I didn't know you could align-bore a 'bolt. The 235 main bearing housings each have a different inside diameter. Is the 261 different in this regard??
They are the same. So the way it was explained to me by the machinist was that because of the stepped main journel sizes, you can't easily run a straight edge down the journels and determine if they are out from centerline. The mains can be line bored but it requires setup changes for each journel. It takes more time to bore one of these compared to say a SBC and that means extra $$. He said the only way to ensure the centerline is true is to just line bore it regardless. He builds mostly race engines and this technique is pretty standard for race applications. He also builds standard engines but seems to trickle down knowledge he learns on the race stuff to the regular builds too. He also said if I don't want to do it, we can take the chance and assemble it with the newly reground crank and see how it goes together. The risk is that the crank might need to be shimmed to keep clearances in spec. I've never had an engine line bored before but from checking around, it seems to be somewhat more popular to do now days.
