# Exhaust side engine bits (12/28)



## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

I didn't get nearly as much done to the engine as I'd hoped over the holidays, but I did make some progress. I'm currently waiting on a few hoses and other parts to arrive before I can complete the engine, but here are a few photos to tide you over (both of you).

The majority of my work on 12/28 was installing the engine parts on the exhaust side. In the photo below, you can make out the main coolant pipe, the black coolant feed pipe just below it, and the exhaust header below that. The hoses coming off of the pipes are all new. Off of the main coolant pipe, you can see the thermostat housing and how it's connected with hoses to the water pump. Yeah, it's a really weird thermostat housing.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

Here's a closeup of the header mounted on the block. Instead of the original studs with copper locking nuts, I opted to install iigomotiv's exhaust header studs and locking nut set. The new studs are installed with an Allen wrench and a drop of blue Loctite, which is a huge improvement over the original design. The new nuts are grooved to accept an e-ring, under which is place a teardrop-shaped "washer." The inside portion is shaped somewhat like a socket and fits snugly over the nut, and the long end is designed to rest against part of the header, thus preventing the nut from backing out under vibration. It's a very simple concept and should work quite well.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

Here's a shot of the intake side of the engine. Not a lot done here, except...

yes, the orange E is back.  I found a font that was very close to the original and used it to cut out a stencil on posterboard (actually, my wife did that part for me). I then taped the stencil to the block in the appropriate place and dabbed on a couple of layers of orange engine paint. I can now be at ease with my entire rebuild.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

I noticed that the crankshaft and water pump pulleys had lost some paint and were showing a little bit of surface rust. This is understandable after 16 years of service. Rather than going all-out and replacing the pulleys (or sandblasting them and repainting), I just cleaned them as well as I could with some solvents and a stiff wire brush. I then sprayed on a few layers of Eastwood's "Under Hood Black" paint. Good as new.


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## Jetfire (Jun 20, 2002)

Finally, I tackled the job of repainting the valve cover. I used a can of aircraft stripper to remove the old finish, which worked shockingly well. I then masked off all of the surfaces that are supposed to be unpainted, using the edges of the raised surfaces as a cutting device.

Eastwood sells a very nice wrinkle-finish black paint in a spray can. Instead of using a primer, I sprayed on a thing coat, let it get slightly tacky, then sprayed on two thick coats of paint. The finish takes a while to dry, and the wrinkle effect takes some time to develop. In fact, a day after I painted the cover, it just looked like a glossy black finish. Thinking that the cool weather was to blame, I broke out my high-wattage halogen worklight and trained it on the cover overnight. The next morning the finish had wrinkled significantly.

I don't have photos of the cover with the masking removed, but it looks rather nice.  I'm in the process of cleaning up the bare metal surfaces, first with a carbon steel brush on a Dremel, then probably with a finer grit paper or something. More pics when it's complete and on the engine.


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