I thought I would post a quick update. I ended up having to make an emergency run to the lake to deal with an issue on my dock, so I didn't have a chance to work on the engine until today. I actually had to do some fabrication for the dock before I left, and had a mess in the shop to clean up. Once I got that done, I pulled the crank and cam. I didn't have a bottoming tap to chase the cap threads last time, but all the bolts went in nicely by hand. However, I decided to order a tap at the same time as the studs. Taps of course make metal shavings, which I didn't want falling down into the clean block. So I cleaned all the errant assembly lube off of the bottom of the block and main girdles, then taped everything up.
I chased the threads, which were all good other than two that were a little tight the last half turn. I turned it upside down and cleaned out the holes with break cleaner......brilliant whoever invented it! The all looked nice clean when I turned it back over. I had been wondering if the support for the oil pickup was going to be an issue. Sure enough I mocked up the studs and it is.
The stud that has the nut and washer on it is also the one the pickup tube needs to mount to. That is why the bolt that broke had the stud on top of it. It is just a simple stamped sheet metal brace, but it is the only thing supporting the back of the pickup tube. I was hoping there would be enough stud sticking above the nut to allow me to sandwich the brace on with another nut. But no such luck. I can't seem to win with this bottom end! I have an email in to ARP, I am hoping maybe they have a slightly longer stud that will work. This is the only set they list for the engine, hopefully they will get back to me tomorrow.
