First off, I was at Rich's today, which was my original plan and what I had e-mailed him. Since I had posted the post above about coming over on Sunday, Rich was not expecting me when I showed up this morning. Ops. No problem.
Here is a shot of the header flange with stubs brazed in for the headers. Just a detail pic.
Here is a shot of the rocket arm assembly
Rich has the test springs in place on the #1 intake and exhaust to check valve clearance when the pushrods come in
Everything is just set in place so I flipped over the rocker arm assembly to show a little glimpse into how it is put together. Rich fabricated the rocker arm stands and the plate.
Close up of the throttle bodies and intake "manifold", modified Ford throttle bodies and intak fabricated by Rich, of course.
Close up of the lifter cover, fabricated by Rich.
Rich wanted to make a second test pushrod to double check the length, here is the rod set to length
The head studs were test fit and were tight. We thought it might be the copper head gasket ( fabricated by Rich ). So Rich is drilling out the stud holes.
I took a minute to take a couple of pics of Rich's next engine project in the wings. Lincoln 368 Y-block. Rich has been collecting parts for years. Billet cam blank, forged flywheel, lakewood bellhousing, just to name a few of the goodies waiting to be installed on this engine.
Checking the head studs on the gaskets
We checked the rocker arm assemblies on the studs, they were tight also so the assembly was taken apart and Rich opened up the holes.
Done
The studs under the rocker arms were touching so Rich shortened them on the lathe. He also had to shorten two of the othe studs that screwed into blind holes.
Here are before and after shots of the studs under the rockers
The most of the head studs were still tight so Rich is going to order a reamer to open the holes for the head bolts. There are also two head studs that need to go in two "pockets " under each of the exhaust ports at the end of the head so Rich is waiting for some set screws he ordered to arrive to do the job.
Here is the engine at the end of the day
Night