Mike, first of all Good Luck! In my experience if the head is freshened up, it's a good policy to do an in-frame on the rest. Drop pan, cut the ring ridge if necessary, remove rod caps, drive pistons out from bottom with hammer handle, hone cylinders to get a proper crosshatch pattern, new rod bearings or not after inspecting the crank and bearings, new rings on pistons and reassemble. Not as good as a proper full rebuild but I've driven many 10s of thousands of miles with no issues using the shade-tree freshening just described.
PS, proper break-in technique to seat rings is very important. Lots of discussion on subject, Hotrod Lincoln is a great source. Been using same for over 50 years.
RonR
Speaking of a quick and dirty in-frame refresh. Let’s say I just wanna throw some bearings in a 235. Rod bearings obviously not much issue.
Can you get enough drop on the crank to replace upper main shells…without removing the crank?
