THE FINAL SANDWICH

With the new ARP2000 rod bolts installed and the piston rings gapped, the bottom end could be completed ready for the head to be bolted on. Rich elected to use a 1mm Permaseal MLS-R head gasket, which is actually a four-layer gasket. The RB26 head was next to go, but not before the two oil restrictors we spoke about last instalment were placed into the block. Torqueing the head to 108.4Nm began from the centre out, to ensure the gasket was squashed flat. Each of the ARP nuts had a small amount of oil to lubricate the friction surface.

The next pieces to go on were the cams, 274 on the inlet and 280 on the exhaust. Like you should with all bearing surfaces, Rich added a little oil to help protect the engine on first start-up. Following this, the rest of the external bolt-ons found their way onto the block.