I have a 289" I'm building for one of my half ton trucks. I have misplaced the main caps for this engine. I have another 289 that didn't clean up at .090 and it has the main caps on it. My machinist says that the main caps won't swap with even with an align hone. I get that the thrust clearances won't line up, but is this fixable?

Does anyone have a good idea for direction for me to head in?

 

You can use the caps, but then the block's main bearing bores have to be "align honed" to match those caps to the block. Unless your machinist has already tried to fit them and they're too far off to even do that. Maybe that's what you mean ? Otherwise, you'll need to start over with another block.

 

I think the concern is with the thrust clearances on the #3 main bearing.