I've got a situation with some parallels to another active thread but figure it's worthy of a stand-alone post rather than mucking up the other. It's a case of needing to reign in the snowball effect but not be silly and short-sighted, either.
A clutch replacement is in my relatively near future. I've been putting it off because 1) Enjoy driving the truck, and 2) Unlikely to be a "fun" job. For context, this is a late 235 in a 1951 truck, with an SM420 behind it. The engine runs really strong, but the low idle oil pressure and low/medium level of blow-by...suggest it's not pristine internally.
Clutch job makes me think "might as well" freshen up the rear main. Having the pan dropped makes me think "might as well" inspect/replace rod and main bearings. The rear main doesn't seem to be "actively" leaking, but it looks like it may have just "scabbed over" from a leak some decades ago before it was parked by the PO circa 1980.
Here's my multi-pronged dilemma: I don't have a great way for the truck to be torn down in a non-drivable state for more than just a few days...let's say a week for discussion purposes. The shed where it's parked has no electricity and a gravel floor. I'd greatly prefer to do the work in the driveway, closer to my tools, and power, and much easier to use jacks and stands, etc. To get this job done swiftly and not linger on forever, I'd need to have all the parts sourced ahead of time. If I were to replace bearings, I wouldn't even know which size is needed until the pan is off.
Here are a couple ways I could slice this:
1) Forget the bearings. Oil pressure is around 12-15 at hot idle, immediately pegs the gauge at any RPM above idle. Surely some excess clearance in the bottom end but probably has some life left. Do my homework to get the right clutch parts and a replacement rear main seal (should be lip seal - 1962 model engine).
2) Buy an oil pan gasket. Pull the pan to inspect (maybe even plastigauge?) the crank and bearings. Button back up with the pan gasket affixed to either the pan or the block, but not both. Drive it back out to the shed. Get the right clutch parts ordered, get the right bearings ordered, and the rear main. Do all the work in one shot when all the parts are in hand.
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Weighing all the factors....I'm leaning to option 1, but open to some feedback and suggestions. Perhaps there's another alternative I haven't considered.
For what it's worth, there's a 3rd path I could take which would mean FULLY embracing the snowball effect:
Install the T5 that's been patiently waiting in the wings for a few years. That option has it's own subset of mini-snowball effects. It would need, at minimum, an input shaft swap. But then should I go ahead and rebuild it pre-emptively?
