For a guy with “no mechanical skills” you look to be doing fantastically well! Not too many people would be prepared to dig that deep into a motor without any prior knowledge... I would also expect the bottom end to be ok but as you can get your fingers on the con-rods you should be able to get a good feel for how worn or not it is before you compkete the rebuild, unless you already have done.... good luck anyway. Looks like a nice project!