Totally ready! Gonna get brown-faced on some proper beer this time, though; my palate for good liquor has grown a lot in the past 12 months, you'll be surprised. It'll be nice to finally relax and not worry about having the car ready for some show; with any luck, I won't remember most of the weekend anyway.

And as promised, more progress at last. Got the long block 90% together today with a buddy of mine! Lubricated the bores, got the piston and rod assemblies into the bores, torqued down the rod caps . . .


. . .cleaned the head and deck, spun in the head studs, thin application of Hylomar to the head gasket, let the stuff cure with the head on the block . . .



. . .and realized we didn't have a 13mm 12-point socket to torque the head with. Oops! We snugged the nuts up with a 14m 6-point, so the sealant should be fine since it's non-hardening anyway.
I'll make a stop by tomorrow and torque the head down, and maybe even dry install the valve cover to keep dust out. Who knows, maybe my fasteners will arrive tomorrow and I can install the oil pump, sump, and intermediate shaft!
This thing is getting really close to being done as a full block; I really need to attend to the smaller things, like making sure my turbo oil feed and drain are fabbed up, getting the oil cooler lines made, and ordering the AWIC and timing tools. I also need to turn my attention on getting the trans ready by installing the 0.681 5th and new side plate seal, as well as keeping in contact with USPS about getting either A) my trans mounts back or B) a refund for their value. Anyone have an old 02A reverse switch connector?