Well I recently had a catastrophic head gasket failure with lots of coolant leaking into my oil. I've already removed everything including the heads, but figured I should check the block to make sure everything is fine. Upon removing the oil pan, this is what I find in the sump filter.
http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/9792/metalshavingsfu8.jpg


My question is...how do I check the bearings without pulling the engine (http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=258597#) to ensure the bearings will be fine? Most people would say to just junk the engine, but I would like to see how bad the damage is. Can I just drop the main bearing cover and check the bearings? Would I be able to just run a heavier oil?

Thanks. The engine is a 3VZFE