Never had to do this. H22A4. Need to get up in there and put my oil squirter in that Golden Eagle forgot to put back in
I took a look at my rod bearings and they look ok (concern over lack of oil pressure), and thought it may be possible to remove the girdle and look at a couple of mains bearings while in there.

The girdle seems awefully tight in there with the outer caps being pushed up against by the oil pump on one side and the crank cover on the other.

Has anyone done this before?

 

I just had the girdle off, with my motor in the car. I swapped rods with the block still mounted in the car. When I took the girdle off the main caps came with it, but it was ok. The girdle was very tight, it took a little convincing to come out.

 

thanks!

 

just like he said, it is possible. thats what i did to inpect my bearings, then i had to pull the whole engine