MM3Kwolik

You won't likely ever find large pieces of bearing material in the filter due to the size of the screen on the oil pump pickup. Dropping the pan is the best indication of bearings that are chewed up. Have had multiple motors come to me with clean VTEC screens but a mess of debris in the pan.

Sabre

Good to know. I'll still keep my fingers crossed.
As I said, the engine wasn't knocking whatsoever when I ran it for him when I dropped it off, and he didn't hear it when he tested. When I first posted the thread I could get it to knock a little bit on throttle, but not while idling so I'm hoping for the best.

MM3Kwolik

I've had customers drive over 6 hours to me with no knocks but they still had shredded bearings (mains). It's not very common, but it definitely happens.

Good luck!