It sounds like he's already put all the piston in. From that you can usually tell what is going on by the distribution of clearance variations. Front to back, side to side, rods lengths and/or the throws. At this point I would simply look at the data he already has, see what its telling him, and then make a decision on next steps, if any.
Like Cab, I find its usually the rods.
Thanks for all the replies! Yes, the motor is already together and I was looking at the spec sheet and noticed that they were not all the same. The following is how it measured out:
1-.010
2-.013
3-.010
4-.010
5-.012
6-.014
7-.014
8-.014
I really appreciate all of the help and input from you guys. This is a motor that I got along with a car I bought and the short block was already assembled by the machine shop. Any more input so far as the head gasket thickness?
