No time to waste on this so the sump came off this morning. It was filthy. Clearly it hadn`t been cleaned for ages or at least if it was cleaned at the last engine build it must have been a pretty quick one.
Immediately checked the con rod nuts and bolts and all were there and firmly in place!
So as mentioned, the extent of the rebuild I don`t know, but what one can summise is that the sump if it did come off was a haven for bits of the engine in times gone by including the big end nut.
When draining the oil earlier in the week, clearly not all the oil left the sump even if it was left for 30 mins. Okay, so I don`t have a level drive, but even so I`d be surprised if all the oil drains on any change, hence the buildup of carbon and other deposits that hid the nut, caveat of sump may or may NOT of course have been taken off before?!
Cleaned up things as best I could including the sump bolts and determined to get some RTV 600 sealer or similar; I found some minus 80 to 650F at EuroParts along with 8 more litres of Magnatec plus oil filter. Looking at the state of the `new` oil just drained from the sump there was no way I was putting that back in again. Chose the sealer first because I couldn`t get a gasket until late next week it seemed, but mainly because they don`t tend to be recommended I found for V8 sumps. Maybe I`m wrong, but its done now. Spent some time giving it time to chill and semi set before tightening down some more.
New filter and oil will go in tomorrow and hopefully that will be it.
Although the engine is fine on that at least and there is no indication of any problems at all (at the moment?!) it was the peace of mind that made it all worth it. AND knowing that any new oil put in from now won`t immediately be contaminated by the dregs in the sump; just look at the colour of that 5 mile old oil in the yellow bucket that came out this morning..
There was also the danger of course, it being a good off roader that sees a fair degree of action, that the nut could have found its way to the crankshaft and con rods and caused total mayhem.
Thank you to all of you for your kind help and all done with such enthusiasm, great to be amongst such dedicated Landy people.
Great Stuff!