Doctor Doug omitted the "squirters" altogether on "Twiggy." Used some aftermarket rods IIRC for a non-/6 application. Funny thing about bearings is - no oil out = no oil in! I predicted the end result as I was reading the thread and was unsurprised when poor Twiggy tossed a rod through the block in protest on the freeway...
The aluminum blocks don't take kindly to welding from what I've read. I know one of DD's aluminum builds had a welded closed deck and massive warpage issues. Another had the top deck closed with hard block. Both engines were short lived after the good Doctor's "treatments."
