My tech, not a 44 guy, is of the opinion that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". He's also not thrilled that he didn't see the new motor running before doing this (so am I) but anyway. He is against the bearing install, and the head gasket replacement. Mainly the bearings, unless I have the crank turned and rods machined and matched. So how, if possible, do I convince him of the benefit of replacing the rod bearings w/o all the machine work and the benefit of the head gasket. Of course, one of the reasons I'm doing this is to get a good look at the internals before install and to do the sump mod, but also I've been told by so many to do so.

The other option is having friends help in those 2 areas at his shop (he's OK with this, and sorta reccomended it).

Mark, you didn't give any context, maybe it's elsewhere and I just missed it. But we can assume this is a used motor into your street/track (?) car?

The sump mod only makes sense if it's a track car.

Tell your mech the rod bearings are the first indicator for these motors. But that the crank and rods are not at all so delicate as what he might be used to. I have 8 or 10 cranks in the garage. Even those cranks that are bad the bearing surfaces are wonderful except for those that were destroyed by a bearing failure. Not worn bearings - failed. They all mic perfect. The bearing surfaces as manufactured were robust and hardened beyond anything he's seen of domestic or most other import origin. I'll polish them before use but even that's just because I can (for free).

The rods likewise are very robust for the power output. If the bearings show no signs of wear due to misalignment then they can be presumed to be straight. And they are very beefy. The only rods I have had be out of round (much) were from 2 motors that were raced.

The balance of both the crank and rods are within the industry standard for a 'race' motor just as delivered. Not perfect; but damn close. I do balance them but only because I can (for free again) and also after and if drilling the crank.

The head gaskets may corrode over time. The head gasket may be original so it's been slowly going away for almost 30 years.

Thanks for the response! Yes, this is a used motor~90k miles. My old one blew a head gasket and immediately developed a knock due to hydrolock.

I will be using this as a DE car, that is the reason for the sump mod. I've heard too many war stories, I guess. I'm also giving serious consideration to the head gasket replacement and installing the "improved" one with more metal in it to avoid that issue in the future.

Would you bother checking clearances when doing the bearings?

I should also note that it is geting a re-seal, new t-belt, water pump, clutch, etc.

Oh, I should also note that this is my 1st 44 and that I've only driven about 300 miles on it and that this motor had really good leak down #s when I bought it and had a lot of recent head work at intersport less than 900 miles ago so this was a rude wake-up call for me. I've never had a motor let go like this before. So, I want to do what I can to avoid this in the future.