I got my parts back from shaker. They look great. I painted the block a flat black rated to 2k° and oil resistant.

The crank and rod look real nice. This weekend I plan to check clearances so I can get everything put together so it isn’t sitting all over the garage.

The head came out looking great. With 135lbs spring pressure. It might be able to push over 6k! Hah! Imagine that.

I also finally got a manual for this car. It’s filling in my blanks.

I sent my pistons, valves, main and rod bearings off for coatings by FFWD Connection in Oklahoma. www.ffwdconnection.com
I got the piston tops and valve faces ceramic coated, and the piston skirts and bearings coated with a molybdenum film

This process should help concentrate my cylinder temperature within the cylinders. They should help reduce rotating resistance, and hopefully, reduce intake heat soak. One major benefit, is that the piston tops shouldn’t melt.
I also saw my brothers old Montero. One of many.

And the heater is going.

I cut the original mounts down a couple inches and welded them back together.

Do suspension work.
I have new front strut inserts to install.

These shouldn’t be too bad. Since they are inserts, there is a little more work to disassembly.

The easy part was separating the strut from the ball joint.

This is most of the motor. All parts washed, and dried. Not stripped. They won’t be getting any polishing, maybe some paint though.
The whole engine harness is getting removed and cleaned/remade for the new intake/mpi.

Not really masses, but definitely parts.

New front struts will help dramatically. The front end had one helluva bounce and dive to it.
I received my new pistons with rings (.020), main bearings (.010), and rod bearings (.010). I’m just waiting on my seven other valves. Once all of these parts arrive, they are getting shipped off to www.ffwdconnection.com for some ceramics and lubricity coatings.

Here are the chunks of the piston that came out of the oil pan. One is very close to round. Odd.

Poor man’s parts washer.

I’m going to redo most of this wiring harness and eliminate a fair amount as well. I get to remove the voltage regulator, which is about 7 feet of excess wiring. I also plan to clean and paint the engine bay. The engine harness will need redone with the new intake setup. I was planning on itbs, but now I’m thinking, keep it turbo friendly. And work more on injector placement/angle.

The headlights and grill will get some attention this time around as well.