Looking like a good start Rick. You definitely have more patience than me. Keep up the good work.

 

What's that feller on the back of your engine stand? (not the tray, the round feller) Is there a crank mechanism to roll the motor around? If so, where did you get that stand??

 

Yep it's a crank because this old man hates trying to turn an engine as I'm working on it with the regular style engine stand. It's a PITA.

JEGS 80059: Rotating Engine Stand [1000 lb. Capacity] | JEGS

 

That's awesome. I may have to get one...... Though, I really don't see myself doing any engine work in the near future.... (and I already have two standard engine stands...... )

 

Yes but we all know that you can NEVER have too many tools. Even if I can find NO reason for buying said tool I can justify it because it's a tool and I might need it at some future date yet to be determined.

The other KEWL thing about that engine stand is that you can put the engine in any angle you want. Which makes working on it a lot easier than with a standard stand. I hated trying to rotate an engine especially once you got the heads on it and stuff where it just added weight to the block.

 

I really have VERY little of that thing called patience but I REALLY want my Jeep back on the trails again. I've thought about just throwing in the towel a couple of times.

 

I subscribe to the same theory.

And yes, that would be a SERIOUS advantage. 'Nother good reason to buy one.

Keep at it. I am rather short on patience as well, but, in the end, you are going to love the finished product. It will make all the pain and strain worth while. (and then some.)

 

So I started off the day installing the pistons. I'd already gone thru all the pistons and checked to make sure the piston rings were clocked properly so that part was done. So now it was time to drop the pistons into the cylinders.
Being OLD I've used this style of ring compressor for many many years.



Put for this engine assembly I wanted to try a tapered ring compressor so I got this from ARP in the size that matches my bore.







They work really well and IMO it's a lot easier to use than the old style ring compressor. The only drawback that I can see is that you need one for each size of bore of the engine you are assembling.
So you put the ring compressor over the cylinder and after putting lube on the piston rings and skirt drop it into the compressor. Get the piston skirts lined up in the cylinder and push/tap the piston down into the cylinder.




Then move onto the next cylinder and do the above steps until all your pistons are installed.



All done and I got to use a new tool. What more could you ask for?

 

Next was the rod bearings. I first needed to PlastiGauge some of the rods to check clearances so I decided I would do #1 & #2 and then #7 & #8 rods.

So get out the bearings and install on the rods and caps. Make sure the crank is dirt and oil free before putting the plastigauge in place. Then torque rod bolts down to spec and then loosen back up and check the plastigauge to see what the clearance is.




Acceptable clearance on the rod bearings is .0005-.002 so I'm good.




After checking the clearances it's time to assemble the engine for the LAST time..... fingers crossed. So you need to apply assemble lube to the bearings on the rod and rod caps.







Since I am using ARP bolts on the rods I am using ARP Fastener assembly lube on the bolt threads and the shoulders of the bolts.











Do this 16 times and you're ready to do the final torque on the rod bolts. Once that is done the bottom end assembly is done for now.



I wrapped the engine back up for the night and will work on it more tomorrow I hope.

 

OOPS I forgot to start with the cylinder lube I got from Total Seal.




So I followed the directions and here is what the cylinder looks like before I installed the pistons.