Well that tube in the post above has been stripped of paint and is going into the plating shop Monday with a whole bunch of other stuff:
Also, I removed the three oil gallery plugs from the engine block today in preparation for its hot tanking in the shop I'm taking it to on Monday. They're brass and the square heads are a tiny bit smaller than a 1/4 inch drive. So I took a lower quality 1/4 inch drive and filed it until it fit. The first one on the rear of the block came out easily. The second one I tried, on the front of the block by the cam, stripped immediately (the square hole was rounded). The third one came out beautifully.
- throttle body parts (just little stuff)
- another batch of fasteners - I hope, the last
- trunk latch
- crank pulley
- other small bits and pieces
- fuel injection pipes
The front one that stripped was not all that much of a worry. I got a T-55 socket and used a Dremel to turn the formerly square but now rounded hole into an approximation of a Torx. I hammered the T-55 home and used a huge breaker 1/2 inch drive bar to turn it out. No worries.
Here is the sole rear oil gallery plug that turned out beautifully with my "special tool":
Also going to the machine shop tomorrow is the following:
Once all this is done we will be on the home stretch. With the block ready, I can paint it and then start reassembly.
- new cylinder head - for fitting of hardened valve seats
- new piston and liner kit, for cleaning off the preservative and mounting the new pistons to the rods, plus a hone of the liners
- connecting rods so the small end bushings can be replaced with the new ones I have, and also hot tanked to clean the crud off them
- crankshaft for assessment and grinding/polishing
- NOS camshaft to clean the preservative off and check the clearances in the block (with the possibility of a line bore and bearing bush installation if required - I hope it's not)
- 0.3 mm oversized rod bearing shells
- 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm oversized main bearing shells
- bearing caps and rocker arms and rocker shaft holders, for hot tanking and assessment of the rocker arms - new rocker shafts are supplied
That is in the plans!
You've set the bar high on this restoration and it'd be a pity not to at least check them.Good plan. Though it is a factory piston/sleeve kit so I expect they're already OK?
Oh god don't ask that! Well let's see:Looks great. I know you did some of the work yourself but how much have you spent so far and how much more till finished?