2010.08.01 - UPDATE!- GENTLEMEN.....ARP YOUR ENGINES!!
The painting process is tedious and painfully slow. All tolled, there were probably 8 hours spent just in the block cleaning and smoothing process. A few primer coats, then some color coats.....more waiting for full curing, then some sanding to knock down texture and more color coats. Finally, I was able to shoot the clear over the top of everything and I have to say the results DO look good. Hopefully all that cleaning & degreasing pays off and the paint stays "stuck" to the engine once it's actually bolted into the truck.
I unmasked the motor and didn't really want to leave the valvesprings, timing chain and crank area completely exposed so I spent the afternoon carefully putting things back together.
ARP has a pretty complete set of Gr-8 stainless hardware for the job
The first order of business was to re-attach the timing cover, since that also provides part of the basis for the oilpan gasket. It didn't take long to hit a snag.... the 1/4-20 bolts in the kit are designed for the simple stamped steel timing cover, not the thicker aluminum cover...so the 1/2" bolts wouldn't even protrude through the cover let along grab enough threads in the block. I had no choice but to clean up and re-use the factory bolts until I can special order some 1" long stainless parts.
The pan bolts themselves worked perfectly. I really like how the ARP fasteners have a nice big flange to clamp down, but a smaller-than-usual head on the bolt. This pretty much guarantees that you'll always have room to get a socket where it needs to go.
Next up....intake manifold. I spent a little extra time cutting down the gaskets where they were sticking out above the manifold so that it would have a cleaner final appearance. A bit of Gasgacinch (glorified contact cement as far as I can tell) on either side helped to hold them in place.
Waterpump was next.... for some reason, the ARP set includes 5 bolts for this one (4 equal length, and 1 about 1/2" longer). Supposedly, the longer bolt is for long waterpump setups (which I have) but the four mounting spots on the pump were all equally sized, so I couldn't figure out where a longer bolt should go. Anyway, they seemed to have about 1/2" of thread engagement and torqued-down fine.
The intake was another story. There are 16 bolts....12 are the same (wide flanged bolt heads) and then 4 have a much narrower head though the thread size is the same. These bolts didn't seem to thread in very deeply, partially due to the thick washers that are included. I followed the tightening sequence (center toward outside). The centermost bolts on the passenger side are a tight fit, so there was no way to get a torquewrench on them without using a swivel socket....not ideal for getting accurate torque, but what can you do?
The real problem was on the rear bolts on the passenger side....
It was that sinking feeling as you apply torque to the wrench and you build pressure against the handle waiting for the "click" that says you're done....except, just before that happens the bolt suddenly starts to spin easily again!
Two stripped holes in the head! DAMMIT! I don't know if these were buggered up already but my suspicion is that the bolts were not long enough to get good thread engagement and tore out. I was able to carefully run a tap down the rear hole (the worst one) and clean it up, then ran a longer bolt which seemed to work perfectly. Ultimately, I have a feeling that the intake manifold flange is slightly thicker than normal and/or the washers in the ARP bolt set are just not allowing a good solid thread engagement. I'll probably swap out all the intake bolts too just to be sure.
After a morning's worth of painting, and an afternoon's worth of struggling with fasteners this is where I ended up for the day.
There are still a lot of brackets and accessories to clean, paint and bolt on....but it feels good to finally have this engine in final paint after a few years of just sitting in raw metal in my shop.
The painting process is tedious and painfully slow. All tolled, there were probably 8 hours spent just in the block cleaning and smoothing process. A few primer coats, then some color coats.....more waiting for full curing, then some sanding to knock down texture and more color coats. Finally, I was able to shoot the clear over the top of everything and I have to say the results DO look good. Hopefully all that cleaning & degreasing pays off and the paint stays "stuck" to the engine once it's actually bolted into the truck.
I unmasked the motor and didn't really want to leave the valvesprings, timing chain and crank area completely exposed so I spent the afternoon carefully putting things back together.
ARP has a pretty complete set of Gr-8 stainless hardware for the job
The first order of business was to re-attach the timing cover, since that also provides part of the basis for the oilpan gasket. It didn't take long to hit a snag.... the 1/4-20 bolts in the kit are designed for the simple stamped steel timing cover, not the thicker aluminum cover...so the 1/2" bolts wouldn't even protrude through the cover let along grab enough threads in the block. I had no choice but to clean up and re-use the factory bolts until I can special order some 1" long stainless parts.
The pan bolts themselves worked perfectly. I really like how the ARP fasteners have a nice big flange to clamp down, but a smaller-than-usual head on the bolt. This pretty much guarantees that you'll always have room to get a socket where it needs to go.
Next up....intake manifold. I spent a little extra time cutting down the gaskets where they were sticking out above the manifold so that it would have a cleaner final appearance. A bit of Gasgacinch (glorified contact cement as far as I can tell) on either side helped to hold them in place.
Waterpump was next.... for some reason, the ARP set includes 5 bolts for this one (4 equal length, and 1 about 1/2" longer). Supposedly, the longer bolt is for long waterpump setups (which I have) but the four mounting spots on the pump were all equally sized, so I couldn't figure out where a longer bolt should go. Anyway, they seemed to have about 1/2" of thread engagement and torqued-down fine.
The intake was another story. There are 16 bolts....12 are the same (wide flanged bolt heads) and then 4 have a much narrower head though the thread size is the same. These bolts didn't seem to thread in very deeply, partially due to the thick washers that are included. I followed the tightening sequence (center toward outside). The centermost bolts on the passenger side are a tight fit, so there was no way to get a torquewrench on them without using a swivel socket....not ideal for getting accurate torque, but what can you do?
The real problem was on the rear bolts on the passenger side....It was that sinking feeling as you apply torque to the wrench and you build pressure against the handle waiting for the "click" that says you're done....except, just before that happens the bolt suddenly starts to spin easily again!
Two stripped holes in the head! DAMMIT! I don't know if these were buggered up already but my suspicion is that the bolts were not long enough to get good thread engagement and tore out. I was able to carefully run a tap down the rear hole (the worst one) and clean it up, then ran a longer bolt which seemed to work perfectly. Ultimately, I have a feeling that the intake manifold flange is slightly thicker than normal and/or the washers in the ARP bolt set are just not allowing a good solid thread engagement. I'll probably swap out all the intake bolts too just to be sure.
After a morning's worth of painting, and an afternoon's worth of struggling with fasteners this is where I ended up for the day.
There are still a lot of brackets and accessories to clean, paint and bolt on....but it feels good to finally have this engine in final paint after a few years of just sitting in raw metal in my shop.
I just went threw that my self. Fyi this is the tread that got me hooked to ck5, so I'm glad to see you back at it. Looking good 
