Sure, it kept the stuff out of the bearings. But the oil pump
is upstream of the filter, and all that metal garbage went through it
and chewed it up. "Fixing up" the engine is spending money on an
engine that will fail again very shortly, if it generates any oil
pressure at all. Nothing less than complete teardown is necessary
here.


Yes, seems reasonable, painful as that conclusion is.
Price tag: $21K (plus labor). Gulp.