I bought a harmonic balancer (pulley puller), and consequently, the pulley is now off! Soon after, the cambelt pulley came off, and the crankshaft. Lovely.
Then, I got started cleaning the block. Took a few pics finally too.
The block:
Why cant I make the crankshaft fit?? ;)
Various other parts
I did find some unsettling damage to the head gasket surface of the block however..
I really hope this isnt fatal damage, as this is a really good block otherwise.. Im hoping a skim will fix it, but its rather deep. Some input would be appreciated!