I've decided to change the titles to "Rebuild" vice "Refresh". I think it tells the story better.
Couple of odds and ends done over the last few visits. I measured the crankcase breather hole quite some time ago and found it to be about 3/4". I went to Napa and sourced a stand-alone 3/4 core plug and put it in. I was hoping to recess it a bit, bit it did fit rather snug. Since I don't expect any real pressure to build behind this plug (unless I screw up the crankcase venting in some way) I'm not concerned for a really good fit. I mainly just want to prevent oil from seeping out. Guess I'll find out eventually!
3/4", though it says .760 in decimal form. Last time I checked, those two were not equivalent!
Plug installed. It is flush with the block.
After that, I removed my old pilot (spigot, as the Brits refer to it) bushing from the rear of the crankshaft and put a new one in. It was in there pretty good so I used a tricked I learned on my favorite forum. The pilot bushing is installed in the rear of the crankshaft and it takes the end of the input shaft of the gearbox. It is not a tight fit, so I think it is for alignment more than anything as you would obviously want the gearbox and motor to be able to spin a different RPMs.
The trick is to pack the blind hole that the pilot bushing is installed in with regular grease. Then, using a rod or something that is just a bit shy of the pilot bush internal diameter, compress the grease. I used a hammer and a 1/2" bolt (the bilot bush is a 1/2" ID) wrapped in electrical tape for a very tight fit. With no where to go, the grease fills in behind the pilot bushing and, as you compress it in there with the bolt and hammer, eventually pushes the pilot bushing out.
Pilot bush just starting to clear the surface of the crankshaft.
Once enough of the pilot bushing was sticking out, I grabbed it with a pair of vice grips and slowly worked it out of there using a rotating motion.
Gripped with the vise grips.
Old pilot bushing out. It was in there pretty good.
Based on how difficult it was for the old pilot bushing to come out, I was concerned with putting the new one in. I cleaned up the hole and the new one slid right in with no problems.
New pilot bushing on its way in.
After that, it was on to cleaning the pistons and measuring the connecting rods. The pistons cleaned up very well and the before and after pics don't quite do it justice.
Before cleaning. The top had looked worse than this originally.
After cleaning. Don't think these things have many miles on them!
Side view. Nice shape.
I was also able to locate the number stamps on the connecting rods. On one side was the number "1", "2", etc while on the other were some random stampings, letters mostly. They did match, however, and it easily kept orientation correct.
This would be number one. The cap and rod match up assembly wise on this end.
Then I needed to measure the small end and big end clearances. Since my bore gauge was not small enough to do this, I used my telescoping gauges. As you may suspect, these were from Harbor Freight, of course. They worked okay, but I did have a specific problem that I'll get to in a second.
The appropriate telescoping gauge is inserted into the diameter to be measured. The gauges come from 5/16" to 6". For the small end, I used the 3/4" to 1 1/4", or there about, gauge. The telescoping gauge is a "T" shape with the "arms" of the "T" spring loaded. There is a knurled knob at the bottom of the "T". You loosen the knob, allowing the spring loaded arms to expand as much as they can. The gauge is inserted into the diameter, compressing the spring arms. I rocked around the gauge a bit to get a good fit, then tightened the knob. This locks the arms in place.
The arms of the "T" installed.
The gauge is removed and measured. In my case, I used both a digital caliper and a micrometer. I got different readings for both, but I assume this to be due to the differences in accuracy and measuring method. The 0.8125 from the caliper was what I was looking for while the micrometer measured a bit smaller. Based on the fact that one measurement was right down the middle and that I could slide the piston side to side on the connecting rod, I called the measurements good.
Telescoping gauge measured in the digital caliper.
And in the outside micrometer.
Since my measurements were good and these bearings don't see the wear that the connecting rod or main bearings do, I decided to leave them in. A visual inspection did not reveal anything abnormal, either.
I did the same thing, using the same methods, for measuring the big end diameter. Like with the main bearings, the bearings were cleaned and installed and the caps torqued to specification. Being an older Mk1 motor, the connecting rod bolts use locktabs. I included, though didn't bend, the locktabs in the bolt up just to make sure that they wouldn't throw my readings off if I didn't include them.
Torqued and ready for measurement.
