I painted the dashboard with Eastwood crackle finish black paint. I really like the finish and I hope when it fully cures that it is tough and scratch resistant. I applied two heavy coats as directed then used a hair dryer to create the crackle finish. The paint dries from the outside and even though it was dry to the touch by the next day it was soft underneath. One can did the whole dashboard. The paint had the best spray pattern I’ve ever seen from a rattle can. I carefully mounted the dashboard, gauges and switch panel in the car to finish curing.

I decided to pull the intake manifold on the engine so I could give the engine a good cleaning and paint the intake and valve covers (crackle finish naturally). When I got the intake manifold off I discovered that the heads were full of liquid upstream from the intake valves. I rotated the intake manifold around and dumped about a quart of liquid out of it. I cleaned out the liquid which turned out to be antifreeze. I have no idea how it got into the intake. There are no passages in the intake for engine coolant, but it means that the liquid has been in the engine about four years so I was immediately concerned about rust.

I initially couldn’t turn the engine so I removed it from the car and finally it popped free with a longer pry bar on the dampener bolt. I checked the oil and there is no sign of water. I think that somehow the antifreeze got into the intake during engine removal or transport from the parts supplier. I was not part of those tasks so I can’t say for certain. Fortunately antifreeze has rust inhibitors and there is no indication that the cylinders or valves have rust.

After I clean the engine exterior, I will remove the valve covers and check that there are no stuck valves (there are 40 in this engine), change the engine oil and crank the engine over with the plugs removed to get fresh oil throughout the internals.

I want to get the clutch and flywheel installed, bolt the engine and transmission together (I’m missing bolts) and get those items fully mounted to the chassis so I can start running the wiring, hoses and cables.