By October 2010, it became obvious that the used engine I installed in Juy/August of '09 was having some issues.
It had served us well, but I was having to adjust the valves every 600 miles. 3000 miles is the normal interval, so this was a sign that the cylinder heads were heading for a not-so-good place.
We bit the bullet & bought a Mexican longblock through Bus Depot, which I then mantled & installed.
I also chose to change the transmission out for another used one I had, since the one we were running was making funny noises & popping out of 4rth.
The whole project turned out well. After 15,000 miles, the engine is still going strong, & though the "new used" transmission has it's own set of noises it doesn't pop out of gear.
Following is a jumble of pics (and some video) of the process.
