WICruiser

The "Clunk" may not be easily heard, particularly with the belts on and if there is oil between the thrust face and bearing.

I don't have access to my shop manuals right now but .007-.008 sounds like a pretty good number from what I recall. Looking at the thrust bearing can you see approx. equal flange thickness on both sides of the crank? The failure mode basically results in the rear flange being cut away by the crank such that crank starts trying to machine into the bering support area.

There does not seem to be any tendency for the crank to push rearward so I think the crank is typically thrust as far back as it can move in the end play range before you tighten the clamp. Not forced but just back as far as the free end play will let the crank shift.

Mrmerlin

if your using inch feeler gauges then New is .004 max wear is .016 .
Your numbers sound good , make sure to check the rear pinch bolt, many are quite loose, use loctite on the bolt.
and pay attention to how much it takes to loosen the bolt do this with the front bolt loose
Dropping the exhaust is required to do this. dont forget to disconnect the O2 sensor from the CE panel prior to dropping the pipes, it pushes through the chassis