If anyone's still waiting, 9 days later the only oil in #1 is in the piston valve and glow plug recesses. Any oil that could get to the rings is gone. The jury's still out on whether the ring gap is wider than spec or the bent rod messed ring contact geometry.

#2 is at 48mm. Less than 5% of of the piston surface is exposed. Someone asked about the measurement getting bigger rather than smaller. I'm measuring fluid surface from the deck, not the top of the piston.

The 3.5 is close to coming out. Just about everything is off the block. Only the oil filter housing and bell housing bolts remain. The bell housing bolts would be easy to get to from above but there's a brass conduit for the starter cable that's inconveniently in the way. Fortunately I have an impact wrench to remove the IP timer bolt since the head's off. Unfortunately the impact wrench won't budge the crank pulley bolt

Anyone have a starter ring gear lock to lend/rent?

Should a .971 come with a new design vacuum pump? The one on my car is the old style

Sixto
93 300SD