And you thought only the moon has craters....
 

Finally I was able to do some real teardown on the motor....I don't know if it could have been worse, but we will let the pics speak for themselves....

https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture164.jpg
https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture165.jpg
https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture166.jpg
https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture167.jpg

Overall, the damage was contained to number 3, and was very minimal...minimal enough to not worry too much about totally tearing the motor down. Just going to put new bearings in it, button it up, and drive until I have another motor built up...also keep in mind, I'm on a very tight budget (which I think is all of us anyway!).

Also, before I start my ordering, does this balancer look ok, since this clearly was NOT the cause of my rattles?

https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture163.jpg
https://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j...Picture162.jpg[/img]

How's the crank look - any pics?

No fatal scarring on the journal....the saving grace on this motor is that it was at idle (a very low idle at that) when it happened....I peered from underneath and no damage to the piston wall at all, the journal isn't quite so polished as the others, but no scars at all! Which is fine by me...so long as I can get it together and it will last a few months, thats all I really want.

do yourself a favor and buy a reconditioned rod for that cylinder, or have the old one magnafluxed before you put it back together. Sudden stops do funny things to rods.

Easiest way is just to buy one reconditioned rod. About $8 off and on for the pressed pin and maybe $20 for the reconditioned rod is pretty cheap insurance, in my opinion.

If you remove all the rod caps, KEEP THEM IN ORDER.