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The car is still running well. There’s almost 100 miles on the engine, with 65ish of those on the second oil change. I’m down to half a tank of gas, so I think today i’m going to fill it up with 93. The mixture of 87 and 93 should put me somewhere around 90 octane. [...]

Last night, Rob and I went out to the shop for an hour and a half on a whim. In that time we put on the last couple of parts I was waiting for (Drain cock assembly, oil pressure switch, oil pan banjo bolt), as well as the transmission.
Using the engine hoist to hold the [...]

Yesterday I purchased camshaft seals, oil pressure switch, spark plugs, and two cheap oil filters. The seals and switch were overnight delivery (via Advance Auto). The cheap oil filters are for the break in process.
Last nights installation included:

Spark plugs
Transmission side oil galley plug
Flywheel
Clutch + pressure plate
Painting the oil pan and touching up the block

Tonight’s install [...]

Last night the intake manifold was bolted on. Thanks to Allen, it looks amazing! He put it through the washer for almost a week said, cleaning out carbon and gunk. He also glass beaded the outside surfaces, effectively making it look brand new. I also got the additional water routing pieces bolted down, including the [...]

Last Friday night (5/9/08) we assembled the rotating assembly in the block. Oil tolerances were within spec to slightly loose. The smallport head is done, and it was bolted down last night. The next items up for bid are:

Install wear sleeve on rear main lobe
Install rear main housing + seal
Clean oil pan baffle, sump pickup, [...]

The large port head from my existing bluetop block had some issues. After talking over and considering the problems on that head with Allen (machinist friend), I’ve decided to buy his small port head and intake. It was my eventual goal to buy a small port head (Phase 2 of the overall project), however it’s [...]

Yesterday I dropped off the rods, new pin bushings, new rod bolts+nuts, and new bearings to my machinist friend. He said he should be able to work on them today. The work to be done is:

Weight match all rods
Install new pin bushings
Check specs on main bearings
Bore main rod connector if needed
Install rod bearings
Demagnetize one rod [...]

I did decide on the Duplicolor High Heat Aluminum. After spraying the transmission and block with this color, all I have to say is WOW. It looks wonderful! I have painted the motor mounts and other accessories on the transmission a high heat black. The two colors together look really nice.
I have probably 98% of [...]

Last night Mark and I removed both the block and transmission (Standing-in-engine-bay pictures coming soon!). My previous post stated that I think cleaning up the engine bay is going to be the worst part, but after looking over everything it’s not going to be too bad. Almost half of the bay is covered in black [...]