Well it has been some time since I made any updates here. Been a 1 step forward 3 step back kinda thing. Bear with me.....
I watch Brent Lykins Motorsports youtube channel a lot. One vid he was reviewing a factory sideoiler block. And he pointed out he needed to install a pipeplug in the bottom rear by the oil pan. This is one of the holes Ford drilled for the sideoiler passage. I went to my saved pics of my engine and saw it was missing!! Easy fix with a new plug. This made me think if the shop forgot anything else. Of course the engine was in the car with bell and trans bolted up. So it all came out. I also forgot to install the distributor drive shaft in the block. Rookie mistake and I know better. I noticed it back when we first got it together a year ago in the car. Sitting in the bag top of my tools. I was going to try to monkey it in from the top distributor hole. But chose to do it correctly with the oil pan off. I also internally inspected the relief valve assy inside the block. Oil things up a bit and be 100% on everything was good. So some muscle getting everything out the the engine back on the stand. That missing plug on the bottom of the engine would have netted 90psi of oil on the floor. I sent Brent a email thanking him for that vid. Saved my azz. But wth new 2 pan gaskets, the distributor shaft in and all plugs in place it all went back together. My iron heads have been milled a bit. So I'm using the Ford PI intake to get it running. That had been milled a little so it all seemed to work and line up. The FE engine has the intake as part of the valve cover rail. So the head and intake need to be close and level. I may get new heads down the road and then use the Blue Thunder intake I had planned for it. And throw in some personal havoc but things are getting back to normal. I'll add some pics below.
