I have had worse beginnings. Needs a new fascia and a few dents pulled. Obviously pull the stickers and stupid hat off. Definitely needs a good wash and buff.

Dent in the door needs to be pulled. Wonder what the paint looks like underneath that sticker..

Honestly not sure why I took this one.

Interior needs some attention. It is an Edge according to the VIN but options are sparse.

More stickers to come off.

Engine out of the truck. Converter had to come out with the engine. It would only move 1/32 of a turn.

Yep, that is a hole.

Engine. Again.

Mmmm, something is not right here.

Lovely crack across the top of the piston.

Believe it or not, this is not the same piston.

The rod was thrown with sufficient force to dent the pan and close the gap between the pan and bolt enough to not be able to get a socket on the head.

Profile shot showing bulge from the violent end of this engine.

Another.

Carnage found in the pan. Much of that is a piston skirt.

Exit hole for something.

Found the rod!

Oop, one still there. This one refuses to come out. I would need to literally cut it out in pieces. Pft, not worth it.

I think that bearing is not supposed to look like that.

So much for that crankshaft.

Counterweights have seen better days.

Cylinder 1 and 4 rod journals.

Cylinder 2 and 5.

Missing the piston skirt(!).

Another shot of the piston and some ruined bearings.

Replacement engine. Clean!

Engine sticker on the replacement engine.

Over 100k and can still clearly see the crosshatch. Someone took real good care of this engine. Some of the main and rod bearings did not even have wear patterns on them yet.

Degreasing and pressure washing.

Fogging the primer.

3 coats of DE1606 Ford Dark Blue. Nice.

Pistons in, timing set on, waiting for paint to dry on the timing cover.

Proper amount of pistons at TDC..Could Ford design an uglier oil pan?

That big orange monster behind is next on the list for projects. 6.5 block for the Suburban. I did not realize how physically small this engine is until I had it in front of that block.

I shall call it, Mini Me!.....cuz it looks like my 302, just mini.

If it is not obvious yet, I like this color scheme for Fords.

There she is, in all her glory. 3.0 liters of fury. With all that crap on there it makes me wonder why I even cleaned and painted...

Well, removing all that vinyl and that stupid hat improved the looks of the truck dramatically. Not to mention just washing it..Next up is buffing the paint, removing the pinstripes and hard tonneau, front bumper, torsion tweak and bigger tires.