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Getting somewhere. There was so much freakin' sludge in this thing. Luckily a small stainless brush, an old chisel, a few cans of degreaser and a whole lotta elbow grease got it sorted. The block is clean enough and the bores measure up well at 4.001" to 4.002", but the stock rings are shot and a few of them cracked in half on removing the pistons. I measured two end gaps and they were both about 1/8" hahaha. The pistons themselves don't look as bad as I thought though. They measure 3.996 to 3.998 across the thrust faces so I'll probably reuse them. They don't show any signs of damage beyond some mild pitting - with that and the broken rings I'm thinking detonation. The sump cleaned up well, too, after pouring about a pint of sludge out of it. The stuff had the consistency of cold porridge. Lovely. On the upside it looks like a good strong pan with true sealing surfaces, and even the dent in the lower section beat out just fine.

The sump and valley are post-cleaning session. They were caked in a 1/4 inch of black buildup. The bores were pretty good, though, as are all the bearings and lifter bores. Sludge from age and lack of oil changes, coupled with only the occasional fire-up is my guess.

Ford South Africa used to make Cortina utes (they call them bakkies) and later model 80s Escorts too, all from factory. They're so cool. I saw a pic of an Aussie Escort panno converted and it looked a little strange with the high roofline. Maybe it needs a sedan roof grafted instead? Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk

And an Escort ute... I have a MKII van body that would make a good ute

A bubble arch van is one of those life goal things for some Escort nutters. I hope I live long enough to do one. A MKII with a MKI front, bubble arches, a cage, and a really off it's chops Pinto, because I can't afford a BDA or similar. If I win Lotto... all bets are off... it will be mad Escorts everywhere

Looks exceptionally clean inside... Where do you think the sludge came from? Clevos aren't generally known for doing head gaskets. Maybe the sludge prevented any tarnish buildup? Sent from my CPH1920 using Tapatalk

This thread is quite old, but it caught my attention. I have a 300ci factory EFI six in my 1971 F100. I transplanted it in 1998 - ousting the original 240. It's a 4.9 litre, 4" bore with 3.98" stroke. Armour guard brought 6 into Queensland during Expo in '88. They were fitted into F250's. 4 were ultimately crushed would you believe? Two survived - I have one and I believe the other went to a South Australian farmer who removed the EFI. Just though that may be of interest to some. Cheers.

By the look of the thermostat it probably hasnt run in over a decade until I got it. This thing is crusty. I can't see evidence of it being on gas, I'd say its just been plunked in there, beers were had, things were smoked and then the project got abandoned right around the time Port Arthur was happening. Lots of cleaning ahead for sure. The timing set that came out was actually pretty tight, the picture doesn't do it justice. In all honestly I'm tempted to clean it up and see if it can be reused, or at least kept as a spare. In the meantime, the block is out of the truck. Hazzah!