Ed,
when you pull an engine apart, there are many decisions as to how much you want to spend and do to it. If your objective is to make it a reliable "non smoker" that is used for leisurely fun drives, then you need only replace the offending parts. If the old babbitt rod bearing surfaces are in decent shape then they could be reused. Otherwise the easy and modern way to deal with the rods is to have them machined to allow inserts to be used. This of course does not change the fact that they are still fed with dippers.
