I'll take a picture later, but the holes are cast onto the block, and no separate bracket from the factory... I'm getting one made that cups the alt like you said, and locates the third hole... Also, one of the holes that remain is nearly stripped out, so I'll need to get a heli-coil to repair the hole...

 

Guys, i never got any pics of that broken alt bracket, but I did fabricate one to locate the third hole, out of plain mild steel(yes I understand galvanic corrosion), and I heli-coiled both of the existing alt mounting holes(instead of just one)... The bolts I bought were about an inch too long to securely mount an alternator, but that is easily remedied with a trip to the parts store...

Now, on to the fun part... I pulled the valve cover off, and found out that the nice ARP head studs in this engine are missing four of the nuts that hold the head down... I'm sure I can order the nuts from ARP, but at a premium... And I found out that I need to buy flywheel bolts(original ones are TTY) and pressure plate bolts... Maybe ARP makes some of those too...

 

... And what good healthy engine plan is complete without a two pronged approach?

This second prong is mainly meant to give me more time before the other engine needs installed, and allow for that engine to be properly fixed before asking it to turn 7,500 RPM on regular basis...

Basically, I'm trying to build some compression on cyl 1, so the car will run more properly until its replacement is ready... I switched to conventional oil(allowing some wear around the rings) and added a container of RESTORE engine treatment(4cyl forumulation), which is "guaranteed to improve compression or money back"... So far, after three weeks or so of driving it semi-daily, I can notice a smoother idle, and better performance below 2000 RPM... I haven't checked compression lately, but it couldn't have hurt anything, right?

 

I hate when I pull the valve cover off and I find like 33% of my head nuts I kinda count on to hold the head on evenly (well, hold it on period) are , like, not there.

Where did they go? Maybe thy are in Cyl 1.

And that RESTORE stuff is made from melted paintball guns, firewood ash, coffee grinds, and battery acid. It both grinds surfaces nice and shiny and then coats them with a goo so nasty even Goalie wouldn't wax his legs with it if he was here reading this

 

Oh the imagery!

 

Goalie is here reading this.
You're right, sir.
I'd wax my arm pits with it. Duh!!

 

Are you officially no longer AWOL?

If you enjoy watching big tough guys cry like babies, get them to enroll in a deodorant study with one of those companies that manufactures such products.

The financial incentive is twice the avg study rate. You find out why when they ask you to remove your shirt and raise one arm, put a strip of the tackiest substance you never knew existed,and rip out an entire armpit's worth of hair in one pull. Many guys faint, others just scream, cry like a baby, and run out the front door with their shirt half on. Source: The study's director (my friend).

Sorry for the jack, bones.

 

Haha haha I needed this. Thank you for making me laugh my *** off

 

So, I got some work done on my spare LSJ...

I took off the head and tossed the gasket...



Cleaned off the tops of the pistons with trans fluid on a rag... A petty big improvement, considering they were covered in soft carbon deposits

4

3&2

1
I also wiped the bores out with trans fluid, on a different rag... There were no big gouges, and some original cross hatching was still visible; I think she'll make decent compression when all buttoned up...

I then turned the crank until all four pistons were at the same height in their bores, and poured a capful of ATF over them and sealed it up for the time being...

I need three nuts for my ARP head studs and the major gaskets, and then this'll be ready to transplant into the car!

 

lookin pretty good. Bones.

One question---from the piston pix, it LOOKS like the top edges of some of the pistons are closer to the bores in different places around each piston top. I know you are taking the pix at a slight angle, so there will be some parallax error, but it is not always at the front edge in the pictures.

I fully understand that it may be the opposite of what I mentioned (gunk is creating too wide a gap)

Have you checked the clearance betw the top of the pistons and the bore for uniformity?