As with the small ends, the big ends all came in spec. I did have a problem, that I mentioned earlier, however. The telescoping gauge I used for this measurement was faulty. When I tightened the knob to lock it in, it tended to draw in the arms just a bit, making the measurement smaller than it should have been. It took me several times of trial and error to prevent it from doing this. In the end, while I've been happy with every other measuring tool I've been using, I should have spent the extra money on a slightly better set of these. Lesson learned.
Finally, before installing the pistons back on the rods, I weighed the rods. According to the workshop manual, they should all be within 4 drams. That works out, as best I could figure, to about 7 grams. Fortunately, all of my connecting rods were within about 3 grams of each other, so no worries.
My kitchen scale in a foreign land. I didn't tell the wife!
Doesn't seem like much, but there were a lot of cleaning and other iterations going on. I also had done some more stuff that wasn't worth documenting, like measuring the gudgeon pins (they were fine) and other items.
I also make the big decision to get the block bored. Those pits that I mentioned in my brush honing video that I wasn't going to fix just kept gnawing at me. What a waste it would be to do all of this work and the car be fundamentally flawed by an engine that won't hold compression because I did a shoddy job putting it back together. I asked on my favorite forum and it was a unanimous answer.
Outside of the machine work, however, this is going to cost me extra because I'll have to buy oversized pistons. Hopefully the pits aren't too deep (I don't think they are) since I've only got about another 0.020" before I get too nervous about machining out more. I had intended to drop the block at the shop today, but the snow messed that up. I'm hoping for Thursday, now, but we'll see.
This is also a rather lengthy post, so thanks for your patience in advance.
Since the motor gets appreciably heavier when the crankshaft gets installed, I wanted to take care of the few things on the back of the motor before I got too far to lift the thing off the stand. Namely, there is an oil gallery plug back there and the core plug for the rear of the camshaft. I couldn't get to either of these adequately, so I pulled the motor off the stand and on to the bench. The two plugs were quickly installed and the motor put back on the stand for crankshaft installation.
Oil gallery plug is the hex-head plug in the middle left of the block. The core plug is that gaping hole you see.
As I've mentioned, the crankshaft has had some work done, machining the main journals down by 0.010" and the crankpin journals down 0.020". To verify that these still checked out, I needed to use an outside micrometer to measure each of them. There are a few ways to approach this. In my study (yes, YouTube videos), I determined that I wanted to measure each journal in four different spots. This would provide enough information to determine if the journals were tapered or out-of-round. The trick here is to establish a point of reference that you want to use. You can mark the crankshaft, use the Woodruff key...anything that makes sense to you just as long as you keep your measurements straight for future reference.
I chose to use the Woodruff key as my point of reference and set it facing me. From here, if I measured the journal with the micrometer parallel with the Woodruff key, I called it the "x" measurement; perpendicular, the "y" measurement. Since I was doing four measurements per journal, there was an x1, x2, y1 and y2. The "1" measurement was towards the front of the journal, as referenced to the crankshaft nut, while the "2" measurement was towards the rear of the journal.
Crankshaft positioned with the Woodruff key facing me.
First, I cleaned the crankshaft and the micrometer with CRC Brakleen to remove any foreign material and oils. Buy this stuff at Walmart...cheapest I've seen it anywhere at about $3.50 a can.
Because I hadn't done it yet, I used a small nylon tube brush to run out the oil passages in the crankshaft...
Each passage goes from the main journal, at an angle, through the crankpin journal. Interesting.
...and then blew compressed air through them for about 10-15 seconds and then a final air blast over the crankshaft. Using my readers (magnified about 1.0X), I looked close with a bright light to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Before I continue, a general word about cleanliness and I won't mention it again. When I had my Midget back in high school, lack of attention to detail on my part caused me to ingest the small nuts that held the air cleaner to the carb body into the engine (I forgot to put the lock washers back on). I cracked a piston or two. I replaced all of the pistons and the connecting rod bearings. I did not pay any real attention to cleanliness during the job and, within about a month, I struggled to maintain oil pressure as the bearings slowly ate themselves due to foreign material damage.
I've learned my lesson. So, at any time I mention installing or removing any bearings, bearing caps, the crankshaft...anything...I cleaned everything with Brakleen and compressed air. I also changed my nitrile gloves several times. While foreign material may throw off measurements, cleanliness is especially important during final assembly. So, as you read, keep the cleanliness chore in the back of your mind at all times.
There are a bunch of YouTube videos out there on how to use and read a micrometer, so I'm not going to repeat that information. However, I had a hard time finding information on how to zero one, so I will cover that.
