I really abhor Harbor Freight. But as much as I hate cheap, crappy tools, today I went against my morals and purchased their small 6.5 gallon parts washer. I'd been watching Craigslist for some time looking for a decent used one but nothing small ever came up - I don't have room for a large parts washer. So...I dropped $40 on the plastic Harbor Freight model(plastic?!?!). I have to say, however, this parts washer is one of those "my god - why didn't I do this sooner!" type purchases, right up there with my lift table. Cleaning the timing cover - which would have taken forever with my old method, was shiny-clean in a matter of minutes. Awesome!
The washer was just big enough to fit the engine cases, too. Despite a lot of nasty sludge, they cleaned up very well.
I then began the long process of measuring everything to make sure it's still in spec. The oil pump and crankshaft bushing in the timing cover were both fine. The calculator is to convert my measurements to metric, as my micrometer is english.
The piston showed hardly any wear, but the cylinder wall has a few pits and will require an oversize piston once it's cleaned up. I'll also have to fit a new bushing in the connecting rod's small end. I know the big end needs some work, too, but that's getting farmed out to a machine shop. I don't have a press to rebuild the crank.
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