If you look at any "good old" Chilton manual, you'll see that Ford's bearing clearances back then were looser than most everybody else's. I don't know what the purpose for that was, but it's true.
Both of my 426 hemi`s had .003 clearance from the factory, was the same after my rebuilds, ran straight 40 and 50 weight for yrs., depending on the small time sponsers I had that furnished it.