It is a straightforward process, but important as I'll be measuring to the nearest 0.0001". Granted, my micrometer set is not that high of quality, being from Harbor Freight, but process is process and I wanted it to be as accurate as possible.
With the micrometer set comes two primary standards, one that is 1" and the other that is 2" and an adjusting wrench. Since I was using the 1-2" micrometer, I chose the 1" primary standard and tightened the micrometer on it.
The 1" standard in the micrometer...turns out it was right on in this picture.
If the micrometer does not indicate 1", the adjusting wrench is inserted into a small hole in the sleeve, or barrel, and it is rotated in the appropriate direction to get the micrometer zeroed.
The small hole in the micrometer's sleeve (barrel).
The adjusting wrench inserted to rotate the sleeve counterclockwise. Flip the wrench to go the other way.
After all of that build-up, I got my measurements of the main and crankpin journals. The workshop manual calls for 2.0005" to 2.0010" for the mains and 1.6250" to 1.6255" for the crankpins. With the machining work done, I expected to get 1.9905" to 1.9910" for the mains and 1.6050" to 1.6055" for the crankpins. Turns out, I got the right values in the right spots! Yea, me!
#1 journal x1 measurement.
#1 journal y1 measurement.
For the cute little engine it is, the crankpin journals are not wide enough to get two measurements, so only one was taken and they were just called "x" and "y". Oh, and as a general rule, don't measure near the oil passage holes. This will mess up your results, obviously!
With that information, measuring the bearing oil clearances was next. This is where I made my big mistake that resulted in tearing everything back apart. While I didn't HAVE to do this because I had corroborating information that told me the oil clearances were fine, I'll go through the proper method and then mention what I did wrong afterwards.
To properly measure the main bearing oil clearances, the bearings and main caps are installed in the block and torqued to specification (50-55 ft-lbs) while the crankshaft is left on the bench. Then, a bore gauge measurement is taken to determine the inner diameter of the bearing. The bore gauge reading is, as read, the bearing oil clearance.
First, it's important to get the bearing installed properly. Though difficult to tell with the bearing half in your hand, it is not a perfect half-circle. This becomes very apparent when you push it into its housing and you have to press down pretty good to get it to fit flush. Even then, until the cap is installed and torqued, the bearing is not as round as it will get.
To minimize any offset, it's important to get the bearing centered in its housing as good as you can. The bearing ends will stick up just a bit beyond the housing edge. Use your fingernail to go across the top of housing and bearing end on both side to achieve about the same amount. This is more of a feel thing, but this shows that the bearing is not truly circular - yet.
Hard to see, but the bearing ends just barely stick up above the edges of the housing.
It's also important to get the bearing centered front to back as well. The easiest way I found to do this is to center the tang of the bearing in the recess in the housing that it fits in. I was able to use my fingers to slide the bearing into the appropriate positions, pushing on both ends at the same time so it didn't twist.
The tang and its channel is to the left. This bearing needs to go to the left just a bit. That center channel is the oil channel.
As for the bore gauge, the key here is to zero the bore gauge to the actual crankshaft main journal bearing measurement that you got for each journal. Since mine were practically all the same, I picked the mean value, so the bore gauge was zeroed at about 1.9900". The first time around, I just zeroed the bore gauge at 2", which was the length of the anvil installed. My measurements resulting from this were obviously invalid, but it didn't click why with me until I got home later that night and watched some YouTube to figure out what I did wrong. Doh!
My workshop manual does not explicitly state the required oil clearance, but it does provide the numbers to do the math to figure it out, giving me from 0.0010" to 0.0027". The general rule of thumb that I've been able to find is that the oil bearing clearances run about 0.001" for each 1" of journal diameter. So, since the main is about a 2" diameter, that spec makes sense.
With that done, the main caps came back off.
But, it wasn't quite time to put the crankshaft in for good, yet. Next up was to use Plasti-gage to back up my actual measurements. I got this stuff at Napa for just a few bucks, so it's cheap insurance. It comes in different sizes depending on what you clearance spec is and each size is color-coded. Since I was looking for 0.001" to 0.003"-ish, I used the "green" size, which is for clearances of 0.001" to 0.003". Perfect!
Since the crankshaft had been sitting out unattended for a bit, I blew it down with compressed air (no Brakleen since it hadn't been handled). I cleaned the bearing surfaces with Brakleen and compressed air, and set the crankshaft in. I then used a pair of scissors to cut the Plastigage to the approximate length of the journal and set it in place.
