While it was 60 degrees out today I rushed and got the rest of the engine completed so I could get some paint on it. I did spend a good half hour or so priming the oil pump and pumping oil through the engine while constantly turning the engine over by hand to get the lifters filled and oil up to the rockers. The daughter assisted in running the drill...until it started smoking and she ran inside claiming she had homework she had to get done. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/rolleyes.gif[/img]
Here is something some of you Round Port guys might be interested in. Since no one makes the unique 1972-only intake gasket that has the small square heat riser port for the 7F6 cylinder heads, I had to improvise a little.
I ended up using the Felpro 90123 (RAIV, 1971 455HO,1973/4 SD455) large port intake gasket for the intake runner sections and then sectioned in the heat riser portion from the Felpro 90205 1972 455 D-port head intake gasket. This way everything ends up matching what it is supposed to mate with. And since the cast iron heat riser is a separate piece from the aluminum dual plane intake, there are no leakage problems to deal with.
And yes, that small, open, horizontal rectangle above the square heat risser port is supposed to be open to the atmosphere. It is sealed off from the inside of the engine and I believe it was created to allow ambient air in to prevent hot oil from "coking" onto the cylinder head's internal heat riser passages.
