getting close now, how much longer till you get all the wires tucked and everything buttoned up under the hood?

It's hard to say. I've been slacking lately due to a grad class and a midterm coming up.

Thinking about it..

I could probably bang out the wire tuck + ICM/coil relocation + custom spark plug wire routing in 1-2 days. I have a spare harness.

The coolant bottle might be in by the end of the week.

The alt, I'm not real sure what's going on with the shaft play so I can't say how long that will take.

And the polished valve covers will go on as soon as the engine harness is tucked. That'll take 10-15 mins.

Other than that I still need to:

Mount the ABS brain (might happen next weekend)

Clean up a little body wiring in the d/s bay.

Make bracket(s) for the trans/oil coolers. I just figured out a way to do it real easy. woot.

Get/install the fail safe hood hook bracket off my painter buddy.

Smoke the upper engine to find why I'm only pulling 11-12" of vac

Redo the full exhaust in 3" (I took measurements so I know what I can fit)

Install dual widebands

Bolt up the front end (vs zip ties)

Put the rockers back in and hook up puddle lights

Make lower air dam to block off engine bay from the road debris

And all the while I'll be tuning.

Still a decent list!

So, the car stopped running. I had spark, fuel, fuel pressure, it cranked. Eventually I pulled a valve cover to see my rockers not moving when I turned the engine over..

rear bank:

Cyls 3&4 are the only ones that didn't make contact. I could probably use the block but I'm done with it.

I'll be sending the heads back to Abbott to have a few new valves, valve job for those valves, and guides + port work if need be.

Turns out the cam bolt came loose. So it was my fault.. and the cam key slot on the cam is egged out so I'll need another one of those..

So, the plan as of now is, get new Abbott cam, already ordered a new low mile (18k) L26 and drop it in with everything but might wait on the heads/LIM/ported rear cover.

I know getting the heads back might take some time. However, Abbott did say they would get right on them and they went out today.

Thankfully I just worked a crap ton of OT so this isn't going to set me back real bad..

This is part of the reason I didn't do any real block work. Sure it would have been nice to do all those real oil mods and get the bottom end balanced and blueprinted. But, if something were to go wrong, that's a lot of money I would be out, and for minimal performance. So, I'm glad I didn't.

I might see the engine this week or next. The only real annoying part about doing an engine swap on the street are the TC bolts.. I'm saving cardboard for that.

And the rear fuel rail was still leaking at the fittings. I'm going to JB Weld them in. According to JB Weld, once cured, it's impervious to fuel. And I'm definitely not worried about changing or getting rid of the rails at any point.

WoW that sucks!

Too bad! I'm glad that relatively speaking it wasn't too big of a deal. Relatively speaking. I'm looking forward to her being back together and running smoothly, as I'm sure you are! As auto enthusiasts, our work really is never "done"...

Many would see this as discouragement to finish the project, glad you're continuing Keep at it!

The neighbours must think "Oh look, the car's in pieces all over the street again".

It sucks to see, but it's great to know you're just working the problem. This will make the moment when you fire it up to take it for a spin around the block so much nicer.

Now you have to get the new motor painted on top of everything else. You must feel so discouraged.

Yeah it blows..

I'm just way too stubborn to let it knock me off the tracks.

It is dipping into the winter which sucks but I'm no stranger to working outside in the dark, cold, and snow.

...but I'm no stranger to working outside in the dark, cold, and snow.

good to know, you can work on my Explorer.

lol. No jacks involved.

Hopefully I don't jinx it but things are going quicker than I thought.

The heads are done and should ship out tomorrow or Thursday with the new cam. Same deal with the new engine.

So, it looks like everything is going back in at once. Maybe before December if I'm lucky.

Time to get the misc. crap associated with a typical cam swap. And you can bet yourass I'll be taking more care with the cam bolt. It's only a failure if you don't learn from your mistakes.

Glad to hear things are going smoothly so far. One can only hope it continues this way since you've had so many hiccups trying to get this girl back to 100%! Then again, it's a project, and such is the nature of the beast.

