Builds Finally got my own...Meet BeBe (1 Viewer)

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You'll be fine. I had no issues with my eastern truck!
 
You'll be fine. I had no issues with my eastern truck!
LOL... you know me! My fear is the PO wasn't all that truthful about a few things so I have always wondered if there had ever been any front end damage to the truck. This will be a good indicator.
 
Yeah mine most def had... that is why my oil pan is welded from underneath (I have a new used one I'm gonna swap in at some point), pretty sure that is why my hb had to get replaced by the PO but then he thought it was swell to have his garage not fix the sheared keyway, not add a key and simply tack weld the nut back on after he found a replacement hb.... as well as where the bumper attaches to the frame its welded poorly. The list goes on. Not all of it was the PO I bought from, I can tell that for sure.
 
I did find two fat mounts on one side where the rad attaches and only one on the other which made the tilt it had become plainly clear.
 
Ok I hate to say it but this is probably going to get done sooner than later... Go Street EFI System Master Kit w/ Hy-Fuel In-Tank Module – FiTech Fuel Injection
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FiTech now has their new in-tank solution for a decent price of $1200. I like the fact that their system is a self-learning, unlike the AFI solution, and thus will constantly adjust for you as needed. The touch-screen module is not needed to be installed all the time so you can have the wiring run into the glovebox and just leave it rolled up until you want to make changes. Everything is contained in the module on top of the manifold so there is no need for a separate ECU/ECM location like with the AFI/TBI setups.

Reason behind all this, yesterday afternoon after getting home from being gone for a few days it took the truck a good 10 minutes to start due to it not getting above 40* all weekend. Then this morning it took a few extra pumps to get her to fire up but after warming-up for a good 15 minutes, it not longer, she was still running a bit rough until I got halfway to work. It was all of 14* this morning. While I know that EFI is not the end-all be-all, the advantages are starting to outweigh the cost and ultimately my engine is still in good shape and runs pretty well.
 
Well officially started a little after 10am and started her up at about 4:30pm. So a good 6hrs to do the replacement and that was with a break for lunch and a quick run to the store for some foam for around the edge and to grab a couple bolts for the two casualties that I had.
 
And time for the pics...
Outside temp. This is in the open sunroom that is between the house and garage.
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Garage temp. Mind you, my garage is insulated all around, but I do not have a heat source. Hoping to change that in the near future though.
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First bolt casualty, this is on the vertical support that is in the very front of the truck. I did not end up drilling this one out as I need to remove the lower valence and bumper to access it adequately.
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My semi rusted battery tray. I was actually surprised that it was mostly covered in surface rust. The coating had completely come off and I was able to peel a large section off on the bottom. When I went to the store to grab foam and bolts I grabbed some truck undercoating and slapped a few layers on while I worked on the truck. Used some Prep-Etch (phosphoric acid) to kill the rust first then cleaned and painted.
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A few more.....

So this is where the rad was leaking... seam across the top was apparently split (multiple small splits the shop owner told me when I had it looked at) from the inlet pipe to about half way across. You can also see that the fins were damaged at some point right below the inlet pipe up in the top corner. That was present from when I purchased the truck but never really leaked, seeped a little but nothing that I ever worried about. I think when the top split it just made that worse and so it started leaking more consistently.
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So this little bugger will keep you from being able to move the ac lines and rotate the AC condenser out of the way. The mount to the radiator support is a rubber mount but for some reason mine would not come out of the support. Save yourself the trouble and unscrew this top guy and let the lines move around, it will make your life easier.
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Condenser is now out of the way to access the rad mount bolts. In the pick above you can see the bracket mounts to the body for the rad. Basically you just need to undo the two mount bolts that go through the cushions and then the bolts that mount it to the radiator support. Once the radiator is out you can then remove the brackets, makes life easy.
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Radiator out, like I said, there are six bolts total on the front of the radiator for mounting that are hidden by the AC condenser which is why you have to remove it in the first place. These are fairly easy to remove once everything is moved out of the way.
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Last set...

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Now everything is back in and she is running. Process is pretty simple and you just repeat the removal in reverse when re-assembling. It was getting late and I didn't have time to do a couple things I wanted since the wife and I had a Christmas Party to go to, but really if you have split you fan shroud, you dont have to remove the bottom portion. You SHOULD be able to pull it with the radiator and without removing the fan clutch, it will just be a tight squeeze in and out. I found that removing the lower fan shroud piece was easiest to remove with the radiator still in place by removing the lower radiator hose and then rotating it out that way with the small AC compressor tube pulled out of the way.

