Ten weeks dragged on before I saw my engine again.
What began as checking in every few days with the machine shop, slowed to weekly checks and then bi-weekly as the pandemic, work, and family life distracted my focus. As before, I'd also taken up several other necessary rebuild tasks to fill the time and make progress towards the larger goal. Here are a few.
With the major components off at the machine shop, I focused on what remained. The injectors were on the bench and would eventually need attending to, so why not now?
Into the ultrasonic they went.
..then wire-wheeled. Looking much cleaner. How to finish them though?
The decision was made to blue them, like a rifle barrel, and so I did.
Pleased with the results, I placed them in a box and labeled them as prepped for reassembly.
The sump pan.
If you'll remember from earlier, it was looking a bit rusty, but that was just the outside.
Once drained and looking at the inside, I first noticed this 1/4" chunk of aluminum. Where had it come from?
After some sleuthing I found its origin at the bottom of the block ladder frame. One of the blind threaded holes had been pushed out when someone fastened the bolt down with RTV trapped at the end. The hydraulic pressure escaped through the path of least resistance. Fortunately it's inconsequential as a dab of thread sealant will prevent any leaks upon reassembly.
Further examination revealed that a plate had been welded (poorly) to the bottom, the source of several leaks. I spent about a week repeatedly redoing all the welds and grinding them down to smooth radiused corners that would restore a factory appearance. I had decided to keep the added plate, for it added strength and appeared to be the slightly less laborious path to take. However, this complicated welding as a layer of oil was trapped between the factory bottom sheet metal and the added plate. This resulted in repeated battles with weld contamination, but I eventually was able to overcome it with angle grinder, die grinder, and welding persistence.