maxwedge, that is correct, the new rod I bought is well within specs. Haven't been able to find any more, nor do I wish to sink that kind of money into a grocery getter.
searched a bit online, and got as usual varying opinions. They were mostly dealing with v-8,s in racing applications, that use 2 rod per throw as opposed to a single rod per throw on the 3800. Some of the clearances people reported were quite large, over .150, so my .020 or so max is kinda paltry.
Basically, larger clearances might result in:
more noise-or not
slightly higher oil consumption-or not.
But both camps did agree on the thing that concerned me the most- the engine probably wont self destruct in a few months
Jeff