Pretty much everything, bolt-wise, is either a 12mm or 10mm bolt and I used a variety of long and short sockets with one 6" extension. The only ones that you HAVE to have the short socket on is the six front mounting bolts for the rad, it is just a bit awkward with the condenser in the way. When reinstalling I coated everything with copper anti-seize even though I really only had two casualties. But nothing really gave me any grief. For the foam around the bottom and top of the radiator between the supports I just used some 3/4" pipe foam from HD, bottom is a full piece of tubing and the top I cut the tube in half.

Total cost for me to replace was about $440 with everything including the new radiator cap (thanks for the p/n @NeverGiveUpYota), new upper and lower pipes and then 3gallons of coolant. Only special tool that I purchased for this was the spill-free funnel for burping the system (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6AS6LY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) that was well worth the $20.
 
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Oh yeah forgot to post earlier that I never did find a replacement petcock to replace the stupid wingnut style one. Talking with my guys at the local NAPA they said that most everything is plastic now, which they don't agree with either and not of very good design. Did find out that the petcock is M10x1.50 though and confirmed what @NookShneer said that the tranny cooler tank plugs are M14x1.50. Gonna be ordering plugs for those but right now they are just covered with some 3M aluminum ducting tape.

So,
CSF2708 petcock/draincock is M10x1.50
Tranny cooler threads are M14x1.50
 
So two full days of driving around and what not and not a single leak. Didn't skimp this time on torquing down the straps, I used my small impact (Milwaukee M12) and it did the job just fine.
 
When I went out to warm BeBe up for the commute this morning I happened to look at my phone to see what the temp was, yeah all of 15*. Its been like that for the last week, apparently we have an inversion stuck over our little valley and with no storms coming through it has just stuck around causing nasty cold weather and haze. Supposedly there is a front coming through tomorrow that will be strong enough to push the inversion out.

Anyways, as I was TRYING to turn the key to start her I watch in horror as the shank started to twist instead of the cylinder. Well, after a minute of turning a little, turning back, turning a little further, turning back, almost like cutting threads into bar stock I finally got her to turn enough to fire the ignition. When I got to work I found a small window of time on a break and started doing some research to pull the ignition cylinder to at least clean it.

Here is all the nasty guuk that came out when I was spraying it out with brake cleaner (all I had).
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

Gave her a thorough cleaning with the brake cleaner then put her with the face down, on a towel and let it all seep in and drain out. Got enough coming out after the cleaning that the paper towel turned dark from all the graphite and crap in there. Looking inside the column, there is some sort of waxy paste/grease in there that I am sure is used as lube but at 5pm at night it was already below 50 in my insulated garage and all of 35* outside so the stuff was starting to setup. I cleaned some out, not all but some. You can somewhat see it, it is a pale yellow color.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr

After the cylinder had some time to dry and drain I sprayed it with lube, forcing more graphite and crap out, and then let it sit and drain again for another 20 minutes before wiping everything down. Everything went back together easily and she fired right up after reattaching the battery. So tomorrow will be the test to see if this "helps". Ultimately, I know that I need new keys as mine are dull enough and worn enough that all of them can slip out of the ignition whenever. That means I will be spending money on a new driver door cylinder (since mine has been toast since I purchased the truck, a botched break-in attempt at some point prior to me) and then some new key blanks.
 
interesting effort. I need to pull mine apart - it doesn't return to "run/on" from "start". From what I've read I'll need to open it up for that fix.
 
Well cleaning the cylinder helped some but not a huge difference. It did turn slightly easier this morning but it was all of 19* instead of the normal 15* or lower, that could have played a part. Wondering if I should go get some of that aerosol electrical contact cleaner and see about cleaning up the steering column some?
 
what distributor would you use with that Go Street EFI setup?

Do they make a 2F adapter?
I have an email out to them asking them that exact question... my assumption is that they will say if you want system controlled spark advance then you should use something like the DUI HEI dizzy.

For the adapter the few guys that have done it have used a Mr. Gasket 2barrel to 4barrel adapter.
 

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