Well - good news and bad news. It was a bit rainy, so I had more time to work on the engine.
I rolled the engine over to start removing the pistons and there it was - the connecting rod for the No. 4 cylinder was broken, and the bearings were gone (and nowhere to be found inside the engine so far. There was, of course, some damage to the crankshaft, so the next order of business, at least as far as that's concerned, will be to finish getting the crank out so I can take it to a machine shop to see if it can be ground down or not. I know that as I've looked a rebuild kits, a lot of them have options for oversized crankshaft bearings.
The bottom of the No. 4 piston was damaged as well, but I didn't see any other damage to the inside the block. All of the other cylinders came out pretty easily, but that one was stuck a little bit more.
I carried on and removed the oil pick up and oil pump (there was only one shim between the oil pump on the bearing block). I also got the crankshaft nut and crankshaft pulley off. I noticed on the pulley (before I pulled it off) that it has been pulled at some time in the past, because there were two bent spots on the rear rim of the pulley. I used a puller and it came off relatively easily. The shaft surface for the front seal looks to be in good shape.
The valves on the No. 4 cylinder were also pretty sticky - especially the exhaust valve. I don't know if the valve stuck, then the piston hit it and broke the connecting rod or if there was a different chain of events. Who knows..
At any rate, I've at least discovered why the engine was knocking. Now all I've got to do it finish fixing everything and replace all the broken parts and put it back together.
Piece of cake, right?
This will probably become a lengthy process (because I'm going to have to roll some pennies to pay for all of this), but I would rather take the time and spend the money to get it right this time and end up with a solid dozer rather than rush through it and mess something up worse.
I appreciate any thoughts and advice anyone has. Anything in particular to be aware of regarding having a crankshaft ground or having a valve job done on a cylinder head?
Thanks.