James is referring to a certain local shop that we won't be using in the future. They did the 690s and I went and had them assemble the top end... What could go wrong?
First, they used a SBC shaft for the oil pump drive
.
Unfortunately we had already installed engine in the bay and hooked up the trans, etc.
Out she came...
Next came the water leaks on 9 of the 16 screw in studs
.
I pulled each one out, cleaned the holes and put new studs in. Reason for new was James found one of the 16 to be used...
Third was water leaking by the head bolts around cylinder #3
.
I pulled those out one at a time, cleaned the holes and the ARP bolts and re-torqued after buttering the threads properly.
Tony's work on the bottom was perfection, that was to be expected
.
In the end, it sure sounded sweet when breaking in the cam
. Even though the cast iron 2.5" exhaust and pair of mufflers along with a pair of resonators kinda quiets things down. James is used to listening to 409s run through open headers
.