Rebuilding My 3.8L SC Engine... Pt 2

After some reassessing of the condition my motor was in, I decided to get a long block assembly from Ford. Due to some connections I got a really good price on the motor and some how (even with a toasted rod bearing) I got my full core charge back too. This way I have a two year warranty on the motor (so long as I don't touch what came from Ford)....we'll see how long this lasts.

Some parts back from being sandblasted (thank you Ted for letting my use your shop!) and painted. Makes a big difference. Not seen here are the water pump, intake manifold and a couple other parts here and there.

I had a 3 row aluminum core installed into the stock end tanks. This should help with the cooling problems that SC's are notorious for.

My motor sitting on the engine stand, just before we took it down to my grandmother's place. Notice how the painted parts make it look all pretty...

The engine in the garage at my grandmother's place. Notice the CenterForce Dual Friction clutch. Believe it or not... I had totally forgotten to install the spark plugs at this point, all that was there were plugs in the holes. Thank god I remembered them after I got the engine bolted in.

In goes the engine... I now have all the respect for those who do this on a daily basis. That thing was a tight fit. Thanks to Dave from across the alley who helped me get the engine in place.

With the engine in, and a little more paint to the valve covers... it looks pretty good. All that's left here is the accessory brackets, belts, and radiator.

In all my haste and excitement, I stopped taking pictures around this point. I will get one more pic with all the accessories and everything else installed posted up. After some goofing around with trying to get it started (thank you to Greg and Tom), it started but with a pretty big vacuum leak. After some diagnosing from some friends at ATS (thank you Alex and Tracy), we found that the intake manifold gasket had shifted during the install and was causing a vacuum leak. So... that cost me another set of gaskets, a full night. But on the bright side, it also taught a good lesson...be careful when installing these (or any) engines. As of now, plans are in the works for a custom built engine, with a completly forged bottom end that is totally balanced and a set of custom heads that have been smoothed over for a little extra oomph. That and a rebuilt transmission to handle the engine, a N20 kit, suspension build up, and a few other small things.