With the dipstick out there were only a few problem spots that needed special attention before the engine was ready to be painted. I scrapped those spots as best I could, wire wheeled, and then cleaned the surface with some light detergent. I removed the valve covers and taped up the valve-trains and intake manifold to protect them from over-spray.

I left the oil pan and timing cover on since they still need to have the paint removed from them anyway. When the block dries I'll remove the sump and timing cover to paint them separately, the valve covers will get the same treatment, along with the thermostat housing, pulleys, and other miscellaneous parts of the engine. From some pictures in the Ashcraft catalog it looks like one of the mods he does is removing the mechanical fan stuff. It involves (based entirely on guesswork) cutting off the mechanical fan mount spindle from the timing cover and welding up the hole to make more room for a more powerful electric unit; I'll probably give that a try as well since all my efforts to find/fix a mechanical fan have not panned out.

Before it goes back in the car I'm going to replace the dipstick tube (obviously), all the gaskets for the crankcase including valve covers, timing cover, and sump. I'll also change the freeze-plugs, and those coolant tubes will need to be remade to fit into the block. I'm also going to replace the water pump for no reason other than it's easy to do right now and only costs like 50 bucks; might as well not reintroduce all the rust on the old impeller into the system.

I also remembered that since I have an entire spare engine I'll cut up my spare timing cover and attempt to do that mod to a non-essential spare. On that front I did discover that the timing cover is cast aluminum, not stamped/cast steel like I would have hoped. As such I can't weld it myself, as at the moment I'm sadly without a spool gun or TIG welder. They're tools I want, but I don't have 220v power in my shop to run either. I will either outsource the welding OR follow up on the lead of a friend of a friend to has a TIG they may be willing to let me use or they'll weld for me. Down this line of thinking I also realized I have two spare valve covers... so I may get creative making some "prettier" valve covers; maybe some raised SAAB logos?

Progress will be slow again moving forward since school has started back up and a fair amount of my energy is devoted to dealing with the issues that have arisen from my daily driver being hit and the insurance company of that driver fighting with me on the value of my vehicle. So much fun.