[MetalDrgn]

No, lol, the engine is still in the vehicle. It is very hard to work like that too, but I managed it. I couldn't get the oil pan out, but moved it far enough to the sides to remove the oil pick-up tube and windage tray (I think that's what it is called anyhow) which is also the gasket for the oil pan and was a real pain to unglue from the pan and block.

I finally got my Clevite bearing yesterday and finished polishing the journal. I then installed the new used piston in the bore (this time it only took me 3 tries!) and put a piece of plastigage on the bottom cap bearing and installed it. Took it off and I was pissed to find that it's over the tolerance. It's probably around .0045" (I haven't used the larger plastigage yet and the smaller one maxes out at .003") which is way over the spec. I emailed Clevite to see if they have a bearing that has just a little undersize so it would work. Of course I haven't gotten a response back yet so I’m not sure what to do. A new crank at autozone is $238+tax, but they also include bearings. I haven't called the machine shop to find out how much it would be just to have it reground and polished, but I would need new bearings anyhow and it's $50+tax just for the connecting rod bearings. The cost isn't what I'm really worried about anyway. It's the labor to pull the engine out and get that crank out and back in. I would have to borrow and transport a cherry picker and buy an engine stand too.

So as you can see I’m a little stuck atm. If I can’t get an undersize bearing that will work, I might just run it like that and possibly use 10w-40 oil or something for a few thousand miles until I’m ready to go for the overhaul. That would also give me the chance to see if there are any other weak spots that I don’t know about and focus on them too later. I would also like to get a micrometer to find out what it's at and if it's out of round or tapered or anything.