Thanks!! You know, if my machine shop bill wasn't already what it was - with boring, light decking, turning all the lobes on the crankshaft and reconditioning the rods - I might have done just that. I paid on the high end for my machine work too but this is the only reputable shop in my city. Gotta love New Orleans.

 

Well, I got the engine back from the machine shop (again) today. All is good. I had the compression rings swapped in their lands on the pistons. Pistons are in, only snag I hit was on the 4th rod where, after tightening the cap, the crankshaft was bound. Luckily I'd been checking as I went and knew the problem was on the 4th rod and doubly lucky I put maker's marks on my rods during disassembly. So, it only took a few seconds to diagnose that the rod was rotated on the piston and a few minutes after that to pull the piston, yank the wrist pin, rotate the rod, reassemble and reinstall.




The oil clearance on the rod journals checked out as well:


Up next, oil strainer, main seals, oil pan and sensors on the outside of the block.

Thanks for stopping by!