yeah I know it's funny , buying first then measuring, but I haven't bought a BB yet. the position of the new cranks will tell me exactly what length of BB I need, so I will not be sending anything back. I noticed today the Exage cranks are bent, the chain ring oscillates in and out by about 1/4" , so it's not like I'm wasting money.

for me this whole mt. bike build was a mess from day one, never had a bike fight me like this one. Tried to "save money " about 10 years ago by pulling all the 7-speed components off an early 90's cracked frame and moved to a new frame to be frugal and "not wasteful". I think the bike will finally be 100% right after I throw all that old stuff away . Lesson learned , buy and use everything from the same decade at least , salvaging old bikes will cost you ten times more than you save.