The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
It's allways a long haul, even at the finish line, just before you insure it, tag it getting ready to drive it.
Long haul Rob? Feels more like a slow boat to China. I had another small setback on the 416 buildup today, need to vent this right now.
Had some time this morning so I put the heads on the block to make sure everything looked as it should - no dice. Head studs are too short! Aaaarrrggghhhh!
Put the studs in and slid the heads down and found there were only two threads sticking up over the bosses, not enough to even fully thread a nut on. Turns out the RHS heads require Magnum style studs, not LA. Honestly, it didn't even occur to me that there would be a difference but now I know. Super frustrating. Hopefully I can exchange them.
To compound things even further, it seems like one of the dowels may be causing a misalignment on the left side. Even though the studs were too short, I still should have been able to slide the head down on the block but there was some interference and it would not sit flat. Not sure how to deal with this one yet. Perhaps if I get the correct studs it might allow more room to wiggle the head. I am hoping that is the case but the right side went all the way down no problem.
One good thing out of all this was to see the heads on the block for the first time. Made me realize I am probably closer to finishing than it actually feels like right now. As always though, one step forward, two steps back. Such is life with a project like this. :banghead:
Not much to take pics of this time. Hopefully next update will be more positive.
More to come.