In my world, I have had rods resized to standard when rebuilding an engine (Aftermarket standard practice) so it's quite likely that a properly rebuild rod will fit the bearing as is...
That being said, Ford did make bearings that were oversize on the outside so that the used rod could be enlarged, rather than the common aftermarket practice of grinding the rod cap to make the hole small enough so that it could be bored- or honed- to standard size...
So, no crank removal.
You may bolt on the replacement rod (Even without piston) as a trial to check bearing fit... Some people use plastigauge. I use brass shim stock (Or tin foil, or paper) to check clearances... It's more accurate, but takes more attention.
Karl