With everything off the block I gave everything a clean using a wire wheel and multiple washes with a degreaser which helped loads and really gave me chance to clean everything up rather than flinging grease everywhere.
I replaced the seals in the block at the same time, heres a few pictures of the big end seal and the metal piece being resealed at the same time. I didn't replace this previously on an xe in my Corsa and first time it was started it wee'd oil everywhere so didn't want to take the gearbox off once it's in.
I painted the core plugs in the car colour which isn't Arden blue, it's very different to Arden. Then I painted the whole block with hammerite and it came up brilliantly even with a brush leaving no brush marks and I did one side at a time and left plenty of drying time between.
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