The Verdict!
So I brought the engine over to the specialist's shop for inspection and not to hold you in suspense . . . but besides replacing the oil system minus the cooler the only other parts slightly under suspect are the bearings. He said I could simply buy a chain for the cam and bolt it back up but since it is open he suggested replacing all the bearings. Now came the tricky part . . .
The book takes into account that you might not be comfortable with measurements, tolerances and clearances, which I'm not, so it gives you 3 different colors to match bearings. The ones on the top were worn away so I could not see. So we removed the rods from the crank to get to the other side and finally found one with red on it. At that moment I got a call from MikenVA so I answered and brought him up to speed. He said although the bearings show Red I might want to try the White ones and I wouldn't really be able to be 100% sure unless I did the Plastigage test. At that point I felt I was in over my head so I have sub-contracted this part out. He will check the clearance and order the correct bearings and install them and button the halves back up for me. I will take back over after that.
To recap the Crank is perfect, the bearings were acceptable, the rods, pistons and rings are perfect, the cylinders\block are perfect and the head is perfect. He said if I wanted to be cheap I could simply buy 2 new plastic gears and a chain and put it back together. He disagrees with the dealership on the oil pumps. He feels they would work just fine but if it was him he would replace the entire oil system accept the cooler. This is because the price of doing so is not stupid expensive.
So there you have it. I guess so far I have gotten off lucky. I really wanted to put it all back together myself for the mere satisfaction of knowing I could do the whole job by myself and I guess if I had concrete evidence of what bearings should ultimately go back in I could have but this was not the case. So I swallow my pride and pay him to give me a helping hand. :flag:
Thoughts?