Well, Day 1. It took me 7 hours to get everything disassembled. I probably spent a lot more time than needed fighting with the radiator and those damn trans cooler line connections. Anyway, some pics:

 

Very interesting. It's not nearly as dirty as I'd expect.

It seems like you can really see wear on the lifters.

 

 

If you have not done the heads then someone else did, since they are not as grimed as inside of valley. Strange that rockers were not cleaned up at same time.

 

Yes, heads were machined, steamed, valve seals, etc about 9k miles ago. Why they didn't soak the rockers is beyond me.

 

Were your lifters mushoomed, or did they come out the top?

That red sealant around the valley pan wasn't regular practice. Some put a light coat around the front/rear water channels. You may have found pieces of the sealant in the oil pan if it has been off.

 

They were mushroomed. I had about 6 that came out of the top with just the needle nose. The other 10 needed encouragement with some assembly lube, a large pair of vice grips, and lots of cursing. I'm replacing with all new parts so I didn't need to baby the lifters, just had to be careful of stress on the ports and not rocking back and forth with them rather just clamping down on the top of the lifter and spinning left and right while pulling up and letting the lube work its way around. It probably took an hour to get all of them out (of the top).

 

hey Buzz, quick question, I've been soaking all my engine parts in Super Clean to de-grease them for some months now. It's freaking amazing and like $6 a gallon at walmart. I want to soak the valley in it. I was thinking about either plugging up the ports and gaps with rags or just using a thick brush with a good flow of it leaving the ports unplugged. My question is, the product will just drain out of the bottom past the crankshaft and bearings (the oil pan is off). What should I use to flush after that? I'd imagine oil eating residue like super clean would not be a good additive for a running engine. Or perhaps just leave the valley be?

 

Leave as is. Anything you could use as a surface solvent would break loose some things in pieces, perhaps small like a grain of salt. And flush down to become one with the bearing surfaces. The valley, while ugly, doesn't do much.

 

"Yes, heads were machined, steamed, valve seals, etc about 9k miles ago. Why they didn't soak the rockers is beyond me."
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Machine shops I have been familiar with, just grind in valves, check and change valve guides, if needed, etc., but don't bother with the rockers unless client tells them to do so. Sometimes, the client takes off the rockers, and brings the heads alone to them. This is probably why rockers were not touched. Usually due to client error; not machine shop error.