Sat Feb 13th 2010.....getting it back

As in getting it back together.....Engine today. Tore all down, went through, put all back together degreed cam, went through valve train set it up.

That was HARD, since I grabbed the WRONG bag of shims from the shop.....took a lot more time than normal, but I had to use the thicker shims in the places they would go and "shuffle" the shims around, I got it all, all right, just took a while (like an hour) more than I would have liked.

BUT one thing we learned on our last motor , the 8k pulls and the valvetrain looked like new, so stick with what works.

Used a new timing chain a Double Roller with Advance and Retard from Indy Cylinder head, I dont know who makes it, but well see.....I dont know about the chain, I just dont like it for some reason. But its a pretty good piece and with the Milodon pan and windage setup it went right in no mods (even though the instructions said the pickup tube hole would have to be slotted because of the 1/16 alluminum shims for the Oil Pump)

So tommorow engine in, headers on.....Run to Summit, and change tranny plumbing , I dont like it. Besides Ive got a metric "ass" ton, which is (2 1/2 times a normal ass ton) of stuff to return.

Nothing else exciting today just grinding along, like the damm pilot bearing, I used a dremmel and cheese sliced it out, it took about an hour, but it was a lot less "stressful" on both the crank and my temper than what we did last time. I regular pilot bearing puller wont get this thing out, and to avoid ANY chance of arcing the bearings I choose to do it this way , make 2 cuts 30 degrees apart and remove the slice, then the shell of the pilot will slide right out. Same way we used to section steam pipes when I was a plumber/pipefitter to remove a broken nipple. (other than a nipple extrator)

REALLY , REALLY Like the Milodon Pan, not as "trick" but way more functional for oil return.

So far so good at putting it back together.

Had a hard time finding a parking spot here at the Hotel, there is this Nightclub that does a MAJOR business on weekends, and well......I drove around the lot TWICE , and just happened to find a spot had opened up, and it happened to be right in front of my door......that was nice, I was starting to grumble.

REALLY Missing the kids......Gotta figure out how to get home to see them ASAP.