John - Kinda of caused me to pause, too!  My old '74 VW Van developed
the dreaded knock and my VW Guru assured me it was rod bearings, so,
rather than split the case, I just pulled the jugs, used the old
plastigauge with the new bearings and was delighted to find that the
bearings had worn, NOT the crank!  Cleaned the jugs, mic'd 'em, slapped
a new set of rings in and went on my merry way for another 30K before
giving the van to one of my poor clients with six kids.

You know, from what I have been told by OLD mechanics is that it was
rare to have to turn a crankshaft back in the 30' & 40's because of the
bearing material used.  Granted, longevity was less, but those softer
bearings were intended to take the abuse, not the crank.

BOB - WA4RRN
'85GL