Starting to assemble my early hemi. I am using Oliver rods with F-M coated bearings.

Here's the problem...I think. When I put the F-M bearing in the rod, the non tang end is not flush with the rod mating surface. It sticks out. When I put the bearing shell in the cap, the non tang end is below the parting line. I am talking .030 in both cases. Every rod appears the same.

When I tried a set of King Bearings, all the ends are flush (to the naked eye) with the parting surfaces. (like I would expect.

Not trying to be a smart azz but check to see if you have the uppers on the uppers and the lowers on the lowers. It should be marked on the back of the bearing shells.

Upper in upper. Lower in lower. And I stand corrected. The upperKing Bearing is not flush with the parting line, but sticks out no where near like the F-M.

These are F-M 7200CH bearings.

Done deal.

The bearings should protrude slightly from the rod and the cap. If there sunk into the rod or the cap the split is not in the center of the rods bore in the big end.
Doug

After reading Cabs post I think I read your problem incorrectly. Is the notch to small for the bearing tang?

I had the same problem on one rod from oliver, send them all back to Oliver to have them machined the bearing tang depth and width correctly Make sure they pay the freight both ways, they paid for Fed Ex overnight both ways on mine