Pulling motor and refresh suggestions

John, I'll admit that I haven't ever removed con rod bearings that were out of spec on a 928 either. Point taken. That being said, the con rod bearings are too easy to do for me to ignore with the engine removed. As you know, both bearings and gaskets don't last forever. I'll roll the dice and reuse head gaskets over engine bearings any day. Would you rather pull heads OR split the block, align bore, machine/replace the crank, replace bearings, etc. etc. But if one was going that far to rebuild the engine at the expense of a spun bearing, they might be tempted to replace rings, send their block to 928 Motorsports to have their bores redone, etc. etc.

Assuming you pull the heads without creating unnecessary damage, do you stop at replacing the gaskets? Would that not be a prime opportunity to have the heads redone? Certainly, that isn't cheap preventive maintenance for a 928 that doesn't smoke.

Again, this is just the way I prioritize things. The reality is that there are many different ways to skin a cat.

Kiln_Red;13560 wrote: The reality is that there are many different ways to skin a cat.

Not to condone skinning cats, but I agree 100%

Nice discussion we have going here...

I completed a rebuild on a 79 4.5L into a hot rod 5.1L with 160K miles last month (used a bored/plated 5.0L block as the basis). My experience with the crank, main and rod bearings was that they were in near-perfect condition and did not need to be replaced at 160K miles. The oil/filter has been changed at least once per year with Mobil1 (I am the owner since 1981 and have the records since new). However, since I do not plan on another rebuild for at least 150K miles I replaced all the bearings. I did not touch the crank as it was perfect, still had a nice polish.
The bottom line for me, from what I have seen, is that as long as the engine has been well taken care of, and no oil starvation issue (revs above 7K), I believe the original main and rod bearings should be good for at least 250K miles.
Mike Hemingway

Mike, I think you are correct!

Thanks all, the engine is out! We are starting to take a close look at it now and making a list of things I need to order. Hopefuuly it will be back in, with the new powdercoated Spider (see other post) mby Easter!

More later