Denny, nothing beats torquing up the bearing caps with nothing inside, and doing a 3-point measurement of the bore. That's how we do the race engines. Plastigauge is simply the best, most cost-efficient method of estimating oil clearance. back in the dark ages, we used a piece of shim stock between the bearing and the crank. If it locked things up, we assumed that thickness of shim was the clearance. If the next size thinner shim would let the crank turn, the clearance was pretty well established.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!