So I tried the aftermarket distributor gear and it does not fit. I think it needs to be honed down to even attempt to move smoothly so I decided to go with the AH engine’s original gear, washers, and spring which all went in fine and without a problem.
I used the basic EMPI 009 clone as the starter distributor for this just to get the alignment done for Top Dead Center (TCD) and such.
Getting the crank assembly into the cage and getting the bearings to line up properly with their respective dowels all at the same time proved to be a pain in the ass.
It took multiple tries to finally get all 3 full crank bearings locked into their respective dowels. It was like I’d get 2 out of 3 and then the other would be out. It just seemed to take forever of lifting the assembly in or out over and over to get the thing in.
The cam went in fine and it was easy to align the timing marks.
Everything appears to be synched smoothly.
The cam and lifters are coated in the one special heavy zinc ZPaste break-in assembly lube. The Redline assembly lube is used on the crank, rod bearings, etc.
I’ve been back and forth if I should installed the windage tray from the AR engine into this one. I’ll probably just leave it out as this isn’t meant to be a race or off road engine by any means. Plus, I’ve read too many negatives about unmodded windage trays causing issues and destroying the cam lobes.
That’s pretty much it for my work today.
I need to read up about a few more things to ensure everything is synched properly. If I don’t need to change anything or retorque any nuts I’m fairly confident I can finish lubing the gears and then seal the case tomorrow and start on cleaning the pistons, cylinders, and heads.