So at this point I was up to about late August.....I ended up getting a job offer out here at the VIT plant and had 2-3 weeks to try and wrap up the swap....
1. I had some missing parts for the flywheel/pilot bushing/bellhousing I had to order up...
2. Because of #1 the drivetrain was still sitting in my garage.
3. Because of #2 I had no crossmember to hold the back end of this all up.
4. RCV machined some splines wrong on one of the custom inners and had to make me a new one....it is about a 3 week lead time.
5. I hadn't even started a fuel system, cooling hoses, thorttle cable, exhaust (stock manifolds didn't fit) amonst a million other things.
So I took a tally of what I could finish at an apartment parking spot and what I needed to finish at my house in TN (I knew the plasma, press, air compressor, and alot of my hand tools would be coming out much later)
So I went into crazy fab mode....
Bought a nice 3/8" tubing bender after killing a parts store bender one night (didn't even make one bend in the 3/8" steel)
I already had a nice flaring kit from doing some brake work and put the two to use one evening.....
Then ordered up some SS bends for radiator hoses (did this on my 350 S10 earlier in the year)
And started a crossmember/skidplate:
I needed a larger res for the PS system so grabbed a scrap of 4" SS exhaust tubing I had from my Fairlane and split the stock res. Tossed on a couple pre-fab tabs and bolted it to the motor.
Made up a torque arm (for some reason I only have pics of the frame mount...)
Tossed on my tube doors for the hell of it (really made working in the garage easier since I could reach in....and dump all kinds of crap on the seats....
So the movers showed up and I gave them my service cart and some of the tools....Spent the next two days wrapping things up around the house and tieing up loose ends before hitting the road. It is always sad when you have to winch your project on to the trailer. Pushed it out of the garage for the first good look at the new combo...
Loaded up on the trailer and started the 2500 mile trip out here from East TN.
Fuel stop outside Columbia, MO
Fuel the next day for lunch in the middle of Nebraska:
A couple hours after lunch I shredded a tire on the trailer....with the high-lift handy and a cordless impact I was back on the road in less than 10 minutes....
So that gets me pretty caught up on my build to this point. I got the fuel system buttoned up, wired up the 4.3 enough to get it running (needs 02's, alternator, AC, OBDII port), had a rear driveline made up for it, bleed the brakes, and clutch, drove it 30 feet.
The GF's family has a reunion/family vacation in Moab the first week of June....my goal after I finish the PE exam in two weeks it to wrench like crazy and have this truck trail ready by Memorial day weekend so I can beat it over the holiday weekend and hopefully fix any issues before I head out. The current work list:
1. R&R the power steering pump....I must have flipped the rotor plate on the rebuild....no PS output at all right now.
2. Build a Y-Pipe and mount some O2 sensors.
3. Wire up said O2 sensors and tidy up some under hood wiring (I have a nice swithc panel for the dash....e-lockers, OBA, Winch, "Zombie lights")
4. Front leaf swap. I have a junkyard leaf pack and I have never been happy with it. Will be ordering up some All-Pros next week.
5. Maybe get my hydro assist back on (Hoping I don't need it since I dumped the 2" wheel spacers with the axle widening)
6. Maybe drop the crawl box and t-case and try sealing them up better....it is leaking about 2 table spoons of gear lube a week sitting in my garage.
7. Figure out why I stopped running after I pulled it out to move it to West Richland from East Pasco (fuel related is all I know)
8. Maybe a quick alignment
9. Figure out why my brake lights stop working (or get them working at least)
I am sure there are other must haves I am forgetting....
Now the list of wants/plans
I have a AX15 that needs a Reverse gear fixed. I am putting in a Toyota input shaft and backing it all with a NWF eco-box and a NP205 (205 and a 31 spline input are sitting here already) Will maybe get twin sticked for front digs at the same time. will get me away from the marlin adaptor plate and give me better ratios. I felt the 2.28 crawl box was too high for wheeling but too low for trail riding....and the 4.7 was too low for anything other than crawling rocks.....low-low was just insane....only good for climbing walls.
Shackles up front:
I like the truck sitting lower (current ride height doesn't support much uptravel between tie-rods and leaves goign negative) will french in the rear hanger and replace my front body mount with a shackle mount that uses a chevy style shackle so I can have the frame pivot above the frame and keep the spring eye need the stock location. I will also need the next mod..
Double ended steering ram:
Will go to a flat steering arm, double ended ram in double shear. Will allow me to get the tie rod and drag link down below my oilpan. I have a manual steering box on hand and might go to it and a power steering control valve.
So that is my build so far.