So...update. Get er all buttoned back up....fires up quick.....and......a knock. So.....head comes back off and you can see where the no. 5 piston was lightly smacking the head. So, lets go back down under.
Drain all the oil back out, all the new antifreeze back out.... the cap on number 5 was loose, finger tight loose. I either missed tightening it up.....which I am 99.9% sure I hit every one when I rechecked torque, or the connecting rod didnt get seated well before torque....or the POS Harbor Fraught torque wrench was crap. Too many variables. So, ordered new bearings for the connecting rod, awaiting them in the mail, bought yet another head gasket.... Took the head to be checked at the head shop...didnt bend any valves of push rods. (whew). Borrowed a freinds Snap On torque wrench for the reassembly.
Took the new tires to my buddy in Roanoke to get them top cut for pulling this weekend. Hopefully I will get a good dry day this weekend to button it back up. Meanwhile, while I am awaiting the bearings from California, I am cleaning all mating surfaces so its go time when everything gets here.
Overall, I am not mad, its a learning experiance. There arent a lot of these mechanics around anymore that will work on the older stuff around here. That was an expensive mistake (new oil, antifreeze, head gasket, bearings) but in the end its cool that I got it all buttoned up. Just glad I didnt throw a rod through the block. Im really excited that it fires up so easy. So, that is good in itself.
