Ok, so I had an oil leak, rear main seal. Car in signature. I let it go for 2 weeks without checking the oil. Last Thursday my girlfriend asked if the engine was knocking and she was right. It was about 3 qts low on oil.

An oil change did not help. slight knock is still there. I'm not driving it because I know that sound. Didn't find any shavings in the oil, but I have not removed the pan yet.
So, I'd like to replace the bearings myself. I just need to get all my ducks lined up.

If the rod looks over heated, I will replace it. (Eagle rod/CP pistons) The piston/rod set has about 20K on it.

Should I bother changing all the bearings, if only one pair is burnt? (My guess is yes)
What else besides oil pump needs to be replaced?

Does anyone know where in the San Jose, CA area I can take the crankshaft to have it checked? If it's out of spec I will replace.

Where can I find plastigauge to measure the bearing clearances? Seriously can't find any. It's not something the auto parts stores have. Most of them have no idea what I'm talking about either.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

 

I guess first and foremost are you going to do the procedure with the motor still bolted into the car? I assume not because given what you have to do it'd be easier to just pull the motor, but hey, you might be like me, meaning you like doing **** the hard way. Lol

If you can't find any shavings when you drop the pan I wouldn't jump the gun. Look to other possible sources.

You will probably have to replace all the bearings because if you spun a bearing the crank will need machining, hopefully just a polish job. Either way that removes material meaning your bearing clearence would change.

Plastigauge: http://www.jegs.com/p/Sealed-Power/S...FcuZ4AodhnoA7Q

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...igage/_/N-25xn

https://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp...&bpcl=38093640

I would have some serious reservations building a motor like that with plastigauge. It's good for double checking but I wouldn't trust it solely to assemble an engine. Just my opinion after having spun a few bearings of my own. I decided to invest in precision measuring equiptment and haven't looked back since.

 

What equipment did you buy and how much was it?
I have not pulled the pan yet, trying to get my '69 truck back to daily driver status so I can get to work.
Thanks for the help!

 

I picked up a Fowler Digital Dial Bore Gauge and a set of Fowler Machinists Micrometers. Both read accurately down to 0.0001" which IMO is really what you need if you are putting together an engine. I think they were around $400 or $500 together.

This: is part 1 of a 3 part series. Maybe you've seen it before. It is one of many very good videos related to engine assembly.