Block cleanup and preparation for assembly

So after dealing with all of the nasty gunk within the engine, finally I'm able to take some pride in getting ready for rebuilding the L24.  I decided to go with Pontiac Blue, which is a very very close match for the original Datsun block.  I also picked up some high heat primer and top coat for the exhaust manifold.

Here is the block being primed and final coat painted.  Please note that I did tape off everything very well that I did not want paint getting on.  For any overspray, I was able to easily clean it up with mineral spirits.

 

The exhaust manifold was quite a mess, and after a thorough cleaning, priming, and painting it was ready for its high-temp curing process on the BBQ. 20 minutes at 200 degrees, 30 minutes to cool, 20 minutes at 400 degrees, 20 minutes to cool.

Next came the freeze plugs.  I chose to go with the brass plugs and not paint them, I've seen this look before and liked it. While I was at it, I tapped & cleaned all of the threads on the block to get ready for reassembly

Some may say I did it backwards, but I left the deglazing of the cylinder walls for last.  I picked up a Flex-Hone which worked very well to take off a very minimal amount of cylinder wall glaze.  I feel I did achieve the 45 degree cross-hatching required to allow the new rings to seat properly.  Following the 20-30 seconds per cylinder, I washed the block thoroughly with water & soap, and then dried it with compressed air.  Lastly, I treated the unpainted surfaces of the block with ATF which also aided in the removal of the fine dust created during the deglazing process. Check out this YouTube video for more info on the Flex Hone: <<LINK>>

Next up will be rebuilding the bottom end with the new toys I received the other day...