Leaderboard

Okay so I ended up with 30-thou ring end gaps due to pre-gapped rings but what the hell, thats way better than the 120+ I had to start with, and with 11:1, worked heads, camshaft and possible nitrous use thats probably not a bad place to be. The whole shortblock is together and torqued to spec with new bearings and oil pump, the sump/timing set/water pump go on next and then I'll chuck it back in the truck before I put heads on it.

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!