There's certainly nothing wrong with a good straightedge, but my framing square is good enough for me - maybe because it's made of steel, 35 years old and has never been abused.

I have a large piece of leftover polished black granite countertop that I use to check my straightedge and other things like intake and exhaust manifold flanges - but I wish I had room in the garage to make it into a table so I don't have to lift it onto the workbench for use..... the thing's sorta heavy. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

Frank

My mentor, the old alky a&p mechanic, had a surplus fighter windshield that was optically flat for a surface plate for stuff like this. I priced a Sterett (sp?) surface plate in granite, but it was way too pricey. I settled on a piece of 1/4" x 2" steel bar that I had a machine shop mill super flat for me, then somebody did a permanent borrow on that.

Go to a shop that fabricates custom counter tops and ask for a large scrap - either pure granite or one of the aggregate granite/epoxy mixes like Silestone. They'll prabably give you an end cut or a sink cutout.

Frank

Got a little motivation this evening when I got home from work. Popped the P/S head off and a few other pieces. The P/S pump was making me it's b!itch, so I stopped before I got too pissed off... I've had it off before but can't recall the process. Gonna think on it and it'll probably come to me in the night. Several more pictures to follow. I pulled the head gaskets off the block and don't see any etching or spots where there was any compromise to the fire ring. Those of ya'll with good eyes, let me know what you see.

















That's something laying on the piston, NOT a crack.





[img]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc301/larrymphelps/IMG_3275.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc301/larrymphelps/IMG_3274.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc301/larrymphelps/IMG_3273.jpg[/img]

I also drafted a list for my machinist. Let me know what I'm missing please.

On the heads: Grind valves, mill head, check cam for straightness and turn or polish it, check it's journals and line bore if needed, replace valve stem seals, cam bearings, VLA's, freeze plugs, all seals & o-rings. Replacing any parts that need to be. I may, for good measure and low cost, replace the valves, springs, guides & locks with new Sealed Power.

On the block: Tank and deck it, bore cylinders as necessary, replace pistons, rings, rod & main bearings, check rods and crank for straightness and correct as needed, line hone where/if needed, chase head bolt threads with bottoming tap, inspect oil pump and repair/replace as needed, replace all seals, o-rings, gaskets and freeze plugs.

On the exhaust manifold: Have sanded to bring true on head mating surface.

On the intake manifold: Have tanked to clean and check for straightness and correct/replace as needed.

Frank, all of your instructions will be heeded and done. I have my Dad's framing square, circa 1972, American made and HEAVY. I've already checked it's straightness at the solid surface countertop place down the street from the NAPA store. I never thought to ask for a sink cutout, but I will soon.

Sorry for such a long post, but I'd like this to be as thorough as possible and maybe be refined into a tech article for future reference.

Ah, just put new heads on it and call it done... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/nana.gif" alt="" />

4 bolts hold the pump in, one on the back and 3 on the front, then two hold the bracket on the iron thingy. Look at the power steering section of the 89 fsm...

You probably won't be able to see any deck etching until the decks are cleaned.

Don't cut the decks until you've finished the heads and know how much was removed...... otherwise, you may have to cut the decks twice.

Forget about inspecting the oil pump - get a new one.

Remove the three oil gallery plugs and all freeze plugs before the block goes to the machinist - that way he can't take any short cuts and the wash job will be better.

Have the machinist polish the crankshaft journals.

Before you disassemble the rods, mark the front and number of each bearing cap with a center punch and don't mix up the rods and caps. A better way is to use number punches and punch across the parting line of the rod/cap, but if you don't have a set of number punches, a center puch works fine - 2 dimples for #2, 4 dimples for #4, etc along the center line of the bearing cap and an extra dimple above the number row for a front-of-engine reference.

Add "check/file" ring gap to your list. You'll want to check every ring in its bore, 1" down from the deck and squared up.

Add "check crankshaft journal/bearing clearances" to your list. You'll want to use plastigauge on the rod and main bearings. On the mains, I like to check the crankshaft in at least 3 positions - one 180 degrees from the other and one 90 degrees from the either - to check for crankshaft straightness/bore alignment as indicated by a change of clearance at the bearing caps.

Frank

Never fails to amaze me to see honing marks on the cylinder walls on an engine like that. I mean just think how many times those pistons/rings have gone up and down in the last 225,000 miles!

Good work Larry. Keep at it <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Got motivated after work today to get a little bit done. Got started around 9:30 and finished a little after 3am. Long night but I have no plans for tomorrow so I'll just sleep in. Got it stripped down except for the bottom end, which I'll do after I get it on the engine stand. Have to get some bolts from Lowes tomorrow to do that. I'll be taking all the measurements that Frank suggested and making plenty of notes.







Found the majority of the culprit of my front oil leak. The spring rolled off the seal.





The result of the melee...



All the sundry parts that had to be removed. Now they'll be cleaned, evaluated and replaced/repaired as necessary.





The empty hole...



I'll be doing several other projects while it's down for this. Wiring cleanup, CS144 alternator adaptation, front Aussie locker, Reman CV shafts, new bearings on the front, New pads and rotisseries all around, Trans and T-case reseal, Pinion angle correction, Constructing another driveshaft with OE joints and balancing of said shaft, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting....

Lookin' good, Larry! Keep movin', man. If you stop for a while like I did, it's hard to get started again... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

You'll appreciate the effort when it's running again.

While the engine's out, replace the input shaft seal on the transmission - unless that's been done recently.

Frank