Be sure and get a commitment from the friends who are saying the bearing fit is alright.So they can help you with the work and replacement parts when it fails.
I think it won't run until the "water gets hot" with an out-of-round rod bore.Swapping bearing shells until you get enough clearance to get it started is a ticket to disaster and you will be out the cost and work of bearings and crank grind--maybe the rod won't break and come out the side.
The only acceptable shaft journal is round, straight, smooth and sized for proper oil clearance.
The bearing shells will take the shape of the hole (rod) they are clamped into.
You should measure the rod bore without bearing to evaluate it and if out of specs, change it or resize it.Also when a bearing has spun in the rod the important smoothness is gone.
Make it right now or you will regret it quickly.
Oh yes, you did mean the "clearance for every rod" was .0015 "fifteen ten-thousandths" didn't you and not .015 (fifteen thousandths".That one little zero makes a lot of difference.
Yeah, definitely replaced it because it got spun. No way I'm running it without that key holding it in place. And yeah, I checked it for .0015. .015 would be so far out of clearance I'd just replace the whole rod!
Guys, we've done our best to prevent a disaster. It's beginning to look like we're wasting our time. Walmart has BIG plastic tubs to pick up the pieces of that engine about two blocks down the road from the beginning of the first test drive.
"Some people learn by listening to other people, some learn by watching other people. A few stubborn ones just have to learn for themselves what happens when they pee on an electric fence!"
Good luck!
Jerry
That's sort of rude, but I guess thanks anyways. I took your advice, I checked it with a micrometer instead of plastigage, and it checked out. It's one thing to say "I've tried that and it won't work" versus "I've never tried that, but I don't think it will work". Won't know until I try it. And of course I'm stubborn! I don't think anyone would survive a frame off restoration if they weren't a bit stubborn!
Thanks for the input fellas.
