Posted by bdk on March 01, 2000 at 23:43:52:
In Reply to: Re: What's that knocking sound under the hood? posted by Harry on February 29, 2000 at 20:17:31:
This will usually work just fine! You can typically replace all the rod bearings, and most likely the main bearings without pulling the engine. Check the bearings you remove for any markings indicating that the bearings are undersize. If no obvious markings are found, it would not be a bad idea to measure each journal (sometimes one crank can have different sizes) to make sure you get the right size bearings.
If any of the journals are scored (catch a fingernail), you can polish it with crocus cloth, and then flush the particles out with solvent. Make sure you polish it evenly all the way around, not just on one side! Of course, if the bearing has spun or the journal looks burned all bets are off, time for a teardown!
Apply assembly lube to the crank, torque the nuts/bolts to spec, replace the pan, and you're good to go!
It wouldn't hurt to replace the oil pump at this time as well.
You should be able to get quite a few years out of an occasional use vehicle by this method. My uncle used this method on his supercharged and alchohol powered Chrysler hemi race car in the 60's and 70's. It worked great for him, it should work equally as well for you.
I replaced the rod bearings in my 180,000 mile Honda Civic this way in the mid-80's. All four bearings were worn down to the copper.
Let us know how it turns out!