Connecting rod squirt holes?

Side clearance CAN be important for oil control flowing through the rods.

But, as a point of reference, the SCAT rods that you can buy for these SBM's have narrower rod big ends, and the side clearance with those rods compute out to about .025-.027" with standard journal widths. We put a set in and the side clearances were just that, around .026", and I did measure the journal widths to be right on spec. No problems so far (we DO run an HV pump with it 18-20% extra flow), and I have never read any complaints about this wider side clearance being any issue with the SCAT rods.