And there it is.
After that, it was time to install all the caps again and get them torqued down.
Installed and squeezing some Plastigage.
I waited a few minutes, then took it all back apart to see how much the Plastigage compressed.
Squished! The skinny part in the middle is where the oil channel in the bearing is so no compression there.
The package that the Plastigage comes in also serves as the measuring tool, standard on one side and metric on the other. It's just a comparator, really, so you hold the paper against the squished part and find what comes close to determine your approximate clearance.
#1 journal looks to be just under 0.002".
A better closeup, except for the glare. Close to #1 bearing.
All of the Plastigage measurements came in very close to each other and they all backed up the bore gauge measurement. So, if nothing else, I have peace of mind. I may screw up a bore gauge measurement, but it's hard to mess up Plastigage.
Now, of course, I had to clean up the Plastigage from the journals and the bearings so everything came back apart again and cleaned as previously mentioned. Since this was final assembly, I applied Permatex Ultra Slick Engine Assembly Lube to all of the moving parts.
Yes, it's red. Even applying it liberally, I doubt I will use more than half a bottle.
This stuff is a very slick and very sticky oil that stays adhered to all of the moving parts during and after assembly. It provides lubrication for the engine's initial start. With a freshly rebuilt motor, all of the wear surfaces are new and dry. With the first few seconds of engine operation providing little to no oil flow/pressure, this stuff helps to prevent damage. Regular motor oil can be used if there is little time between engine assembly and the first start. Given that I have no idea how long it will be until I'm ready to unleash this beast, the stickiness of this stuff will prevent it from flowing away into the oil pan. I'll use this stuff through-out the entire assembly for all moving surfaces.
On the bearing. I put more on than this. You can see the strand between my finger and the bearing. The strand just sat there, not breaking.
With the crankshaft installed, it was time to measure its end float. Two more bearing surfaces that I haven't mentioned are the front and rear thrust bearings, or thrust washers as they are commonly referred to. For the Spitfire, these are half-circle bearings that sit in recesses in the rear main bearing cap.
The thrust washers. The grooves are oil passages.
While the main and crankpin bearings' purpose is obvious, the thrust washers' purpose may not be. The main bearings absorb the vertical forces of the crankshaft as it rotates about its axis and the thrust bearings absorb the horizontal movement of the crankshaft. While some does exists during normal operation, a typical combustion engine does not experience a lot of horizontal force to the crankshaft since the explosions in the cylinders push the pistons up and down, not back and forth. However, when the clutch is depressed, this pushes on the flywheel which, being bolted to the crankshaft, causes the crankshaft to move forward (horizontally). The thrust washers counteract these forces, keeping the crankshaft properly positioned in the block.
By design, the Spitfire's (and other Triumph motor's) thrust washers are not captured to the bearing surface. Over time, excessive wear can result in the thrust washer becoming so worn that it can drop out of its recess in the bearing cap and fall to the oil pan. When this happens, the crankshaft and bearing cap come in intimate contact and they begin to eat each other. Eventually, there is so much horizontal movement of the crankshaft that the starter pinion comes into continual contact with the flywheel gear ring and further damage occurs. There's more to this discussion, but that's the gist of it. You can find out more information at the Custom Thrust Washers website. And, yes, I purchased a set of their thrust washers!
With the thrust washers installed, a dial micrometer and magnetic base is positioned as shown in the workshop manual to measure end float. Using a flat head screwdriver between the crankshaft and #2 main bearing cap, I moved the crankshaft all the way to the rear of the motor. I set up the dial micrometer as shown below and zeroed it out.
Just a bit more zero adjustment required.
With the micrometer zeroed, I used the screwdriver to move the crankshaft to the forward part of the motor. The needle deflected about 0.075", which is within the specification of 0.004" to 0.008" preferred called out in the workshop manual.
At the time that I took these pictures, the old thrust washers were installed. I hadn't done a lot of research on them and hadn't ordered new ones. My research led me to learn all of the unique things about the Triumph thrust washers that I mentioned above, so I went ahead and ordered a set from Custom Thrust Washers. I expect them either Monday or Tuesday. It is possible to replace the thrust washers with the crankshaft installed by just removing the rear main cap. I've already done a video on how to do this.
There are also several other things that I have done to the engine that I'm not covering here, but in the interest of not running for another several paragraphs, I'm going to end the post. I'll get everything else written up and videos uploaded over the next week or so and hopefully get my posts caught up with reality.
