I made a quick run down to the shop at 4:30 today, I was back by 5:15 so my bride could head to her second job. I could have stayed down there and done more work, but then the deeOG would have been by his lonesome and would probably have re-arranged the internals of any stuffed item he could get his paws on.
While I was down there I got a couple of items done. The new engine stand needed to be assembled so that was the first job.
I pulled out the hardware pack and laid it out on the table and got to work.
Once I had placed all the slot A’s into tab B’s and tightened them it was done.
It only took 15 minutes to get that together so I moved on to getting the flex plate off the back of the engine. It is harder to do after the engine is mounted on the stand. Ask me how I know…
My Rigid 1/2″ impact wrench is the perfect tool for removing the torqued bolts. Set to auto, it hammers the bolt loose and then slows immediately before removing the rest of the bolt slowly. And if the crank was not jammed in it’s current position, it would also not require me to hold it. The impact is just right. I rescued the trapped bolt and wrench as i removed the flex plate. Check out how bent the bolt hole is.
Not sure if I will just hammer that back flat or if the one of the other engine will work.
For a 25 year old block this thing looks really clean, hell the rear main wasn’t even leaking. Too bad I destroyed it.
Here are a couple of shots of the block numbers.
I got the numbers so I can check out the specs when I get a chance. I am a little concerned that the bolts that I currently have for mounting the engine to the stand may be too short. I did check they are the right thread, with my new nut and bolt sizing tool.
Unfortunately the length of the bolts only allows about 1/2″ of thread to stick out into the block. Will 4 1/2″ sets of 3/8th threaded bolts be strong enough to hold up an engine from one end? I am a concerned but i do think I will give it a try.
Once I get the block on the stand I can find out what caused it to lock up. The weird rainbow effect on the piston is not a good sign. But for this day, time was up and I headed back to the house. I still needed to move all the plants back in the house since a freeze was predicted.
