After thoroughly cleaning the block - particularly all the gasket surfaces - and getting the timing cover & intake manifold surfaced, I bolted them on. I reused the valve cover gaskets since they were already steel-reinforced nitrile. The new matching pan gasket got some Hylomar on the 4 points, and some E6000 at the timing cover joint, but the rest went on dry. All the bolted-on parts were prepainted (Duplicolor Engine New Ford Gray DE1611 for the steel parts; Duplicolor Engine Aluminum Cast Coat DE1650 for the Aluminum). I washed the block with carb & brake cleaners while wire-brushing the grime off, then heated it with a torch before applying gray paint to it & all the bolt heads (which had been wire-wheeled previously).

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Owner caption March 2015 · Photo 237 of 434