As promised, I am doing a quick write-up on the interior that I got the other day and the amount of money that I spent going through Rimmer Bros. as opposed to someone on this side of the pond.
My prices for domestic are about what you can expect, no sale, averaged between a few places. My prices for Rimmer's are what I paid for this particular order, which included a 17% off sale and an exchange rate of about $1.24 per pound.
All of the interior, as far as I could figure, was from Newton Commercial, a company out of the UK, which makes some high quality stuff that's very original. I believe that most domestic suppliers also supply stuff from Newton Commercial as well, so you should get the same stuff if you order. The only stuff that may be different is if you do NOT get a moulded carpet set.
So, with that, here you go, all prices rounded to the nearest dollar:
Item: Rimmers: Domestic:
Moulded Carpet Kit (Black) $296 $575
Handbrake Gaiter $10 $12
Radiator Deflector Boards (both) $36 $40 (I'm not positive these are the same item)
Spare Wheel Cover $38 $50
Door Caps (both) $31 $58
Boot Mat $20 $37
Boot Back Board $25 $45
Door Panels (both) $100 $160
Rear Cockpit Panel $68 $108
Wheel Arch Kit $100 $155
Totals: $724 $1240
Total savings, before shipping, was about $516, or about 40% (think I did that math right). Shipping cost me about $130; it shipped Wednesday and was here on Friday. I didn't need this stuff that quick, but that's quicker than anywhere else I get parts from domestically.
There you go. My comparison is a bit unfair, again, because I'm showing you sale prices for what I paid against catalog price averages for domestic suppliers. But, if you pick you battle, I just don't know why you wouldn't go to Rimmer's during a sale, especially since it's the same stuff and the exchange rate now saves you 15% right off the bat.
A few more hours at the garage. Most of my time was dedicated to painting various pieces-parts, but I did officially start engine re-assembly...even though it was just a few bolts.
A couple of odds and ends first, however. I finally found my other steering knuckle and got the bent bolt swapped out. I also went with the new flat washers that I bought for that purpose since they were a bit thicker.
There it is! Right where I left if, of course...as is usually the case.
With the new bolt, the crookedness of the knuckle disappeared, as I hoped it would. I also got the bolts lockwired together with not problem. Lockwiring isn't too bad, but you do have to put the wire under a good amount of tension, pulling it tight around the piece, before and during the twisting. This prevent a lot of slack when you're all done. A bit easier said than done, but it's okay with a bit of practice.
Starting the lockwire twisting with lockwire pliers.
After four tries, it's done. On the shelf for future use. Clamp bolts seem a bit long...might have gotten the wrong lengths?
I got the front seal in the timing cover put in. I got it started with my fingers and tapped it home with a rubber mallet.
Decided to go with a Signal Red valve cover using some of my chassis paint.
As for the motor, I went at it again with the brush hone. Turned out much better this time with the cross-hatch. After reading a long post on my favorite forum about one member's adventures at rebuilding his engine in-place, I discovered that a perfect cross-hatch is based on cylinder size, drill speed and repetition rate (how fast you move it in and out of the cylinder). So, given that, I ran the drill at 450 RPM and ended up with the picture you see below after about 45 seconds, at about 2 seconds for each repetition (in and out).
Ooooh, ahhhh.
Got a lot of the pitting out as well, but I didn't want to cut any more.
After that, I had to wash the hole thing again so that sucked up some time and, with a kid's basketball game fast approaching, I essentially stopped for the day, outside of putting the coolant drain plug and oil galley bolts and plugs, all with new washers, in.
Water drain plug installed. That crankcase breather hole is laughing at me.
New oil galley bolt washers; copper in this case. Block is upside down here.
I still had a bit more time after that so I did an idiot check to make sure that I did indeed have a Mk2 flywheel for the new clutch that I got on Friday. I hastily cleaned up the flywheel of some of it's surface rust...
Before. Some cobwebs in there, too.
After. Still needs more work, of course.
...and it fit just fine. Lucky me!
Looks good!
That was about it. Doesn't seem like much, but that was about 6 hours of work. When you think about each part getting at least 4 coats of paint and having to wash the block, it adds up. Until next time...
A few more hours in the garage over the last several days. A majority of the time concentrated on block work and it went pretty well.
