Major Setback 

It has been over 8 months since I stated up the engine. I changed the oil, put in a new battery, and primed the engine. It started right up, but it had a rattling noise that it never had before. I was "of no, rod knock," I drained the oil and pulled the oil pan and found bearing shavings. Of course I was pissed off, and wanted to shot the car. But I calmed down after awhile. This was far from the worst thing that every happened to me.

 

I looked at the crankshaft and rods. What I saw was not a rod knock problem, but a crankwalk issue. The crank was rubbing the thrust bearing and heated up the crank so much it distorted the color. The original clutch slave cylinder was leaking and I replaced it about 10 months ago. The original must have been dragging on the clutch for a awhile before I notice it was going bad. It wasn't until I started the motor last week that I knew something was horribly wrong. I also checked the rod bearings which were in great condition.

The good news is that the head didn't get damaged, where most of the money is for the engine. Plan on pulling the engine during the winter. I have a crap load of body work to do in the mean time.

Since it was crankwalk, I will be able to re-use the rods. I have spare block and two spare cranks, one 88mm and the other 100mm. Also have an extra set of ACL bearings for mains and rods. This should keep the cost down during the re-build. Also I have to look at the clutch to see if it was damaged, but will do that in the winter.