D-65: Crankshaft Returns!
No, not the abominable cartoon of the same name. I mean the crankshaft for our engine! It returned from its long stay at the machine shop that polished the journals of the small scratches/grooves that appeared when the former owner of this used engine didn’t change the oil very often. Did I mention that when I disassembled this motor it reminded me of one of my favorite reviews of a bad restaurant buffet line: it was awful-looking and there wasn’t nearly enough of it. That oil was tar-black and I don’t know that there was even a full quart that came out of the engine.
Well, that’s all behind us now as I’ve got the engine disassembled, cleaned, and ready for re-assembly. We did a cheapie “valve job” with one of those wooden dowels with a suction cup and reassembled the head, but it’s got no “hot” parts, no “upgraded” camshaft, none of that. I just want an engine that will hold together for an entire race. So it’s new bearings and rings and time to re-assemble now. Last night I cleaned out the oil galleys and the water jacket on the block and the oil passages on the crank before I got too tired and came into the house. I’ve decided that one longevity measure of this engine is that I’m not going to work on assembly when I start getting bleary-eyed; I’ve talked to too many LeMons folks who have put in a bearing upside-down because they were too tired when they were working on it.
The in-laws are coming into town for the Easter weekend, so that may significantly hamper my progress over the weekend. But the next step is to dry-fit the main bearings and plastigage them to make sure that the clearances are all in order, then to fit the rings on the pistons. Cheers.
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