Thought I'd give everyone a little update.
the connecting rod bolts were the original bolts re-used by the shop who rebuilt it and it appears they stripped some of them in the process and were too cheap to replace them. I managed to pull piston #3 and found it to have absolutely no damage or anything wrong with it. Bottom line, I know the engine needs all new Pistons at the very least and have given up on it. I am planning on pulling the rest of the block out tonight and I have found a great replacement for it: an AP1 in perfect shape with 58000 miles, bundled with a set of mint black seats for $2800 together. Seems like a steal to me, going to look at the engine in the next day or two.

 

Now that sounds like a good plan to me. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

Can you hear it run? Look for signs that bolts on motor have been removed and replaced.

 

Don't forget to pull the clutch fork , found this and may come in useful
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/uk-irela...e-diy-1111673/

 

It is from a guy in Cinncinati who wrecked his car and is parting it out, he sent me 2 videos of it running in the car and it does sound alright but it isn't extremely clear and easy to hear. Here's some pictures of it.. Damn nice looking motor

 

You can't tell much looking at the outside of a motor. I had an experience as a young guy that I hesitate to mention but I will just to remind us all that you need to trust - but verify. I swapped a Chevy 350 V8 into a Toyota Landcruiser. I bought a used engine trusting a guy with a story like OP is hearing which could well be 100% true. I was young. I trusted, but did not verify. When all was said and done, after hundreds of hours of work doing the swap, it turned out that the engine was blowing a quart of oil out the pipes every 100 miles. I had to pull it, and rebuild it. I learned a lot on that one. Fortunately, Chevy 350s were a dime a dozen and they rebuild very well so I ended up with a rocket ship sleeper. Great car.

Others here know more about how to examine an engine when it is out of the car. I'm sure it can be done. Certainly, you could check the valve clearances pretty easily it would seem. Is there a way to check the bottom end? Can you do a compression test somehow? Ultimately I suppose you can meet the guy face to face and talk about the history of the motor, maintenance etc., and how it was running. Does he have maintenance records? I do notice a non oem oil filter on there. Not an issue in and of itself - just a question to ask.

I think this could be a good bottom line option for you as long as the rest of the car justifies the investment.

 

And she is out. Already had the oil pan and head off so engine removal was a little bit different but got it all done, ready for a new heart.

 

I have finally pinpointed the exact source of the noise on the old block. It was, once again, a decent amount of piston drag on cylinder 4, and a very light amount of dragging on cylinder 3. Just for sake of curiousity.. What could have caused something like this?

 

Pistons designed to expand with FRM and aluminum, vs an iron liner with a different expansion rate.

 

This is what I suspected as well, and so far I haven't found any other signs of damage to prove otherwise, but it makes me wonder why this damage was limited to the exact same cylinder that had scoring problems triggering the rebuild. Just a coincidence?