After the discovery that the 2.4 was a 2.7 with genuine RS components, I had to slow down on the rebuild and focus on doing a good job instead of a rush to patch the blown head gasket. I've spent most of the time since the last update cleaning a really greasy and grimy engine...inside and out. Cleanliness is stressed in all the books and articles, so there was no way I'd get the car properly rebuilt and ready to take to Bowling Green to the Porsche at the Corvette Museum event the weekend of April 27. Below are shots of my cleaning progress.
Didn't make the Corvette museum weekend...
Pistons were soaked and cleaned to bare metal. They are in great shape. This re-make from a 2.4 to a 2.7 couldn't have been done too many miles ago from the condition of the inside of the engine. The pistons are forged Mahle's and the cylinders are Nikasil.
I reused the rings. They are good and the side gap at the lands are within the tolerance that Bruce Anderson specifies. The oil cooler was completely black. Not only is it clean now, but polished too. Pumped clean mineral spirits through it until it was dispensing clean fluid.
In preparation for re-assembly, the shroud and air deflectors have been stripped and refinished. The heads have been freshened...new valve guides and all new intake valves.
One of the Webers had a very worn short throttle shaft. Pierce Manifolds took care of boring that end and installing a new oversize shaft for that defect. It is tight and both carbs have new floats installed (one uninstalled set shown in the photo). Both carbs have been completely disassembled, cleaned, and new gasket kits installed. They aren't cheap, but I went ahead and bought new air horns...don't know how long some of this stuff will be around. I plan to refinish the original air filter casing and use it instead of the individual K&N filters in the previous engine shot.