So late yesterday afternoon I started tearing down the AE engine so I could get it to the long block state to do the seal repairs that are needed.
Other than a few tin screws that are being major pains in the asses (below) it is all coming apart fairly easily and even the exhaust studs cracked open without too much difficulty.
There was a new aftermarket oil cooler under that fan shroud which was an unexpected surprise. The foam seal is still solid and intact so this engine could not have been rebuilt all that long ago.
There’s a lot of last-minute hack stuff on the engine, especially as it pertains to just making things “work” just to work. There was a lot of silicone caulk used to seal the the doghouse vents (below) and there was also a seam of black caulk of sometime along the rear of the fan shroud at the engine connection.
The engine has no thermostat and the flaps have all been ripped out.
I can understand the caulk and even this grommet/clamp (above) for the throttle cable tube. I’m having major issues getting the aftermarket throttle cable seal/grommet in and thought to look for other options for the new build. The new rubber seal for the lower part of the cooler vent doesn’t fit very well at all and I thought of putting a seam of silicon caulk on the rubber to try and hold it to the metal.
I have some queries out on if this manifold is an original one for an autostick as I have no idea what those 2 welded off ports are for. The smaller one is probably for a DVDA retard vacuum port but the larger one escapes me. The part number with the AP suffix hasn’t helped.
Given some of the other odd things on the engine I am shocked that the generator is actually a Bosch one and not a generic. I still think it best to replace with a more “modern” internally regulated alternator as would have been on all 74 and later cars but I haven’t fully decided what to do.