Great thread.

As an aside that chem dip stuff is great for old carbs (esp for you motorcycle folks). Remove any plastic/rubber bits and throw the entire carb in there - cleans out tons of gunked up stuff in the tiny passageways.

 

Machine shop told me 4 days, now it's been a month. I'm a pretty patient guy but I had enough. I just randomly showed up and wanted to see my stuff. Sure enough they were working on it and it needed to be turned.

Anywho, I ordered Federal Mogul main and rod bearings from Lucky8. I'm sure they'll show up before my parts are finished.

I can't wait to start working on this thing and get it back together.

 

Small update, got my parts back from the machine shop. I'll take pictures as I clean clean clean and prepare everything for assembly.

I ordered mains and rod bearings from Lucky8 on the 15th, was charged on the 15th and just now received a shipping notification on the 25th. If you remember, I received parts from the UK in 3 days from purchase.

I still need to order an oil pump and a knock sensor, but other than that I think I am good on parts.

I think I am going to paint the block the light Buick green. I need to get in and clean up the engine bay as well as go through the wiring harness and make sure it's all good.

I may remove the transmission and transfer case in order to assist in reinstalling the engine. I had a not so fun time getting to several bolts on the motor. If anyone has suggestions on that, it would be appreciated.

For anyone wondering, the machine shop charged me $310 for cleaning the block and heads, decking the heads (they were warped), machining and polishing the crank, installing the cam bearings and checking for cracks. I thought this was a little high. First impressions being that they never called me to tell me there was a delay and it took a month to get done, I probably won't be using them again.

Anyways, I don't want to hide anything from you guys as I feel if I can rebuild this motor, you can certainly rebuild yours.

 

I have he same issue with Lucky8 every time I order from them. I sent an email over to them saying the same thing. Just remember they are a small time operation. I still use them and have great things to say about them. Justin/Eric are great guys. But you're right sometimes shipping times suck bad.

I've always taken the fan off and motor mounts off to tilt the motor forward to get to those top bellhousing bolts.

 

$310 sounds pretty reasonable to me. I paid $500+ for machining the heads and a valve job in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Where are you located?

Lucky8 also just finished hosting the Rovers on the Slopes event last weekend and Erik just had a baby.

 

I'm in Huntsville, Alabama. My valves aren't too bad so I am going to lap them myself.

I understand the small business part but their main page says, "Great pricing | Fast Shipping". Maybe a small mention on their main page stating that there would be a delay, or whatever.

 

Awesome, progress.

Got all my parts minus the oil pump, which I still need to order.

Cleaning, cleaning... cleaning.



Coffee filters provide a cheap way to clean parts. Automatic Transmission Fluid is a great cleaning agent.





Had a hard time choosing between two colors



I haven't used these in a long, long time.



Before...



After

 

No bad comments on the color, must be good!

Going to see about plastigauging the mains tonight!

 

Update!

I was a little worried about the machining due to the somewhat sketchy machine shop.

Installed the bearings in the block...



Dropped the crank in...



Laid out the plastigauge and put the mean bearing caps on...



The workshop manual states:
Main bearing diametrical clearance 0.010 to 0.048 mm .............. 0.0004 to 0.002 in



Looks good to me...



It's between 0.0015 and 0.002, closer to 0.0015.

A little on the loose side but nothing I think to worry about. I typically run 15w-40 oil so this should be pretty good.

 

Not fully possible to tell from the pic but did you put assembly lube between the bearings and crank journals. If not I would recommend doing so.

You seem like you know your stuff so sorry if it's a dumb question but would hate to see you cook a new engine on start up for something simple.

Just finished a rover v8 rebuild so it's all fresh in my mind!