Pictures>> 34 year old virgin getting deflowered!

[toms68cst]

Here are some action shots from last Saturday. Since then I've taken her down to the short block and bare heads. All the major casting numbers seem to go together from what I can see. The date codes are all within a month of each other and all the numbers seem correct from my research. I don't see any evidence of a previous rebuild. She looks like pretty much a virgin to me. I'm pretty surprised how clean and tight everything is overall. I did see a "reman" sticker on the water pump and clutch assembly though. Shoot, most virgins have been at least kissed!

The only thing that got bunged-up was the factory engine lift ring at the back of the motor. I should have used the lifter that bolts to the intake manifold that my neighbor had available. (Anyone have a good one on hand?)

I'm still in the process of figuring out what to do next as far as machine work. I'll get my neighbor friend over here in the next few days, take some measurements and get a plan in place. I've gotten pretty good at taking things off the old gal. I just hope I can get everything back together right.

You guys should see my neighbor's garage. He has a late 60's corvette, Late 70's trans-am and a couple of other old GM/Chevy cars covered up in the back. He could build at least 3 complete 65-68 327's with the spare parts he has laying around. He has a whole shelf of various double-hump heads. He's a trained machinist and works professionally building Bobcat skid steer loaders. He's a die-hard Chevy/GM man and seems to know these Chevy small blocks inside and out. He's been a great help - except he always wants me to put some hi-po stuff on my engine and to get rid of my smog pump! Can you imagine someone wanting to do that?

She's ready to cut loose here. My little boy was almost as excited as I was. I'm in the blue coveralls, My neighbor Vern is in the blue plaid shirt.

OK NOW, NO MAKING FUN OF OUR CAPS! This is North Dakota you know.