Inching forward, slowly. I managed to get the shortblock rotating assembly together, and found the passenger side deck is . 007 higher than the drivers side. Cylinders 1,3,5,7 are - . 007 to -. 010 deck height, cylinders 2,4,6,8 are -.014 to -.017 below deck. I swapped cylinders 2 and 3 rod and piston, but things changed less than . 0005. So i have . 036 head gasket for the low side, .027 for the other side. So thats the way it will be.
I found i had a left over circlip when i installed the last piston. What the hay? So, after fretting about it, and not taking a chance, ( i had found an extra clip days ago) i started to pull the pistons and rods back out to find the piston missing a lock. I got lucky. It was #1 cylinder, first one i pulled.
I was surprised to see the 1.600 long ARP rod bolts only needed 80 to 82 ft lb torque to reach . 0064 to . 0065 stretch.
Tomorrow i can start putting the heads together, and hopefully the rest won't take to long. No dyno date set yet, but i should have everything i need finally!