Was just about to say learn from your mistakes and it will be at least knowledge-wise worthwhile.

Hope everything comes together smoothly!

Marching forward..

I got the engine today. It turns out the carrier didn't have a lift gate on the truck. So, I had it delivered to a buddy's business/work, took the heads off and put everything in the trunk of the i30 to get it home. They actually gave me the whole uncut wiring harness. Not that I need it, it's just the first out of 6 or 7 L26s I've bought that actually had the full one. It also has that updated rear cover with metal gasket.. Again, kinda doesn't matter since I'll be swapping the covers.. but, it's still cool none the less.

The cam and heads are still on the way.

I lost a couple ARP washers for the head studs when I pulled the rear Abbott head but I was able to call ARP up (gasp), get an actual person on the phone (gasp), and order directly from them (gasp, gasp). I'm so used to not being able to do that, it was nice.

I also decided I might as well just order new head gaskets.. I got those along with a few other things needed for the swap.

The next plan of action is to get this thing on a stand and start taking care of business. That'll be Thursday.

I asume you will be painting this block purple too?

This one will be a glossier black like the last one. The lower intake and trans will still be purple.

Wow Mike, just skimmed this whole thread (still took almost an hour).

Incredible work you've done, I definitely haven't seen the half of it.

When you get a bit, a post on PBC with a summary of what you've done till now would be sweet, gotta stay true to your roots.

Sucks to see about the engine, hope that all makes it back together quickly and runs better than before.

If I'm ever in Philly, I'm definitely going to look you up.

Thanks. Yeah don't be a stranger if you're ever in Philly.

All this stuff is here, on Bpro, and a local forum. That's enough for now. I'll probably make a post on PBC later down the road though.

I got the engine on the stand and the new bump stick in today. I got the heads back and Abbott even cleaned up the mating surfaces for me. Less work .

Next is to get the cam bolt torqued down, clean the block (gaskets and for paint), spray the MLSes, install the studs and heads, and paint the block, get the painted front cover on, LIM, UIM, JB Weld the problem fittings on the rear fuel rail, throw those on, and I'll be doing the rear ported cover, flexplate, and oil pan the day of the swap.

With the winter coming up, I'm going to leave the polished tensioner/alt/valvecovers off till the spring and use regular stuff. I don't see a reason to salt blast it for no reason.

Thanks. Yeah don't be a stranger if you're ever in Philly.

All this stuff is here, on Bpro, and a local forum. That's enough for now. I'll probably make a post on PBC later down the road though.

I got the engine on the stand and the new bump stick in today. I got the heads back and Abbott even cleaned up the mating surfaces for me. Less work .

Next is to get the cam bolt torqued down, clean the block (gaskets and for paint), spray the MLSes, install the studs and heads, and paint the block, get the painted front cover on, LIM, UIM, JB Weld the problem fittings on the rear fuel rail, throw those on, and I'll be doing the rear ported cover, flexplate, and oil pan the day of the swap.

With the winter coming up, I'm going to leave the polished tensioner/alt/valvecovers off till the spring and use regular stuff. I don't see a reason to salt blast it for no reason.

I read the post but and one thing stuck out. j/k

Good luck bud I cant wait for next summer to see her all done. (all the shiney stuff on & all the wires tucked and ready for show season)

Lol. Yep, that's a hard one to forget at this point.

I got some more work in today..

TORQUED THE CAM BOLT TO SPEC (lol)

Cleaned the block, front cover area, deck, and exterior.

Cleaned head studs

Sprayed MLSes with copper spray

Installed both with heads

Soaked and installed lifters

Did the Por-15 engine painting process to the exterior of the block (with spare front cover on)

Installed aluminum LIM gaskets and Ported/painted LIM

Soaked and installed pushrods and rockers

I need the rear (ported) cover and flex plate off the engine in the car so I can't really do the rear cover and oil pan until I pull the current engine. I also need the 95 specific knock sensors off that engine. No real big deal. It'll maybe add a half hour or so.

The front ported/painted cover and electric water pump is probably the next thing on the hit list, along with double checking lifter preload and torquing the rockers down.

so colorful!