I'm delighted that my little bit of input helped you to solve where that noise was coming from. The delight I could hear in your voice would have been more than enough thanks for my small efforts, but you also were kind enough to acknowledge my help in your video, much appreciated.
I don't know how you made your engine 'interference-free'? do you mean you removed the eccentric (that was there originally to drive the mechanical fuel pump on the earlier carburetored engines) on the auxiliary drive shaft? If so, there is still the issue of valves contacting the pistons should the timing belt slip or break? Or have you done something to prevent this also?
Re:- your timing belt. I erroneously thought it might be an old belt and therefore recommended changing it as a precaution. But if the belt is very recently fitted, it should be fine to re-use.Your method of checking the belt tension is also fine. I assume (given your experience) you spun the tensioner and checked it for excessive free-play when you had the belt off. Most of the belt problems I used to see were either because the belt hadn't been replaced for way, way beyond the change interval or the tensioner bearing had failed (wear due to old age or bearing failure due to a leak from the water pump - hot coolant, especially containing anti-freeze can find it's way in and ruin the bearing - I suppose injudicious use of a steam-cleaner or hot water+detergent power washer could do the same).
I wouldn't lose any sleep about not having removed the little oil gallery plugs in the crankshaft to clean out any sludge. What builds up there is imho similar to what used to build up in the crank front pulley mounted centrifugal oil filters used on some of the older Fiats (the early 124 Spider and Coupe fitted with the 1438cc engine had this type of filter as well as the normal replacable cartridge filter). Some say this sludge is some of the additives being centrifuged out from the engine oil, it's soft and rubbery, gray to black in color, it doesn't contain any grit, when you think about it, the oil has passed through the filter before reaching the crank. So unless you had the crankshaft reground, no grit should find it's way into the oil ways. I knew someone who used to fill the crank oil passages with grease before sending it for re-grinding, then he just flushed out the oil passages before installing it - apparently, he had had an experience of a replaced crank oil passage sealing plug pop out, ruining the crank and was afraid to mess with crank oil plugs anymore.... As long as you had cleaner coming out of each rod bearing oil hole when you sprayed cleaner into it's adjacent crank main bearing hole, you should be fine to go - any remaining sludge should stay in place due to centrifugal action when the crank is spinning.
I, too have always applied oil or grease when fitting a seal and also put some oil or grease between the oil seal and dust seal lips - my thinking is that if the oil seal lip is doing it's job, it'll prevent any oil reaching the dust sealing lip, also, when fitting the seal, the oil seal lip may wipe some or all of the oil/grease from the shaft, leaving the dust seal lip running dry. Might be what happened in your case. Sometimes it's very hard to remember exactly what you did and if you did indeed do what you normally would - just wait 'till you get older...
I watched your latest video - I don't know if I would have thought to spray some water at the rear of the engine, well done - I probably would have just sprayed the drive belts at the front and given up and started pulling the transmission. But then again you did say that the noise seemed to be coming from the rear of the engine (I, of course, couldn't tell from the video). I got this idea of spraying water to locate a noise having noticed that squeaky suspension bushes often became silent if you drove on wet roads - later on, trying to determine if a fan belt was the source of a noise I was hearing, I tried some water (I didn't have any of that belt-dressing spray stuff).
In your latest video, where you're showing that no oil was coming out of the temporary extended breather hose (having deliberately over-filled the oil level), I noticed something odd about the sheet metal dust-shield that fits between the engine and transmission - the lower edge corner, the section with the dogleg bend on the driver's side is bent out of shape, did you bend it? you have to be careful with these dust shields, they can sometimes catch on the flywheel and cause a noise. (and I know you don't like odd noises
).
I don't think the absence of the baffle in the new oil pan would affect the crank rear oil seal - this seal is lubricated by the oil that normally leaks sideways from the rear main bearing. Plus, it probably also gets some oil due to splash when the car is being driven. However this oil can't and shouldn't reach the outer dust-sealing lip. Afaik, the baffle in the oil pan was an attempt to limit oil-surge during hard cornering which might result in the oil pump drawing in air.
In your video, the little nick that you put on the oil dipstick using a pair of dykes to show the temporary very high oil level (oil level with the bottom of the crank, in order to cause oil splash in the crankcase) is visible @ 16m19s in and again @ 16m20s.
What's the problem with the replacement radiator. I've repaired many rads.
Blockage - I fill the rad. with a caustic soda (drain cleaner?) solution and leave for c. 24 hrs. usually works.
Leaks - I locate and solder them (I might have to cut away a few fins for access)
Only rads. I won't usually bother with are those that have most of the cooling fins rusted away.
If you don't want to mess with your rad., are there any rad. repair specialists near to you? These guys can repair most rads or fit a new core, cheaper than a new rad.
Earlier, I was going to suggest, that in the absence of a working rad. you could join the top and bottom rad hoses with a length of pipe, or connect them to a container of water and thus be able to run the engine safely for a bit longer - you might even have been able to drive the car around the block, - in which case the crank oil seal noise might have disappeared.
As a matter of interest, what are you using to film your videos? (I've often thought of making a few videos of some of the techniques I use to repair things). How difficult is it to upload a video to a website (not Youtube).
Al.