You may remember from a previous post, though, that I was refurbishing the steering coupler. This came out pretty good, though I did discover that one of the bolts is bent and it appears to be making the one side crooked. If I could just find my other coupler, I'd swap bolts out!
I had sourced the rubber bushings and needed to drill out the centers to the appropriate size, which happened to 5/16".
The bolt and appropriate drill bit. Notice that the shank of the bolt and larger in diameter than the threads.
I had to come up with a way to hold the rubber bushing in place and settled on just a pair of vice grips lightly gripping it. The teeth provided just enough friction to prevent it from turning. I used a drill press to keep the hole as straight as possible. Not perfect, but it worked.
Hi-tech holding method.
Assembly was straightforward, including the grounding strap. As I mentioned in that previous post, the strap electrically connected both sides of the steering coupler since the rubber bushings would prevent a path for current flow. The holes in the strap were different diameters, so there wasn't much choice on reassembly depending on which side of the bolt it was supposed to be one (thicker shank or thinner threads).
The grounding strap showing the different hole diameters.
Partial assembly, closeup on the smaller-holed grounding strap end (top left bushing).
Final assembly except the lockwire. You can't see the crookedness here. Gotta look for that other coupler!
I also painted the timing chain cover in the low gloss black.
Still a bit wet in this picture.
After that is was on to the block. I wanted to hone the cylinders and then clean the heck out of it in preparation for painting.
The cylinders looked okay, though I had concerns about #2 and #3. There was some minor rust in there and some pitting, but I was hopeful it would hone out. Not so much, as you'll see in the video. I have to ultimately determine what I'm going to do, but I'm leaning towards keeping it the way it is as I can barely feel any deterioration.
Think this is #4. Not bad. The line at the top is from the top of the ring stroke, but there is no "lip" there.
Think this is #3. Discoloration and rust is evident.
For the honing process, I purchased a Brush Research 2.75", 240-grit Flex Hone brush from Amazon for about $25. These are what I remember using in auto mechanics class in high school. I go into it more in the video, but here's a still of the directions.
Directions.
After the honing process, which I may revisit, it was time for a serious bath of warm soapy water to get rid of all of the honing residue and all of the other junk that had accumulated from cleaning with the wire cup brush.
Time for your bath!
Once that was done, I put the core plugs in. I used a Gasgacinch Gasket Sealer as a mild adhesive/sealer, though a good tapping was required to drive the plugs fully home. I don't expect them to leak. Oh, and I used compressed air and water to do a basic flush on the block. Lots of pretty nasty stuff came out of there. Should have taken a picture.
Core plug in front of block.
The gasket sealer and a dish-type core plug.
This socket and a dead-blow hammer were all that was required to drive the plugs home.
It wasn't very hard getting them lined up and in straight. I had some initial concerns, but I just tapped on the side that wasn't going in and it did with no issues.
Post installation. Block is rotated for doing the other core plugs.
After that, I put ear plugs in all of the threaded holes or otherwise taped over stuff that I didn't want painted like the fuel pump mounting point, gasket surfaces, etc. I cut the ear plugs off flush with a razor knife so they wouldn't interfere with the paint going down smoothly.
Example of the ear plugs protecting the threaded holes. This is the dynamo mounting bracket point.
One side ready...
...and the other.
I used the Rust-Oleum Engine Primer that I got from Amazon and got two coats on, waiting about 30 minutes between coats as per the can instructions.
One side done...
...and the other.
And the rear mounting plate as well.
I stopped over there tonight on my way home from work and got two top coats of the Rust-Oleum Low Gloss Black Engine Paint on the block and the rear mounting plate. I took these pics with my cell phone, so not that great.
One side done...
...and the other.
I waited about 30 minutes between coats, again as per the can instructions. While I was waiting, I got the anti-roll bar bolted in. My fears of it not fitting turned out for naught as it went in fine. I scratch some of my red paint, of course, but it's in there. I do need to get a crows foot to torque the bolts, however. No pics of that.
I also dropped the head off today to get it worked. I asked them to press in new valve guides, check for a flat deck, hot tank it and install hardened valve seats for the exhaust valves and the intake valves if they thought it was needed. I should get that back sometime mid-week.
Oh, and I did end up taking advantage of the most recent Rimmer's sale to buy the interior for the car. All of it. No, it wasn't cheap. But, I did save a lot of money and, like when I bought all of the sheet metal, I'll do a post of the cost comparison when I get the stuff in my hands, which should be Friday!!!
