After an extended visit to rehab (at
Reynolds Machine Shop),
the prodigal son had returned home
to get his life put back together.
With shiny new 0.040 over forged pistons
(now a 437),
gleaming bores, racing cam, and reworked
heads; he
was ready to get back to work... sucking
money outta my
bank account.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
It seems that my Parents' cat has noticed
the 4" by 6" hole in the
floorboard (left by the old shifter)
and decided to make my
Ranchero her own private meat locker
(yeah, that's a dead rat).
Upon removing the rodent, I also noticed
a plethora of feathers...
As the joke goes: "Look up! It's a dead
bird!"
Thankfully, the weather was cool enough
to slow down
the stinking process; however, it was
obviously time to plug
off the cat access hole.
After the Christmas chaos had passed.
It was time to
get my head(s) on straight for New
Year's Eve.
Things were now getting out of sequence:
I could have continued
on the engine and had it ready to drop
in; however, I had a big dirty
job that I was, up to this point, avoiding...
Could you put a shiny new engine into
this dirty engine compartment?
Neither could I. Thus began the days
(weeks) of chassis clean up.
After many days of eating the grease,
road grime, paint and metal
that was being flung around by the
wire wheel on the 4" angle
grinder, it was time for the rust-proof
primer.
After the primer dried, it was time
for some
good ol' fashioned Rust-oleum (black
please).
What an improvement.
Ready for the engine now?
Eh... not quite.
I still had some other issues:
Ahh yes... front brakes. Stopping is good.
Next issue:
Floorboard cancer & old shifter
hole.
Solution:
Remove nasty carpet,
grind floor pan,
rivet sheet metal,
and apply fiberglass...
Did somebody say "fiberglass"? Great.
I just love workin'
with fiberglass. Note to self: "Next
time, long sleeves."
Actually is wasn't all that bad. After
a couple of days, you
couldn't even tell that a cat used
to store its kills in there.
OK. Now are we ready to drop the engine?
Eh... not quite.
Once the engine is in, it would be
nice to be able to cover it up
with something, just in case it rains.
Something like a hood perhaps.
This is the result of 4+ hours with
the grinder. What a day.
It took about 6 beers and half of a
wire wheel.
As they say: "Black is beautiful."
OK. Now are we ready to drop the engine?