[V8] moving on...

[d saad]

Well...

my machinist has gone over my motor, and has determined
that (as expected) the rod bearings and crank look good, we are not going
to remove the crank, and the bores have some minor wear, but seem to be
within spec. He wanted to put the whole block in the cleaning tank, but
for various reasons (crank removal being chief) that is not a good
idea.

The oil ring (third ring) is of a design that made him
say "I hate those - they never work". 
They were pretty
caked with oil gunk. Not hard to see they were doing very little to
control oil.
I guess this means my oil sucking problem may be coming
to a close. The new rings are the DEVES set, and are black - not chrome.
The oil ring is a much better design. He says the black rings are a little
"rougher" and may reduce the overall life of the motor, but will
have a much better chance of sealing in a used bore.

One other
thing I would like to do while the motor is out is remove the cover plate
in the valley area of the motor. I only hesitate because I have not found
a replacement gasket yet. Has anyone had this off - and is there anything
that needs cleaning out while I am in there?
This is the breather
"labyrinth" I assume and want to make sure it is not clogged
up.

Dave