Long story, but I had a very large Ford dealership in my area do some final finishing work on the drivetrain. They were the first to start the engine.
Unfortunately, they were also supposed to finish up the gauges and that was real spotty. So when I picked it up for a test drive, few of the gauges worked. Somewhere along the line they crossed the
oil hoses to the remote
oil filter. It overheated, they were "unable" to diagnose. I messed with it myself, replaced a bunch of stuff and spent alot of time with Summit and others diagnosing it. Ultimately another mechanic stopped out and eventually traced it to the crossed hoses. There was no
oil pressure till the hoses were put back in the right positions. Then we had oil pressure immediately. The car started, sounded fine.....and I drove it for 350 miles. It blew pretty hard. But it was obvious that the bearings were shot.
I hate to admit this, but I decided to have local folks do the paint and "install" the drivetrain based on bids and wanting to keep the work "local". By the time the dust had cleared there was $40k expended beyond the rolling chasis and net net, due to the blown engine, the vendors I used PAID me $2500. IE they spent $42,500 for the pleasure of working on the car. It will have cost me about $10,000 to get the new engine in, but that will put me reasonably on budget. I was very lucky the vendors I used more or less stood by their bids and behind the work, but a word of caution to those who dont do turn key and try to hire some of the work out. I got a fabulous paint job and hopefully the engine will purr this time.