August 30, 2003

Started getting everything set in its proper place before the attempt will be made to start the engine. I was reading through the Bentley manual the other night and realized that I had assembled the rocker arms incorrectly. I had put the metal ring that the rocker arm bolts go through on upside-down. It was a good thing I had to take them off anyway, as I noticed I had also forgotten the seals that go on the rocker bolts. I also picked up a pack of white lithium grease and put a little on the pushrods as the manual suggested. Torqued everything down, then adjusted the valves again. When I went to turn the engine 360 degrees to do the other side, the engine would not turn. Eventually I realized it was probably because of the torque converter bolts not being put in. I got underneath the car and aligned the drive plate with the torque converter and felt something clunk into place. I had put a scratch on the drive plate and the torque converter itself so that I could line it up again when I put it all back together. I could hardly see it, but I think I got it in the right spot. I also finished connecting up the heater hoses and the vacuum hose for the auto transmission. While I was under there I also tightened up that last transmission/engine bolt, the left top one (which did, in fact, work infinitely better when the car was on a lift and when I had a long extension on the ratchet). After that I started reconnecting the FI harness and installed the new engine lid seal, which looks much cooler than the tattered bits of rubber that were there before.