It has been bothering me to say the least that I could not find the reason for the bearing failure. I really looked thorough the case halves this evening and found a small aluminum piece with a dent on the end of it stuck in a corner and could not figure out where it came from. After looking at every piece of the engine interior I found that it was a plug from the crankshaft. That would easily explain the bearing failure. It also give me some hope that I am only looking at crank replacement/regrind, rod refurb/replacement and bearing shells besides all the gaskets, bolts etc that go with splitting the case. Obviosly everything has to be measured and evaluated but there is some hope. I cannot see doing anything with the pistons, cylinders and heads with the way the car drove and the strong even compression figures.
W