OK, I had to give the kid a bath and get him to bed. He really stalls at bed time...saying he's hungry and then walks up the stairs really slow.
So, of coarse by this time it was extremely hot. I think I spend a little time each night for three days getting the engine ready to pull. I was hoping to get it out without taking the hood off but the chain on the hoist was too long so the hood had to come off. The engine when to the machine shop towards the end of June. They were busy so it was going to take 3 or 4 weeks before they could get to it.
In the mean time I installed the trunk weatherstripping. I was planning on the trunk lid not closing due to the seal being too thick. I was right, the lid wasn't even close to closing. I clamped some thin pieces of wood to the seal to compress it. I left it like this for a week. I still need to do a little more work to it but the lid does close now.
After 4 weeks I called the machine shop and told them I was ready for the engine. They were busy and hadn't looked at it yet. I got a call the next week and they wanted me to come in to see what they'd found. They did a leakdown test and cylinders 3 and 7 were leaking 90%. They pulled that head to find 2 sticking exhaust valves and all the seats cut way too deep. That head needed a couple new valves, all new seats and all new guides. Although the other head was working OK, it would have had the same type of work done to it. I decided to bring in my original heads to have rebuilt instead of using those Aerohead pieces of junk.
Two days go by and I go back to the machine shop to see how bad the original heads were. They needed all new valves and guides and 1 seat...still less work then the other heads. Right as I was leaving, the manager yelled at me and said, "Oh, the intake manifold is cracked."
That was the original intake with the correct casting date and everything.
He took me back and showed me the intake. It had a crack that started in the center of the two throttle holes and extended both dirrections...all the way out through the choke thermostat well and over to the EGR valve opening. He said, "Now would be the time to put a 4-barrel on it."
I told him that I thought I had an extra intake manifold that I would bring in. I went home, found the other intake and brought it in the next day. The casting was a little different then the original. The casting date was in the back of the intake instead of in the front so you won't see it anyway.
Obviously the paint on all the engine brackets was ruined. I've blasted and painted those things at least 3 times and couldn't mentally go through all that work again. I gave them to the powder coater this time.
I picked up the engine on Tuesday.
Cleaned and painted it on Wednesday.
Dropped it back in on Thursday.
I worked on it last night and all day today. This time I filled the fuel line with gas before trying to start it. I also filled the bowl with gas through the vent. I had my wife turn the key while I worked the gas. It fired right off and sounded decent. I took a short video of it but need to figure out how to edit and post it. I was tired so I havn't thrown a light on it yet. We only had it running for a few minutes.
