Body mobility was non-exsistant this morning. The workout yesterday has me moving like some of the rusty bolts in my truck. Eager to see the cam freeze plug, I ingested enough lubricant (coffee) to get the bolts moving.
As I suspected, the lip below the plug had seeped out oil. That plug had to go. So in thinking how to get the plug out, I used the "weld a lever to it" method. I took a piece of 1" pipe and welded it to the freeze plug and with very little effort, it popped right out.
It was obvious that this was the "real" problem to my oil leak. The lower side showed gapping areas (dark areas were it wasn't sealed) and looked to have a manufacturing flaw in it (the silver dot visible in the photo).
The crankshaft had absolutely no grooves in it. The main was easy to install as was the oil pump. The oil pan and gasket I had ordered are going back to Summit due to an additional drain sump at the bottom of the pan that I feared would not give me clearance for the crossmember.
The freeze plug became its own challenge of the day. I had it narrowed down to 2 part numbers, both of which I could get my hands on today. Dorman part numbers 555-050 and 555-051. 050 was a deeper plug that appeared to be the right diameter and 051 was a larger diameter with the right depth. After studying each I realized King Kong couldn't drive the 051 plug into the block. After multiple checks on the depth of the 050, I decided to drive it with JB Weld as a sealant. It ain't coming out or leaking.
Afterwards I slowly worked the motor back in and have it mated with the transmission again. Now I can do small re-attachment tasks during the week if I get time.
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