Second project for the weekend was to do more engine assembly. First was to clean the bolt holes in the block for the ARP studs. A couple of people in other threads suggested cutting a bolt length-wise and packing the cut with grease to collect any 'gunk' in the holes. Good thing I did, what a mess they were.
Here is a picture of the bolt with the cuts. Took less than 1 minute with the Dremel:
Next I installed the studs, head gasket and dowels.
It took a few seconds, but I finally got the head to sit on the dowels. Ready for some torquing:
Then spent a good hour checking my notes, posts on lots of sites (FourEyedPride.com and TurboFords.net mostly) to make sure I understood how to setup the timing on the cam, aux shaft/distributor and crank. Then put it all together.
I even got my wife involved, she tightened the bolt on the tensioner while I pried it all the way open. (took two tries since I wasn't open enough the first time.)
Finally put the new valve cover gasket and painted cover on:
Still have a ton of stuff to do in the next couple of weeks but I'll be ready to put it in when the car comes back from paint!
