Nothing exciting to post yet.
My engine is *mostly* together and I finally got my transmission back after 9 months at a shop. Work has been busy and the weather lousy, but I'm starting to put the pieces together.
I'm expecting things to really take off very soon and thought I would start a thread for tracking my progress.
The engine was a mess when I pulled it out. Overall, it ran great, but had some leaks and some worn out parts. The block and bottom end were good. Lots of rust in the coolant passages. Cylinders still had cross-hatching with ~180k miles.
The heads were a different story. I found some cracks forming between valves, some of them completely across.
I bought aftermarket heads, injectors, head studs, HO water pump, late gen dual thermostat housing, new turbo, new exhaust crossover, and a few other things. I even added a severe duty fan clutch and got a Duramax fan to fit onto it. Accessories are now installed, but I'm going to replace some of those as well. The power steering system is extremely important with hydroboost and the alternator is squeaking. Being and automatic, I may as well buy a new starter as well and just carry the old one as a spare.
Due to using parts from different years, I'm running into a few fitment issues. For one, I had to install the thermostat housing backwards. The coolant outlet is going to be on the wrong side now. The original single thermostat housing outlet came out on top to clear the manual throttle linkage. The housing I am using, came on a drive by wire truck with no linkage. Now I'm going to have to run a radiator hose from the passenger side to the driver's side or find a different radiator. I also had to clearance the bracket for my tensioner. I'm hoping it holds up!
I painted my transmission too. I've never done this before, but I have also never taken so much time doing something like this. If nothing else, I will at least be able to see leaks easier! This just came back from 9 months at the shop. It has new drums with a dual clutch feed mod, HD2 shift kit, and the new output shaft that I needed to run the LC adapter from Mark's.
At this point, there's a few things I need to do before I am ready to think about putting this in the 80.
Upper intake manifold (I can't run the stock one because of interference with the coolant crossover) - parts on order
Exhaust crossover (I can't install what I have while it's on the stand) - on the shelf
Oil cooler - in the parts washer
Flush injector lines and bleed injectors - installed
Wire up glow plugs - installed
Wiring harness - on the shelf
Start the engine
Then I plan to get it in and check fitment, pull it back out, then paint and insulate the engine compartment.
Lastly, I will need:
Exhaust - hopefully 3"
Hydroboost - on the parts truck
Steering - just need adapters for the gear box
Brakes - just need adapters for the new master cylinder
Shift linkage - kit recommends hurst, but I think I can cut the tunnel and drop the linkage straight off of the stock shifter
Trans cooler lines - in my Amazon wishlist
...and a dozen other things that I haven't thought of
My engine is *mostly* together and I finally got my transmission back after 9 months at a shop. Work has been busy and the weather lousy, but I'm starting to put the pieces together.
I'm expecting things to really take off very soon and thought I would start a thread for tracking my progress.
The engine was a mess when I pulled it out. Overall, it ran great, but had some leaks and some worn out parts. The block and bottom end were good. Lots of rust in the coolant passages. Cylinders still had cross-hatching with ~180k miles.
The heads were a different story. I found some cracks forming between valves, some of them completely across.
I bought aftermarket heads, injectors, head studs, HO water pump, late gen dual thermostat housing, new turbo, new exhaust crossover, and a few other things. I even added a severe duty fan clutch and got a Duramax fan to fit onto it. Accessories are now installed, but I'm going to replace some of those as well. The power steering system is extremely important with hydroboost and the alternator is squeaking. Being and automatic, I may as well buy a new starter as well and just carry the old one as a spare.
Due to using parts from different years, I'm running into a few fitment issues. For one, I had to install the thermostat housing backwards. The coolant outlet is going to be on the wrong side now. The original single thermostat housing outlet came out on top to clear the manual throttle linkage. The housing I am using, came on a drive by wire truck with no linkage. Now I'm going to have to run a radiator hose from the passenger side to the driver's side or find a different radiator. I also had to clearance the bracket for my tensioner. I'm hoping it holds up!
I painted my transmission too. I've never done this before, but I have also never taken so much time doing something like this. If nothing else, I will at least be able to see leaks easier! This just came back from 9 months at the shop. It has new drums with a dual clutch feed mod, HD2 shift kit, and the new output shaft that I needed to run the LC adapter from Mark's.
At this point, there's a few things I need to do before I am ready to think about putting this in the 80.
Upper intake manifold (I can't run the stock one because of interference with the coolant crossover) - parts on order
Exhaust crossover (I can't install what I have while it's on the stand) - on the shelf
Oil cooler - in the parts washer
Flush injector lines and bleed injectors - installed
Wire up glow plugs - installed
Wiring harness - on the shelf
Start the engine
Then I plan to get it in and check fitment, pull it back out, then paint and insulate the engine compartment.
Lastly, I will need:
Exhaust - hopefully 3"
Hydroboost - on the parts truck
Steering - just need adapters for the gear box
Brakes - just need adapters for the new master cylinder
Shift linkage - kit recommends hurst, but I think I can cut the tunnel and drop the linkage straight off of the stock shifter
Trans cooler lines - in my Amazon wishlist
...and a dozen other things that I haven't thought of