August 17, 2003

Finally got a chance to go work on Wilson again. What a messy job it is putting an engine back together. I think it’s messier than pulling it apart. Lots of spreading of oil, sealer, and other stuff. I was pretty surprised how well everything came back together. I hope everything seals properly. I put on the pushrod tubes dry, with new seals. No Permatex. I used just a little sealer on the cylinders where they go into the case, but that was it. Torqued everything down and it was raining by that point, so I put everything back in the car and left. I’m missing a piece of cooling tin, the tiny piece that goes on the bottom around the air intake distribution manifold where it connects to the head. I’ll see if someone on the list might have one. Things are finally starting to come together. I’m still quite nervous though. It’s going to be a real struggle getting everything back in I think. Trying to line everything up while I maneuver the jack & match the engine to the transmission. I’m most concerned about the heating ducts & hoses though, as it’s the thing I paid the least attention to while I was taking everything apart. Hopefully I’ll take a day off from work this week to do some more work. Just waiting for a nice day.