No it wasnt you, for some reason that piston seize in the bore.

no bent valve or anything like that?

i guessing all the damage in the left, it from the crack hitting the piston.

 

The valves still look perfect. In fact, they still have the purple stuff on them from being seated by the engine shop. A mechanic buddy looked at the piston and said to be sure and have the crank checked for balance. I see no damage on the crank but I'm so far into it and the crank is out... I dropped it off at the shop this morning and they said I can pick it up this afternoon.

Bigger problem is that one of my piston rings snapped while being installed so now I need to get one overnight. That should be cheap... not.
But I may also just go ahead and get studs (I was planning to use bolts from a kit that I never used). It is supposed to rain Sunday so, as usual, timing is everything.

Edit... Replacement rings arrive tomorrow morning.

 

Progress was slow today. I have the engine back together with new bearings and rings but I didn't start the swap because I got a late start. Weather will decide whether I can swap everything tomorrow. Otherwise I will finish Monday. I'm going to stick with my current intake so I don't have to disturb the injectors and because I recently replaced everything on it.

 

I always think I am just going to beast this thing out in a few hours. Never seems to work out that way. New engine is ready to go and old engine is on the crane with mounts off but I have a few bellhousing bolts left....my least favorite part. It will be out this evening and I'll probably have the new engine on the crane and ready to shove in before I quit for the evening.

Then I'll just beast it in tomorrow in a few hours. Hahaha

 

I was removing the bolts for the flex plate spacer ring in poor light and picked what I thought was dirt off of the flex plate. With my FINGERNAIL. It made what sounded like a metallic clink when it hit the ground. So I took the ring and flex plate off and walked with it toward the light and the center of the flex plate fell out. Seriously... Fell out with the slightest pressure. I then saw that it was cracked in a circle around the spacer and toward one side and the crack was dirty. Not new. A definite show stopper and I would normally be dismayed, angry, sad, grief stricken, and any other combination of emotions but wow, that could have really stranded me big time. I'm actually happy at the timing. And it would have required transmission removal when I'm not already doing the engine. I googled it and others have had the same issue. Check this out:



More overnight shipping

EDIT: While that particular flex plate is 16 years old I clearly remember it being pristine when I installed it a few months ago. Further research yielded speculation that damage similar to that could be caused by overtightening the bolts in the retainer ring. That makes sense I guess due to the circular pattern of damage (right where the boundary of the retainer ring goes). But I think this was caused by stress on the drivetrain due to my bent rod. I tighten these on the crane, because the back of the engine is concealed on the stand. You can't tighten very much on the crane. The rave gives conflicting torque (33 and 37 ft/lbs) so I went for 35. That's not very much torque but it is almost the point when a free engine will start to turn with the spark plug holes open.

 

Woah, that's insane Charlie. Just fell out like that. D*mn.

Well like you said, better now than a week from now.

 

That particular part was 16 years old so... Dang I still can't believe it. I don't now how I made it to Sams Club this morning. Unless I'm missing something, that flex plate makes the truck go.

 

you have all the fun, but your not the only one

 

Yikes. That's bad. My new one arrives tomorrow for a mere 81 dollars with shipping. Shipping is a racket. I can Fly to Las Vegas for less.

Making final prep tonight I was about to put the oil pan and front cover on when I thought I'd better spin that crank four full revolutions. Just to be sure. It turned a quarter and stopped. Hard. Okay. Back the other way. Stopped hard. Thank God I was just using a small ratchet because I couldn't find anything touching and it suddenly occurred to me... the timing chain.... valves... I post my idiot moves, too, so for the novice if you turn the crank without the timing chain you will hit a VALVE. Luckily I figured it out and everything is fine.

Everything is back together except the upper intake (I left the wiring harness hooked up to the truck) and I am just waiting for arrival of the new flex plate. I am going to take off a little early today and helicoil one lower intake bolt that made me queasy, move the new engine from the stand to the crane, install the flex plate, and install the engine. I hate working in the dark but I'd like to relax this weekend. Fingers crossed.

 

Good catch.