Friction Coatings, quick question

[Buellistic]

I was at a car show today and this guy was showing off his friction reducing coatings. Seems legitimate compared to what I've read in the past.

Just curious if anyone thinks it's worth it to coat the mains/rod bearings. This guy charges about 100 for all the crank bearings. I was thinking it might be worth it, assuming he can help correct for the increase in bearing thickness.

What do you serious engine builders think? Snake oil?

I suppose I should type in here exactly the KIND of coating... I forgot where I put down the documentation at the moment though.

[Ian Godfrey]

Some coatings like Calico have a good rep, I think they are overrated on bearings if you have oil pressure from initial start up ie a prime system, a plain bearing with a well controlled oil film is about as frictionless as you can get in an engine. Temperature shouldn't be an issue for bearings either.
I do use coatings on chambers, piston tops, valve springs etc to either be a thermal barrier, a thermal dispersant or an oil attracting coating as appropriate.
lets see what others have to say.

[vwracerdave]

The dry film lubricant used on the bearings are usful on higher reving engines that see above 6000 RPM regularly. On street engines that rarly see these high RPM's you're just probably wasting your money. It is very worthwhile to have dual valve springs coated on any engine.
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2017 Street Comp Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble, OK
2010 Sportsman ET Champion - Mid-America Dragway - Arkansas City, KS
1997 Sportsman ET Champion - Thunder Valley Raceway Park - Noble ,OK

[mark tucker]

I have done it for so many years I cant remember.the mains in my 2028(I just put back in 4 months ago still look like when first instaled)well they cam out of my 2332 for about 3 hard years, then 2.5 years or so in my 2028, probably about 70000 miles on them now on 2 different cranks & in 2 different cases.rods look great also.cam bearings looked much better than usual,but still could see a pattern(cant see pattern on rods&mains).I also use it on the lash caps&rocker arms,the entire rockerarm,bushing,flat foot, the whole thing,the dfl attracks oil,and oil cools.I also do the cam gears&crank gears& pistons.springs too sometimes,there a real pain in the ass to do,wish we were getting the polished springs forthese things, but the $$$ would be more than the heads.
so yes do it, thats a good price,dont worry about the thickness, if he is applying it corectly it will be fine.if the crank is small and you have a bit to much clearance the bearings can be blasted with a corser grain at a slightly higher pressure then coated and they will be smaller with less clearance.pistons can also be done this way when there a bit too lose but still good.