Hello all,

I just wanted to give an update to everyone that helped me with my rebuild (thanks again).

Off and on over the last 8 months I have been trying unsuccessfully to start my freshly rebuilt engine. I Tried just about everything, and replaced nearly everything while I was at it, I could not get it to stop back firing out the carburetor no matter what was done.

I finally gave up and hauled it to a retired mechanic and asked him to poke around at it whenever he had time. Well he had it about a month before he discovered what was wrong. There is ceramic filters inside the exhaust manifold (some of you may know this, but this is the first one I have seen like this), which were completely clogged from the prior piston ring failure, which dumped oil into it.

I had disconnected the catalytic converter before taking it out there thinking there was too much pressure from the exhaust, but I would have never thought to look inside the manifold. He chiseled it all out and it started and ran great.

Anyway, I got to drive it around for about 15 minutes before the gas lines clogged - I guess I will have to drop the tank and clean it out right. I tried to just get away with just draining, and rinsing the tank.

One thing I noticed right away is I lost 3rd and 4th gear, even when stopped and transfer case in neutral. I read in the archives that the gear selection cup is a little picky, so I will have to look into that next.

Thanks again for all the help.

Ryan