^Title. I need to order some main bearings for the rebuild. I don't have access to the old main bearings in the engine, but I do have the number on the crank. I understand that the 95's are different from the 1996-1999 bearings (something to do with the number of tabs.) Can I use the crank to tell me what the engine year is???

you can look on the girdle once you drop out the crank.
on the 95's the lower girdle is keyed with a small squarish cut into the metal itself right on the edge of the surface where the bearing would be placed.
if you order bearings they would be called "Full Groove Mains"

most people doing performance builds on 96+ will key there girdle to accept them as a safty measure to assure complete lubrication of the crank.

I don't have access to the block either - it's at my parents house. All I have is the crank number, hence my post. I just didn't want to make a trip back to their house to look at the block

Order two sets, return the ones you don't use :shrug

i would just order a set of "full grove mains" and then see what i have when i drop the girdle.
if you have them, sweet
if you dont, then just grab a dremel and a metal cutting wheel and make your own notches.

either way, your engine will thank you for the new bearings