The seal went in place fairly easily. I used a couple of pieces of plywood under the upper sides so that I wouldn’t be hammering on a canted cover. I bought a set of seal insert tools, but for some dumb reason I ordered metric. I’m a bit stubborn and am using them anyway – I just turn them over. Not the best, but so far so good…
Plenty of cam startup lubricant on the chain and sprockets before installing the cover.
A messy coat of Permatex aircraft gasket compound before doing the install. The engine will likely leak some so I’m trying to keep it to a minimum.
In place and torqued to 80 “#. I’ve put an old set of valve covers on until I get the engine painted.
Before I put the pan in place I needed to do a distributor shaft check and set it to TDC
I bought a new distributor middle shaft with a metal collar. The seller recommended that the spacing be checked to be sure that there was play in the shaft when the dist. was in place. I found that I had about 1\4″ of play so no fear of binding there.
Next I located the engine’s TDC and then fiddled the oil pump shaft slot until I could get the rotor to point roughly in this location. That gives enough room for the dist. to be turned without the vacuum advance body to hit the intake.
I marked the intake where the rotor was pointing (X on left) and then slowly pulled the dist and marked the intake where it stopped turning to the left. I should be able to get it back in the right spot later. I will need to note the location of the oil pump shaft slot. I will be priming the engine with the oil pump before initial start up which will change the location of the oil pump shaft slot. I need to get it back to the right spot so the dist will slip in as it drops in place.
Time to put the pan on. Poor photo. Just trying to show the two alignment pins. There are two others on the other side. With all the gaskets in place I’m able to set the pan in place without the gaskets and pan moving around.
I missed taking a shot of the pan gaskets getting a coat of Permatex gasket sealant. I usually use red gasket sealant on the ends of the rear main and front pan gaskets. This time I’m trying the Permatex product.
I’ve made dummy gaskets for the fuel pump and the water pump openings so I don’t have to scrape paint off later.
Final block cleaning before priming and paint. Still need to tape off the exhausts, intake, etc.
Next: Taping and painting.