Originally posted by carlover01
i just got done Honing out my block. i hope to put the bottom end together soon.

i went to autozone and looked at some main bearings and rod bearings. i should be OK with the standard size right?

Don't worry about the absolute diameters.
You're looking for the main journal diameter plus the thickness of the main shell plus .002" or so of oil clearance to equal the main bore, and likewise for the rods.

Cleanliness is the first order of business. By the time you are assembling the motor, the crank should have been to the car wash, and washed with brushes in the holes and stuff, to get out any particles that might be hiding in there. Wipe the main journals with a lint-free towel, and use spray can carb cleaner last of all, to wash the oil holes and the main journals. DO NOT touch the main journals after this last flush.

First thing to do is put the rear main seal in both the block and the cap. DO NOT use sealer on the back of it; instead, use a small amount of white lithium grease, just a light smear, on the metal parts. Use the little plastic guide tool they give you, and put the seal in end-wise, pushing it around the seal bore from the end; DO NOT just jam it straight on. How you put that seal in is very important, if you want a leak-free motor. Leave it with about ¼" sticking up at one end of each, such that when you assemble it, the split in the bearing doesn't line up with the split in the block. Smear a very light smear of white lithium grease on the seal surface (both halves of the seal) where it meets the crank.

Wear vinyl (not latex) gloves such as you can get at hardware and paint stores. Take the main bearings out of their boxes, lay them in clean lacquer thinner in a shallow pan or something WITHOUT TOUCHING THEM; clean the block and the cap saddles one last time with a lint-free towel and lacquer thinner; lift them by their outside surface at the very edges where they meet, and place them carefully in the block saddles WITHOUT TOUCHING THE BEARINGS; do the same with the other half and the caps WITHOUT TOUCHING THE BEARINGS; put a couple of drops of ATF or 10W-30 synthetic motor oil on each block shell; lay the crank in. I like to use a small squirt type oil can for the lube so I can control how much I use, and avoid getting oil on things that seal, and committing other such unclean acts while building a motor.

Put a drop of gorilla snot on the very ends of the seal, and a light smear of silicone on the rear cap surfaces of the block, especially the one toward the oil filter side, making sure to get a little bit into the very corner of the register step, all the way from the crankcase to the outside world. One at a time, put a couple of drops of lube on the exposed main journals; place the caps in place; put some assembly lube or white lithium grease on the bolt threads and thread them in; and tighten all of them to 10 - 15 ft-lbs or so. Make sure all the caps have gone down into their register shells. At that point you can spin the crank, and tap it gently on both the front and the rear, to seat the thrust surfaces evenly. Tighten the bolts to 30 ft-lbs, the crank should get easier to spin; tighten them to 50, as you tighten each one, it should get a little easier to spin. When you get there, take your BFH, and give each cap a good solid whack, and tighten them again. You'll probably find that at least a couple loosened. Tighten them back to 50, then all the way, to 65 ft lbs.

Note the emphasis on cleanliness, NOT TOUCHING THE BEARINGS, slow and gradual tightening to spec WITHOUT OVER-TORQUING, and relieving the stress from the assembly so that the bolts don't loosen the first time the engine runs hard