MyIsland

Hope you have a speedy recovery Tom.

Did you come up with an engine color? I was thinking to paint mine Chevy orange.

Chris

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Thanks guys.

I was up late last night after spending the last few days in bed.... started to feel like myself to the point of trying to plan out my upcoming work week as well as maybe even getting some engine time in over the weekend... not so fast mister... spent the majority of the day in bed. Tomorrow will mark day five of full-on, d*** knocked in the dirt, sickness. Hoping tomorrow will begin the “crawling out of the basement phase” of this thing. I know it hits everyone with different degrees of severity, believe me, avoid it if you can.

I did manage to pick up some heat exchangers from Mike Mello so the day wasn’t a total wash. And some of my oiling system parts came in this week. I’m looking forward to getting back to work on the project.

Engine color... I went with black for the short block. I had to fix some spots on the oil pans where scratches turned into tea problems with rust and splits of the factory coatings. I repaired the damaged areas, treated the metal, and then used a truck bed liner paint to revolt the pans. It came out pretty well. Since the pans were already black, I figured it would be easier to go with a gloss black on the block. It came out looking nice.

I’m ready to put the heads on the completed short block and start measuring for pushrods. I just need to get back out there.

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

LOL.. some of the auto-correct in that last post!

Still down but not out. Hoping maybe to get the heads on this week if I can. I had some ARP head bolts that came with the heads but they showed some corrosion damage so I went ahead and ordered new sets. Once the heads are on, the rest should go pretty quickly. I'll test run in the garage, then I'll get some dyno time scheduled to get it dialed in.

The other short block should be done next week. They've been down with the virus too. Thankfully, everyone has recovered,

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Heads are on and torqued. That was an effort! If I’m up to it, I’ll measure for and order the pushrods today.

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Trying to figure out the direction. Here are some semi mock-ups.



Black block, coated heads, natural intake.

Merc blue.

Josh and I were thinking maybe black on the intake also.

Thoughts?

ph1971

iTrader: (1)

I like the all black look. I used header paint on the heads this time and it has held up much better around the exhaust ports but it’s flat. You are getting close now Tom, just in time man. Spring is coming soon

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Pretty sweet looking Roscoe!

I was going to leave my heads as they are. They're anodized with exception of the ends and I like the look. I'm stuck on black or clear-coated natural.

Wish I was a lot closer. I got word today that the other short block is ready so I need to pick that up as well as the other set of heads. If I can get some time to clean up the motor plates, I can get this one on the ground to get the other one on the stand. Pushrods should be in Friday along with my HVH spacer and some gaskets. I still need to figure out some plumbing.

Lots of work to do and the stamina isn't quite there yet but I'm trying. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

87MirageIntruder

Black on everything but the blue valve covers would sure make them pop. Or, go all black, I look that look too.

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Port engine short block is home. Heads should be ready Friday or Monday. Time to get cranking!

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

Cam and lifters in, timing set installed and ready to be degreed. Verified deck clearance. And my cylinder head guys called this morning to let me know the other set was done. I'll pick them up at lunchtime. This one will go together quickly I'm thinking.