A bearing stiff plate pedestal with cylindrical bore and a separate
bearing with shimmed saddle blocks that mate to the bore to permit
accurate alignment and with self-aligning Babbitted tilting pad bearings
to replace existing bearing spring plates arrangements. A method wherein
the bearing stiff plate pedestal is fashioned initially as a drill
fixture by drilling mounting holes in the stiff plate pedestal with the
diameter of a tap drill for hold down bolts, to permit drilling and
tapping holes in the pedestal base plate at proper locations.
Subsequently, the mounting holes are enlarged to form clearance holes,
and the stiff plate pedestal is mounted, aligned, and bolted into place.