Cam degreed and on the money. Oil pump and windage tray installed. And my heads were done a day early so I picked those up. They look great!

Tomorrow and Saturday, I should receive all the extra parts I ordered:

- ARP bolts for intakes and carbs.
- Oil system plumbing.
- Head gaskets.
- etc.

Spent some money this week!

I promise to get some pics.

Getting there.

You go!!!

It’s all coming together!!

Today, FedEx dropped of a whole bunch of stuff that I needed. It was like Christmas! Lots of fittings and stainless ARP hardware. If I can get the short block painted over the weekend, I’ll be able to get the heads installed then measure for pushrods. Moving right along!

I found that I’ll need to order valve covers. The ORM Gen VI pieces will not fit with my studs/poly locks. I priced sinew ones from CP and Teague.... ouch! I might look into some cheaper aluminum valve covers. I think they’ll fit with my headers but I’ll need to test. We’ll see.

Today was spent working on the Cigarette. We now have most of the hydraulic lines run. I need to get a rigging template from Latham, and then we can drill the transom. We finished up fuel lines too.

Productive day!

I have seen a bunch of builds with the valve cover spacers. I don’t know if they would provide the clearance you need but it may save you a few bucks. The e tops are very tight to the covers and I learned that many tall ones will not fit (the hard way). Plumbing! Those damn fittings will eat you alive and you are always short one. You will thank yourself at the end for spending the money now. Keep up the good work Tom

I need to stop posting updates from my iPhone. The autocorrect is annoying. Or funny depending on how you look at it.

I’m still on the fence about the valve cover situation. I broke off the drippers on one of them and it seems to fit, but I haven’t rolled it yet over to see if anything hits. I’d rather not shell out $700 just for valve covers. I was thinking a set of Billet Specialties aluminum valve covers might fit. I can get them for a good price. I can mock up a header to see before ordering.

The other short block is finished and ready for the heads. My gf and I are celebrating St Patrick’s Day tomorrow so I won’t be working on anything until Thursday or Friday. Just enough time for pair to dry. I’ll order pushrods this weekend. Almost done!

Not sure if you guys saw my head bolt washer slipping situation in the tech forum... what a pain in the a-ss! Fortunately, I got it all taken care of and the heads are on the port short-block. This week I'm going to have the intakes blasted clean. I think I'm going with black but I still haven't made my mind up yet. Still not sure about valve covers.

I'm telling you Tom, everything black with the blue valve covers will make them Pop!!