Got a pickup...back on track again

[PRD2BDF]

Awesome progress, when you go to the LKQ, keep an eye peeled for SAABs, I'm curious to see if they have any down there.

[Jrs3800]

I have never seen much of anything for Sabb's down here Cody, and we both hit those LKQ's here...lol..

[clm2112]

Never noticed this, but that is a Dual Tank Truck.... Talk about Range...lol

Insert a 33 gallon Bronco fuel tank here! Spare tire carrier already removed, so the double sized tank just plugs right in in place of the 19 gallon stock rear tank. (Broncos have a single 33 instead of dual 19's)... 52 gallons total is possible with this truck before going to saddle tanks or a bed mounted one. (did the math a few minutes ago, full load of fuel would be 325 lbs of gasoline with that arrangement.)




And yes, muffler is getting axed soon too. Probably in a few months. Instead of having the pipe exit behind the axle where it can get caught on brush, I'm reversing the hanger and using a shorter muffler so it will exit in front of the axle on the passenger side. Gotta check PA inspection rules. Cat's stay put, but I think any exhaust pipe arrangement with the muffler behind the cab will pass muster.

Still waiting for photos of the prospective flat bed the guys tracked down. It's steel, 8' long, 80" wide, D-rings, stake pockets, with a retractable goose-neck hitch in the center, and a pair of under-slung tool boxes on either side of the cab end. Fuel fills are supposed to be a pair of hinged plates in the deck. At least that's what the fellow said it had. He's going over there to take pictures. It's sort of a package deal. He bought the bed off of mine and is wheeling and dealing with his neighbor for the flat bed for me. If it works out, the flat bed will end up costing me $150. Worst case, I take a pass on the flat bed and go shopping for one. (a new aluminum one is about $2500, a new steel one is about $1000.)

[clm2112]

I have never seen much of anything for Sabb's down here Cody, and we both hit those LKQ's here...lol..

Maybe they just don't die enough, or the buyers for LKQ don't bid on them. Either way, Don's right...I never see SAAB's in the yards. The "Imports" section of LKQ in Daytona is about the same size as each of the three domestic sections. It's populated by mostly Nissan, Toyota, and other Japanese makes...with the occasional Jag or BMW mixed in.

[00Beast]

Good work Curt. You're not sanding the frame to bare steel, are you? From what I've heard if you just wire brush the crud off POR actually sticks better to surface rust.

[clm2112]

Good work Curt. You're not sanding the frame to bare steel, are you? From what I've heard if you just wire brush the crud off POR actually sticks better to surface rust.

Hmm... might be a change in plans then. I was planing on sanding the frame with 80 grit to knock and surface rust off. If POR-15 doesn't need it, then perhaps just wipe it down again to remove any left over dirt from yesterdays wash and apply the stuff.

[Jrs3800]

Here is what I understand about POR15( I need some too )... Its stops rust in its tracks by taking away the moisture that the rust had, effectively stopping it from rusting... It does not allow moisture to permeate through it keeping the metal sealed...

How much can you get a Quart for Curt?

[00Beast]

From what I've seen on shows that have used it you just have to knock the loose scale off for it to stick best. Apparently it sticks best to surface rust.

[clm2112]

Made a run to LKQ on Sat morning. (btw Don, there's a white 1991 LE about 5 rows in on the right. no collision damage and only started to get picked over. Tails are delaminated, but sheetmetal is in good shape. I took it's radiator fan for the F150.)

Picked up a radiator fan & wiring, disassembled the fuse block on another F150 for some electrical contacts (and for practice to see how it comes apart.) and another throttle body for the F150. Picked up several of the little linkages on the TB to keep as spares. They were the older style (steel rod with plastic ball joint sockets) instead of the one piece cast plastic linkage. Plugged right in on the TB I have, so that is good to go.

The fuse block on my F150 has a couple of spare cavities for optional circuits that are not on my truck. There is one relay socket and fuse that are for cab and trailer lights. Not planning on adding more lights to the truck, so I'm going to reuse that relay socket for the electric radiator fan. I just have to populate the socket with the contacts I raided off the salvage yard F150.

Didn't get any more work done on the F150. Spent most of the time working on the Bonnie.

[clm2112]

Spent an hour on the Bonnie changing the cam sensor, then went to work on the Ford.

Got as far as the 5-6-7-8 cylinder head before it got dark and had to quit for the night. Cylinder bores look pretty good. Nice and shiny walls, no defects, and not much of a ridge on the tops of the bores. Deck surface looks pretty good too, I just scraped it down and vacuumed up the mess. Had oem Ford head gaskets and intake manifold gaskets. Looks like nobody has been inside the motor before me. Took the spider off the lifter valley last night after cleaning a coffee can full of sludge out of the valley with a paint scraper. Still need to pull the lifters and check them over while I have the top end off.

