Advice for rod bearing replacement. (Long)

[Ben Fenner]

Peter wrote:

 "Ha, first off it's not the 'ghetto engine overhaul', it's the
 'Senior LM-approved rod bearing replacement procedure'."

Thanks for the correction  Peter =)

 "1.  If you don't have one, buy an FSM first."

I own one, and have been reading it over.

 "2.  DO NOT under ANY circumstances do this on a jack.
<snip>
 "Please, I want to see your posts around for a while :)"

That's nice to hear =) I have a garage with tons of tools, and many a jack
stand. No worries on that front.

 "3.  Do not attempt to pry off the upper oil pan with
 the two engine-to-transaxle bolts until you've removed
 the little cover, and removed the tiny 10mm head nuts
 just inside the little tiny cover. "

Thanks for that heads up.

 "4.  Do not, under any circumstances pry at the pan with a
 putty knife.  Scratching those surfaces sucks, and HARD."

What should I do? I don't have the tool described/pictured in the FSM, nor
do I see myself being able to find one. I don't believe the Hayne's manual
has any easy solution either. Would a puddy knife work, as long as I don't
use it to pry? Or should I find something slimmer?

 "5.  Kojima-san reiterated to me after I argued about it
 fearfully that you read the bearing grades off the crank
 0,1,2 and replace them with the next grade tighter."

I love the Japanese referance. Shall I call you Petere-sama?
Anyway, from everything I've read, it's a lot of micrometer or Plastigauge
work that I don't predict I'll be doing. I'd love to measure things with a
micrometer, and pick the right bearings... But knowing me I'll get under
there, and match the new bearings' color to the old one. I don't see how I
can measure the inside diamtere of the bearings while leaving the rod in the
block anyway. Should I really go one grade tighter? What if one of my
journals is grade 0? Then I'll need an oversized bearing? Ug...
I'm going to take this apart tonight (hopefully) and see what I've got, and
then order bearings. What is recommeded if I'm not meassuring things, and
the journals are in excellent shape? Just replace with what I had?

 "6.  Do a better job of sealing your upper pan than I did."

Will do =)

 "7.   Torque everything as perfectly as possible, following
 the torque order specified in the FSM - it really matters."

Of course.

-Ben
1994 Black SE-R