In another thread that I started about end play in my pony ( www.acmoc.org/bb/showthread.php?33855-End-play-on-D2-Pony ), there were several suggestions made on how to fix it. After re-reading the thread, I paid close attention to post #4 by edb. He stated that the end play is set by the length of the front main bearing. Stephen posted pages from the manual explaining how to do it. The manual says to press the bearing flush with the inside of the block, and drill the holes with a 15/64" bit using the hole in the block as a pilot. The way I understand this is that when the bearing is flush with the inside of the block, the holes in the bearing will line up with the holes in the block, and the bearing will be positioned correctly. This is consistent with what edb said.

When the bearing was installed by the machine shop, it was flush with the inside of the block, but the holes didn't line up, and they had to drill a new hole about half the length of the hole, which resulted in an oblong hole (photo 1). This is why the dowel came loose and why I had too much end play. I pushed the dowel back in and locked the bearing in place and there was .015 clearance, so that looked good, but I wasn't comfortable with the oblong hole in the bearing, so I pulled everything back out. Upon further inspection, it appears the block has been worn by contact with the crankshaft web in the past. The second and third photos show the wear. The fourth and fifth photos show a hairline crack. With this in mind, I have a few questions...

Q1 - would I be safe by going by the location of the holes to have the bearing in the correct position, with this resulting in a small amount of protrusion by the bearing beyond the inside of the cylinder wall?
Q2 - should I be able to turn the bearing so one of the outside holes lines up with the dowel hole, drill that to spec and ream, then use a hacksaw to create the channel for the oil to get to the bearing?
Q3 - should I be worried about the small crack?
Q4 - anything I'm missing?