360 LA squeel / scraping noise like drive belt on passenger side

Good to know. We are putting a new crank/bearings in the engine, as well as rods and bearings. My son wanted to do rings as well for the experience altho we were told they were already done. Also what you are saying may explain why it looked like the rods had been rubbing the crank... looked shiny on both sides of the rods and crank, prob shouldnt do that? See the edge in the pic, should that be shiny like it was rubbing?

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It probably shouldn't. If you look at the edges of one of the rod journals on the crank that didn't get destroyed, you will see that they have a slightly rounded corner where they meet the counterweights of the crank. The chamfered edges of the rods will match those edges and give the rods some wiggle room (for lack of a better term without 3 cups of coffee!) so they don't jam up against each other in the center like yours appeared to be. Most factory rods that I have seen will have the cylinder number stamped on each rod where the rod and the cap join. From the factory, those numbers always faced the pan rail. It's always best to check them though, to make sure the chamfered edges are turned out, instead of in.

When you start over with the new crank and rods, be sure to clean the oil passages in the block really well. Take all of the plugs back out and if you don't have engine brushes, get some long ones to run thru those passages with brake cleaner, varsol or something to get them as clean as possible. Set the motor on end inside a wash tub or a plastic kiddie pool to contain the mess...lol. You can't clean one too much before putting it together! Take your lifters apart one at a time and clean and check them. Take the oil pump apart and clean and check it. Clean the oil pickup tube too. All of the bearing material has been thru the engine while it was destroying itself, so you will likely find it everywhere. Sure, it's a setback.....but it will be a priceless experience for you and your son to do together.