[Jrs3800]

Not looking too bad by any means Curt.. Looking forward to the build up

[clm2112]

Ok, got home from work, time to start assembling.

Shortblock in the truck, all the gasket surfaces cleaned and the block holes are chased with taps. Already about 6:30 in the evening.



By 9:00pm, both heads are on and torqued down. It's still about 96 degrees outside, but the sun is going down. I work for about a half hour, then go inside to sit under the A/C vent in the kitchen with a glass of Pepsi and ice to cool back down. I had two bellhousing bolts to install first. (one was missing and the other was removed to measure it before running to the hardware store.) They are easy to get to with the heads off. Also had to dig around to find enough dowel pins for the heads. Three were recovered from the old heads, but the fourth refused to come out. Had a spare in the parts bucket from the teardown of the boat's motor, so good to go. Used ARP head bolts and FelPro head gaskets. Pretty straight forward install. Coat the ends of the bolts in pipe sealant, run them into the holes and torque in three passes to 70ft-lbs.



Out comes the extension cord and a work light to hang on the hood. Valve train is installed, air injector cross-over pipe is in too. The distributor is just a temporary deal to keep track of where the crank is in the firing order. Before I took out the distributor during the teardown, I marked the position of the rotor tip on it and didn't turn the crank while the distributor was removed. I had to put it back in because I was turning the crank to lash the valves.



10:00pm... bugs are getting pretty aggressive. Time to call it quits. Valve covers are on. Next stop is the intake manifold tomorrow when there's daylight to work by.

[gorin002]

i take mi had off non of this i can do

[clm2112]

Picking up where I left off. Only got a few parts installed (had to go into work and when I got home, spent the rest of the evening cleaning parts for today.)

Intake manifold gaskets all in place. Couple dabs of RTV in the corners



And on goes the manifold.

[myfirstbonnie]

Coming together nicely Curt. Can't wait to see it completed.

[clm2112]

Not much time to work on it this weekend. Spent most of Sat and half of Sunday at the office (changing the accounting system to match the rest of the USF divisions.)

I spent two hours Sunday afternoon mowing the grass in the rain. You know, have to keep up appearances. At which point, I was beat. Carolyn got dropped off at 5:00pm.

Sooo... All I got done was indoors. Went through three throttle bodies. Cleaned them up, checked the IAC and TPS sensors, and set the throttle stop. Two TB's are ready to be used, the 3rd one ended up in the junk pile. The thin metal tubes that carry coolant through the TB were rusted through about half of their length. All three had this problem to some degree, but mostly in the area where the nipple was formed at the end.

I haven't figured out Ford's way of thinking. All three TB's came off 5.0L motors. Two had "5.0L" cast into the body, one had "5.8L" cast into it. The dimensions were the same (bore diameter, etc, etc.) One of the 5.0L's and the 5.8L had TB plates stamped "A" with a hole through them. The other 5.0L marked TB had plates marked "B" with no hole. Since the one marked "5.8L" was what was on the truck, I stuck with that setup so the finished pair are identical.

I do like the way Ford did the harness connectors. Very easy to disassemble the connector shells, using just a jewelers screwdriver. Made it easy to clean and check the TPS sensors. If time permits tonight, I will start going through the engine wiring harness. Clean it and check it over circuit by circuit before taking it out and installing it on the top of the motor.

I'm not liking the looks of the water pump replacement the previous owner did on the motor. Looks like the putz used and entire tube of RTV on it. I picked up a replacement waterpump so I'm going to change that and the balancer seal on the timing cover while I'm this far into this. If the old pump is still good internally, then I'll clean it and use it on the shortblock in the living room.

[clm2112]

Still working on this....

Cleaned and re-wrapped the engine harness. Got it installed along with the two coolant temp sensors (one is the gauge, other in the new one for the electric fan. Also got the EGR valve back into the manifold. The heat shielding was frayed and falling apart, but wrapping it with a length of stainless safety wire will keep in in place and prevent the frayed ends from flopping around.



Next in is the injectors and fuel rail.



And next is the upper intake manifold. Pausing here to mow the lawn and haul my daughter off to a friend's party in South Daytona. After dinner and grocery shopping, I'll get the EGR valve attached to the manifold along with the throttle body. Then it's time to replace the water pump.

[clm2112]

Coffee Break time.... Throttle Body, throttle cable, PCV valve and hose, coolant fittings, and the distributor are back on.

[99bonnieSE]

Looking awesome man!!! i've been lurking on this thread for the past 15 minutes or so... great work!

[clm2112]

Done for the night,

Two trips to Lowes for fasteners and hose clamps, I managed to get the water pump replaced. Also got the brackets on the driver's side in place.

Disassembled the accessory bracket on the passenger side. Busy cleaning those parts as the sun went down.