Ideas on what's causing my click/tick/rattle noise?
I'm not seeing the signs of this detonation problem you speak of...
Timing and detonation didn't do that to those bearings. I really have a difficult time buying into that, especially since there's zero evidence of detonation on the piston tops. I think it was a simple assembly error (no offense) or a possible part failure, or maybe some trash in the engine in the oiling system. If that engine detonated enough to beat bearings out of it, you'd see evidence of it. There is none.
RRR - no offense taken. I am well aware I am at best reasonably capable at taking things apart and putting them back together. However, what bites me in the *** all the time is just plain not knowing all the ins-and-outs of this stuff. Operator error on assembly is a distinct possibility. I followed Doug Dutra's book and double checked everything but still, I'm not voting for halfafish getting it right and the problem lies elsewhere. Some new parts do indeed fail, that's certainly possible. Maybe I got some crap bearings. Before assembly I gave the entire engine a complete bath with hot soapy water and multiple scrub brushes, a hot water rinse, and an air blow-dry, followed by oiling down the machined surfaces to stop flash rust. I don't think there was any crud in there but who knows?
As info to all, the whole business of detonation came from the machine shop when I took my pistons and plugs in to see why the rod bearings went south. This is a highly reputable shop that I trust, and two local slant gurus use them all the time. Yet I can't explain why they thought it was detonation and many here have said that isn't supported by the condition of the parts. I do know what pinging sounds like and I didn't have any.
My next question is; why is it difficult to see the locating tabs on those shells, & why do they appear sheared and transferred across the parting line? If they didn't spin in the rods, they should never look like that. If they did, I am skeptical the rods are A-OK.
Agreed, the tabs look like they are not there. I wish I'd saved the bearings so I'd have a better idea for clues as to what happened. Unfortunately, I tossed them when I got the photos I have. The machine shop did do a tiny cleanup on two rods, the rest were OK. Looking at the rods when I was working on it the last two days, they do look good. Everything is clear, clean, and sharp.
And the final thought for tonight. Many thanks to all who are helping with this. Sadly, I just don't have the experience to be able to say for sure what happened or didn't happen. I shall continue to pursue this. Meanwhile, I'm putting this back together for round two. Fun fun fun, tomorrow is cam degreeing day, another adventure into the unknown. YouTube, here I come...