gota plastigage em.

 

Were they spun? That's what the awful scraping/squeaking noise kinda sounded like.
Why does that question sound so familiar?
And did you replace the bearings, or just inspect the old ones?

 

ya they spun i grabbed a hold of them and was able to shake the rods around and yes i replaced the bearings... they were cheap aluminum bearings this time im going to get chromoly ones and im going to just replace them all

 

Check the crankshaft carefully. Spun bearings often means gouged journals.

 

he has the tranny lose the pan off the connecting rods disconnected, i would say get the crank out and have it checked and turned if needed at a shop and get the correct size bearings for the turn.

 

That would be the best way to go whether you see damage or not, then at least you know what dimensions you're dealing with. Any chance the engine/crank had already been worked on, and you put in stock bearings but the crank wanted undersized? Did you see any size stampings on the backs of the bearings?

 

Or any stamps on the rod caps? Most guys will stamps the rods and caps with a number to make sure they keep them together as sets.

Dead give-away that the bottom end had been worked on previously.

Definitely need to take out the crank and have it inspected/ground. Even a slight gouge or burr will destroy the new bearings in just a few minutes.

On the bright side, you are getting more knowledge about the LT1 powertrain than 99% of other guys who replace an opti. <--I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.