You might consider moving this to 'Build Threads' to make it easier to follow. I know I will be routing for you. Thanks for taking us along!

 

The fact that you have a big-*** wrench, a can of PB Blaster and dead blow hammer at the ready means you know you are in for a long protracted fight

 

We didn’t get very far tonight. Two of the bolts on the cross member requested that they be drilled out since they had been stripped be some lovely previous owner. Maybe tomorrow we’ll get the oil pan off.

 

Those bolts are notorious for rusting in place. 3 days of soaking with aerokroil might loosen them but better to just cut the heads off and knock the nuts out with a chisel.

 

Tonight we got the oil pan off (BIZZLE - as Snoop would say?) unbolted the connecting rod and pulled the piston.
Please advise! The scoring isn’t very bad. I should be able to hone it.

 

Oh wow that piston is way worse than I expected, my boat pistons were not nearly that bad. That engine was run really hard in that condition for a while. It must have been pouring oil out of that cylinder (might have saved the cylinder. You can start by honing and see how it goes. Can you feel any of those grooves with your fingers? Normal overbores for traditional cast iron engines are .020 or .030 which is not a very deep scratch. If you have a scratch more than about .002 or .004 deep it is going to need to be bored.

 

I'm sorry but that is done, a hone is not going to clean that up. I would also check the injector for that cylinder, only thing that can do that is detonation. Also that dark sludge is a sign it was not taken care of very well. How was the rod bearing?

 

I appears that the upper lip of the liner is cracked. That’s bucked up.

 

Well you can either spend big $ and have liners put in or just start over with a good 4.0 or 4.6 (RR recommended). Can't speak for WA but on east coast a decent 4.0 goes for around $600

 

Engines seem to be lacking in this area. Luckily I’m not in a hurry. I’ll be watching for a donor.