Rod Bearing Defects
As I was taking all of my detailed measurements, I discovered that the rod bearings, which are Brazilian made, contained two manufacturing defects. The first defect was a bearing that was "crooked" and didn't sit in the rod cap saddle properly:

The second defect was a bearing that was too long - one side of it rose above one mating surface:

When this cap was bolted to the rod, the visible gap shows how much space there is after the bearing makes contact with its other half:

And, once the rod bolts are torqued down, it causes bearing distortion that can easily be measured. The following two pictures show the diameter inside the bearing (at locations 90 degrees from each other) as measured with a caliper - NOT the most precise way to measure internal bores - but the 0.006" difference clearly isn't acceptable.


I have a new set of higher quality "German" bearings on order which, hopefully, will prove to be more precise.
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