everyone had fun and we all needed a rest after that one! the issue was a blown head gasket. didnt get her hot and sure no damage; just noticed a slight external squirt on the way home. towed her to a nearby homestead and went back the next day on a retrieval mission. pulled the plugs and cranked the motor and didnt get any water out of the plug holes so drove her on the trailer. so head off is next move. i was planning on pulling the sump anyway so do i get excited and put rings and shells through this motor while i at it? perhaps, perhaps not will decide when i get to this, compression is not too bad and pretty even and i reckon a valve grind will perk things up. gotta get busy with work so this all down the track a bit. dont want to pull the head until i have time to finish the job. and need to do a swivel rebuild. anyways it was all a lot of fun. in the meantime the oil lines, radiator cap and battery are back in project patina so she is still my daily runabout for now.