Short block assembled

Pistons are all in and ready for head installation. These spacers are used to hold the cylinder liners in place as the crankshaft is rotated.

 

Fitting piston rings correctly is a very tedious process

Piston ring end gap, the distance between the ends of a ring when it's in the cylinder bore, needs to be very precise for proper engine operation. It involves inserting the ring into the bore, measuring the gap, removing the ring, carefully grinding a tiny bit off the end, then inserting the ring again to measure the gap. If you accidentally remove much material, you're basically screwed and need to get a new ring and start over. 

There are three rings, the top, bottom and oil rings. The ring gaps are ideally 60 degrees apart so that the gaps do not line up with each other.

Reassembly of camshaft drive

 

Engine assembly underway

 Engine assembly is underway. It's apparent just how much attention detail goes into this process.

Pistons attached to connecting rods

 Apparently a tool exists to insert the wrist pins into the pistons. Who knew?

 

 

Transaxle parts

 One of the biggest challenges to working in these cars is locating OEM parts. David was able to locate a NOS synchro ring and synchro sleeve, engagement pins and springs, as well as the reverse idler bearings and one end shaft bearing. Originally, he was also going to replace the slider blocks but mine showed nearly zero wear so we didn't replace them.