))

WPC is a proven process that has been utilized for many years in the racing and automotive industry. WPC is not a coating, it is a treatment that enhances the surface to reduce friction and strengthen engine parts.

WPC achieves this process by firing ultra fine particles towards the surface of a product at very high speeds. The resulting thermal discharge permanently changes the surface, strengthening the ionic structure and creating a harder more durable final product.[/QUOTE]

Just curious if anyone has ever done this?

I'm rebuilding my engine for a second time and want everything as best it can be.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Def]

I'd run Calico coated bearings way before I considered WPC'ing them.

[EsChassisLove]

What's the differences?

[rcdad123]

the difference is shot peening parts, not bearings, make the parts a little bit stronger than before. dry film lubricant coating on the bearings make the bearings more slippery than before. WPC and CALICO COATINGS are completely different. coating the bearings won`t make the rods stronger.

[EsChassisLove]

I'm not trying to make my rods stronger. I think my Eagle H rods are good to go in that category. I just killed some piston rings on #2. Thats why I am rebuilding.

[abunai the drifter]

wpc dosnt wear of like a coating talk to izumi he can recomned the best bang for your dollar. im in the process of building my engine as well i had my pistons and ring and bearing and valve springs done and saving up to do my rocker arms and cams check out my face book page to see how your parts look after wpc (Calvino Priesto | Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/check.torque.spec)) i seen first hand how awesome it is kyle mohan fc engine has been together for 5 years making over 400hp and it just came part last week and has very little wear on it i would say that wpc is the way to go

[EsChassisLove]

Ah i GOTCHA.

I'll go with WPC.

Whats up with the "Grade" option they have on the bearings? 1-black 2-brown. I dont get it haha.

[Kingtal0n]

WPC is a proven process that has been utilized for many years in the racing and automotive industry. WPC is not a coating, it is a treatment that enhances the surface to reduce friction and strengthen engine parts.

WPC achieves this process by firing ultra fine particles towards the surface of a product at very high speeds. The resulting thermal discharge permanently changes the surface, strengthening the ionic structure and creating a harder more durable final product.

Thoughts? Suggestions?[/QUOTE]

Thoughts:

I know nothing about WPC and I dont pretend to here now;

However, Some thoughts about the terminology:
1. "ultra fine particles" means nothing. What size? .00001"? .00000001"? there is an order of magnitude here to which I am curious.

2. "thermal discharge" that sounds like heat is being evolved due to friction. So what are they saying, small particles with a given velocity transfer that kinetic energy to other objects and energy is lost due to heat?

3. "ionic structure" Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe there is anything ionic about the structure of a bearing. I always thought the materials are covalently bonded atoms forming a solid due to the bond angles being preserved by the "lowest energy conformations" at that temperature. I could be wrong of course, I never researched how bearings are made. Perhaps they mean some kind of ionic coating on the bearing surface. but that would imply there is some reaction between the "ultra fine particles" the bearing is being blasted with, so you would wind up with new ionic bonds, or new molecules, or both. But then why wouldnt the manufacture do that the begin with?

4. "A harder..." This might make sense, there is some possibility you gain something in the stiffness department at the cost of being more "glass like" or "brittle" in nature.

5. "... more durable" depending upon the application this could be true. We can say that a material is "more durable" if is stands to do it's job better under specific circumstances... but it may be "less durable" in regards to other stresses imposed.

For something so technical and specific I am surprised with the lack of intimacy of details. Treating people like they are the "doctors" hiding the "valuable information that would just be lost on the average individual"

[hOngsterr]

i thought wpc means they create like tiny dimple on the item you're doing so it can stay lubricated better? Might want to ask kognition, i recall he said he was going to wpc his parts.

[Def]

Engine bearings are hydrodynamic - meaning there is NO contact between moving parts by its very definition. Any contact quickly "spins" a bearing because the surfaces move very quickly relative to each other. The two parts float relative to each other via a cushion of fluid (oil in this case).

All this stuff is very dubious to me as to the actual benefits... Especially with all the "buzz words" thrown about which don't apply at all to what you want in a hydrodynamic bearing.

[abunai the drifter]

find a machine shop and they can tell you what size bearing to buy and have the block line honed so that the crank journals are straight ps this must be done with a torque plate