Thanks for all the replies. I haven't dug into it deeper as of yet. It was late last night when I got to the rod. This is the new Scat crank I put in last year after torque converter issue ruined my OEM crank. I had it all rebalanced at Gessford Machine and I am pretty sure they magged it while it was there. They are pretty thorough. As far as clearances I don't remember for sure but I think it was .002" or maybe .0015". I am thinking it might have been on the tight side but my memory isn't what it used to be. I really need to take notes when I do stuff like this. I am running a Canton rear sump pan that only holds 6 quarts and that has been a concern of mine for awhile. I had even been considering adding a "T" to the sump to give it more capacity. I was running 32 deg total timing. I got to thinking this may have started even before I left. On one of my shake down drives I noticed the oil pressure gauge fluctuating a bunch +- 20 psi and I had to drive it maybe 15-20 before I could get to a place that had oil. I think it was sucking the sump low enough to make the pump cavitate.
I doubt anyone magged a new crank if you didn't ask. However, you can't assume anything now, even though I suspect that crank is junk
I'd be very leery to run an FE journal at .0035, pretty loose for anything but maybe race only, cold start can hammer the top bearing a little over time if too loose. if that applies to you, but the oil supply is certainly good advice. I like .001 X rod journal, round up, especially for something on the street. So in this case, .0025 is what I'd be shooting for up to .003 if the parts forced me there. FWIW I haven't seen a tight SCAT FE crank yet either, on the 2.20 stuff I generally need .001 or a mix, haven't run a SCAT FE journal though.
Of course restricting helps keep a little more oil in the pan too
My gut says, still tranny/converter problem combined with maybe kissing the heads based on the marks on the adjacent cylinder, but who knows, could have taken out a second bearing, just not spun yet.
Sounds like you have a strong running combo, just needs some careful measuring on the next version to get it to stay together
Where are you from Alan that you use Gessford? They aren't close to me in Omaha, but closer than most others, I use a single local guy that holds numbers better than anyone I know, but you pay for it. If he drops from overwork, I am hurting LOL