Had to do some traveling so I didn't get much done this last week but here is a few updates.
Pulled the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate and brackets off the old motor (No pics sorry). I also had to return the throw-out bearing since Autozone can only get the FWD version and they also cannot get a pilot bearing so I need to source those soon.
I cleaned up the brackets with some industrial de-greaser since Simple Green and Dawn couldn't do the job.
I decided to go with a nu-cast aluminum color on the brackets since they went with the new aluminum parts on the engine already. Plus they would really pop against the black block.
I started cleaning on the engine bay but ran out of time before storms started rolling in. I have insufficient lighting in my garage and didn't want her to get beat up by hail. Here's a pre-shot of the bay.
Here's an after shot showing what that industrial de-greaser can do.
And of course I had to get a shot of her outside for the first time since Halloween, she needed the fresh air.
I hope to finish up the bay this week as well as get the water pipe modified so I can finish assembling the engine. If the bay cleans up as good as it did above I may not re-spray it since I can't afford it right now.
If anyone can point me in the direction of a pilot bearing and a throw-out bearing please let me know, thanks!