The height was checked and nothing was out of spec. That's why the pan was not dropped prior to putting head back on. Turning the crank and replacing bearings can be done, but not indicated yet. The knock is not heard over the engine when above an idle. AS far as cutting losses, so far it's all good, loss would have been to not attempt to repair the engine and rush to a new engine. After all this engine rebuilt is worth close to new engine upon resale. That may be what I do if I go for new crate engine, as core is not required and crate is long block.
