OK so after taking it apart again I measured the od of the new bearings and old ones with a micrometer. They are the same size. I had no noise/play with the old bearings. I also set the old bearings in the journals and checked play and tried to slide a .0015 feeler gauge between the bearing o.d and journal. As far as I can tell, the journal has zero wear. When I lay the endbell flat and set the new bearing in it (the rotor and shaft are pointing straight up), I can feel the play I was feeling before. So, I think it might actually be coming from within the bearing itself. Not sure if this is normal/OK but like I said, I bought cheap sealed bearings from ebay. They were $13 for both. There is actually grease leaking around one of the seals already. I am now wishing I had just left the shielded Japan bearings in it that did not give me issues...