Paging engine building guys: Connecting rod bearing question

I picked these bearings up from a guy who ended up no longer needing them. Upon initial inspection they look like regular Clevite 77s, but after a few minutes it hit me. The notches for the oil hole on the connecting rod are missing. Has anybody seen this before? Is this a bad set of rod bearings? Or is there just some sort of information I'm missing?

They are Clevite CB-960 P, standard bearings. They do physically fit a 4.0 rod, and clearance .0015" on a standard crank. And, according to Rock Auto, the correct bearing for say, a '94 XJ.









This is what they are supposed to look like:


Which brings me to my next question...
Could I potentially cut my own little radii into the inserts? Or should I not even try?

The connecting rods get oiled from the crank,so whats the point?

IIRC it is because there is a hole on the rod where the cap meets that splash oils the cam lobes.

Connecting rod bearings don't have an oil hole. The oil is fed into the clearance gap from an oil hole in the crankshaft rod journal. Those should be fine as is. Don't drill your own oil hole in them or you risk constant low oil pressure and you'll be rebuilding your engine again in a week or so.

The photo with the caption "This is what they're supposed to look like" is wrong.

I gotta be honest, I do not used bearings that other people have handled. I went through the stack they brought out from the back of the parts store till I had an entire set still in the shrink wrap. But I am kinda picky.

cruiser54 said:

The photo with the caption "This is what they're supposed to look like" is wrong.

Click to expand...

Actually, you are wrong.

1988JeepXj said:

IIRC it is because there is a hole on the rod where the cap meets that splash oils the cam lobes.

Click to expand...

Correct.

OP: I wouldn't. Too much room for error. Find the correct bearings.