Today we made several steps forward, and only one minor back! The third piece is back on. And with the heads and rockers already in place, the lower is essentially done.
In the what stupid thing did I do this week department. When I got the case back, there was no stud present for the distributor clamp hold down. It looked like a helicoil had been installed. I was using a box end wrench on two back-to-back nuts to install the stud, and was waiting to feel the stud bottom out. Never felt that much resistance when I saw the crack forming. Guess I need better feel for the limits of aluminum.
JB Weld is my friend in this instance. Luckily, it is not a key structural piece of the case. It is a fairly visible position, but the JB Weld blended pretty well.
Torque Details
A side note on paying attention to detail. As you might expect, I had been mindful of the numbers on the torque wrenches. What almost escaped notice was the smaller ones are listed in inch pounds. Not foot pounds. The difference between 15 foot lbs. to 15 inch lbs. is obviously quite substantial! Pay attention Vogel!
