Yeah, was a little tough to get the inner race out, but we have LOTS of tools at the shop, and I'm not afraid to use 'em! I took the pieces to our failure analysis people, and they seem to think that the roller bearing was the initial cause of failure, that in turn put unusual forces on the thrust washers, then the seal went, etc... ( then my money went! )
Oh well, its all water under the bridge. I'll be interested to know if anyone else has similar issues or, if I'm just "special"
I don't know Ron or his work, but $35 seems almost too cheap for a crank rebuild. I have a shop that I have used in the past with good success. They cost a bit more, but I think with machinists you get what you pay for. But I could be waaay off, maybe Ron doesn't need to charge as much because of his business model... I'll have to send him some projects and see for myself.
FYB