I've never rebuilt a bottom end before, and as this motor is going in my daily driver I want to do it as right as possible (well, as right as I can afford)

The thing I need to know mostly is about sizing bearings. first and foremost I am not going to use OEM bearings, as I cannot afford them, I'm going to use aftermarket replacements from a comapny called "rock". (btw,, don't try to sway me on this, I know it is better to use OEM bearings but I simply cannot afford them right now) secondly I've already fucked up (not tooo badly) I didn't keep all the bearings in order, I have a pile of main bearings and a pile of rod bearings (oops ) .

am I supposed to use the old bearings to plastiguage w/ and then choose a bearing size from there? if so, should I trust the color of the old bearing as an accurate measurement of it's thickness or should I mic it and then go from there?

I know there is something about the letter markings on my block, and the #/letter markings on my crank that I'm supposed to use, but I'm not sure what that is all about as the shop manual just tells me what they are, not how/why I am supposed to use/know them.

w/ the rod bearings, I am using aftermarket rods, should I still use the old bearings that came out of my OEM rods (to plastiguage) or is there something else I am supposed to do?

I've read a few write ups about this online, most of them talk from a standpoint of either already knowing what you are doing, or using OEM bearings and looking for color rather then sizes.

one write up in particular talks about rod bolt stretch. do i need to buy a rod bolt stretch guage tool? or will tourqing them down to the right spec be sufficient?

speaking of tools I may or may not have (I'm doing this build in my college auto class) what about filing the rings? I have a feeler guage pack, but the write up that boosted-hybrid did showed a crazy looking contraption for filing the rings. do I need one of those? or will I be cool without it? if not what do I use to get the correct ring gap?

as for assembly lube, I was planning on using hondalube for everything, is that a good Idea? and I can get that from a honda parts department right? same as I would honda bond for my oil pump?

is there any other things that it'd be beneficial for me to know as a rebuild noob?

I want this thing to rn as fantastically as my stock y8 does. I am trying not to cut corners where I can afford not to. it's getting to be time for me to order parts (mainly bearings) and I need to know what to order. as of right now my block is sitting on the engine stand, all beautiful, fresh from the hot tank.

thanks in advance for your help, I appreciated it.
-Bambooseven

 

for the bearings, i guess u can order by the colors stamped on ur block, and then use that as a base to measure w/ plastigauge, if you need to go bigger or smaller, just order the ones thta you need, maybe you can even return the ones tht doesnt match. i'd say, go talk to ur loacl machinist/parts store and see wht they have to say about this.
as for the rings, u can just measure the gap with a feeler and file off unwanted stuff with a gap file. and i prefer a grease type lubricant whn assembling as anything liquid may just run down. one more thing, check ur main seal before installing, for any cracks and stuff, if its good, just lube it b4 putting it in.