Engine rebuild with no former experience........

Hi Jim
I had to assemble the downpipes several times last year, both on the right and left and never had a problem.
I use a jack that pushes the catalytic converter up with the downpipes. Then I have both hands free to screw.

You're doing a great job 

I have found that on the left downpipe, one of the bolts has to be inserted from below and the nut screwed on from above due to the shape of the manifold. No way to get my hands on the upper side, I am lucky to have my garage helper.

More work on the exhaust today but first I got the headlights refitted with the new connectors from MB.



I got the second downpipe fitted then moved onto the middle box, the little scissor lift is handy for this.



I used this jointing compound, lower one for the main joints and the silicone one for the balancer pipe.



Middle box fitted.



Moving on to the rear.





Connected up, yes the white streaks in the pic are snow.





I still need to fit the balancer but am not sure how the heat shield is supposed to be oriented, please let me know if you have a picture.

Today I.........

Fitted the balancer pipe.



Filled the transmission with 4l of Dexron 2D. The manual calls for 4l initial fill then another ~4.9l once the engine is started.



This meets the spec.



Bit by bit in here.



Spark plugs out again.



These plastic washers protect the panels from the battery tray.



Battery in and good quiescent current.



Ready to try to build oil pressure....



Bad news, I couldn't get any oil pressure.



I tried with another battery but with no success, I don't think the engine is spinning fast enough to get the oil pump to pick up oil.

Any suggestions on what to try next?

Well Jim, did you prefill the oil filter or was it empty ?
If it was empty you could check if it is oil in there now.
Did you check the other bank ?
Did you or your wife read the oil pressure gauge in the cluster,it should move before oil is getting to the camshafts ?

As I changed the oil filter housing gasket and the camshaft on my OM617(everything was empty)  it took I think nearly 40 Seconds of cranking (added together) to get oil to the cam.
 

Oil filter cannister was pre-filled and I also tried while looking at the pressure gauge, it didn't move.