[marbobj]

Corvette:

Your tolerances of three thousandths on a rod and main are ok. Did you lube the bearings before you put them in? Use a white lithium based grease if you didn't. Also lube the cylinder wall with oil and wipe off the excess.

Are your bearings scuffed or is the surface just shiney instead of the dull babbot color. If your plasti-guage is reading the clearance you've said and you have taken it at the prescribed torque specs, you should be ok. Adding the heads isn't changing anything where the crank is concerned, so don't worry about it. If you want them on there leave out the plugs until you have the crank working.

First make sure you have the correct torque specs for the rod caps and mains. It won't mean anything to check a tolerance without the proper torque.

35 ft lbs sounds a little low for a 3/8 stud. Just make sure of what you're using, those specs are critical. Clean and lube the bearings/crank and assemble the caps. Then tighten the nut/bolts to about 5lbs over the spec. Then loosen each to about ten below the spec and retighten to the spec.

If your bearings weren't lubed prior to assembly the first time and they have been gouged they would have to be replaced. If they're just polished a little, I would use them.

I suspect what has happened is the drag of the pistons on the newly bored cylinder walls has made turning the crank difficult. This added to just rotating the extra parts required a lot of extra effort.

You probably don't have a major problem yet, just make sure you have the torque specs correct and lube everything.

Let us know how you come out,

Hope this helps,

Bob