Builds Hell and High Water - A Build

[cheeese]

Bronzit really gets no love in stock form, it takes a lot of mods to pull off and I think you got there. Black interior helps a lot. Hoping the 88 wasn't an Evo.

Is the 60 dune beige under the yellow?

 

[gregkline55]

You dont need anything on the factory harness going to the new motor except factory gauges, starter wire, a tach wire, and ignition source. I removed everything else. Also if you havent already got a rebuild kit for the front end and high steer kit I recommend Marlin Crawler.

Thats what I was assuming, want to get this as simplified and clean as possible, Im a bit of a nut when it comes to clean wiring. Havent purchased any of that yet, want to get the drivetrain in and running before I move onto the axle rebuilds. But I will look into their kits, appreciate the recommendation.

Bronzit really gets no love in stock form, it takes a lot of mods to pull off and I think you got there. Black interior helps a lot. Hoping the 88 wasn't an Evo.

Is the 60 dune beige under the yellow?

It is hard to pull off bronzit but it really grew on me, I also got a lot of odd looks when I told people I resprayed it bronzit lol but when its fresh it looks great IMO. The '88 was just a standard model but clean with no mileage.

The 60 was Copper Brown originally, I wont be going back to that though, going to be going white!

 

[gregkline55]

So figured I'd just make a note of what I have on the way so far for the build:
- AA adapter kit
- AA engine mount kit
- AA twin stick kit
- Full seal and gasket kit for the 5.3, as well as all maintenance items for it
- Block hugger headers
- Transmission seals and gaskets
- Full fuel system, including in-tank pump setup (6AN fuel supply and return lines)
- Transfer case rebuild kit
- New front body mounts (originals were smoked)

Major things to come:
- Wiring harness (PSI)
- Drive shaft modifications
- Axle rebuilds
- Lokar shifter
- Wheels and tires

 

[gregkline55]

So have been down to the shop a bit making some progress and parts are coming in!

Today I got the old engine mounts removed and shaved down nice and smooth, got the firewall disassembled so that it can be painted before i put the engine in for final assembly (still on the fence between doing the bay white or black, the truck will be painted white eventually). Also started stripping down the chassis harness to remove all unneeded wiring, mainly things dealing with the old emissions system. And also drained the fuel tank and started pulling the original fuel lines since ill be going to 6AN lines front to back for the supply and return, as well as an in-tank pump setup from Mosley Motors.

More to come, lots of parts coming in, next big goal would to be to get the transfer case removed, rebuilt, and onto the new trans. Then into the truck it goes to get the mounts made and fit.

 

[drwright68]

Are you changing the TC gear ratio?
[Insert devil horns]

 

[gregkline55]

Are you changing the TC gear ratio?

Nope, sticking with stock ratios

 

[drwright68]

Nope, sticking with stock ratios

That takes an admirable amount of disciplined restraint from my perspective. Ha!

 

[klinetime574]

@gregkline55 Just realized I haven’t posted in this thread yet. Really enjoying it. Keep up the good work and I’ll be watching.

 

[gregkline55]

@gregkline55 Just realized I haven’t posted in this thread yet. Really enjoying it. Keep up the good work and I’ll be watching.

Thanks fellow Kline! Appreciate the support!

 

[gregkline55]

More parts in today, lots of engine related items, but also got in some of this. Its Tesa Tape, not sure if you guys use this at all but it what been used in BMWs since back in the day, its for wrapping wiring. Its more of a cloth but its there to prevent abrasion on the wiring and it does it very well, love this stuff.

And now a little OT. So my family owns a 180 acre farm here in Hudson, NY that has been in our family for well over 100 years, so lots of equipment new and old, some tractors that weve owned since new from the '40s! Well weve owned this truck since new, it being i believe a '52 International L-160, in my lifetime I have never seen it out of the barn so it was pretty awesome to see! Barns getting refurbed so she had to come out, has a bad motor from what ive been told, would love to get in back on the road some day!

The farm is Hopedale Farm, so if any of you mudders are ever in the area in the apple season let me know to get yourself a few apples on the house!

 

[TheNeek]

Great stuff Greg. You are leaps ahead of me. It's good to see a swap going on so well documented while I'm tackling the same stuff. I'll be doing a TC rebuild as well so I'll be watching your progress with much interest. I assume your steering box isn't leaking? One of my axle seals has gone bad on the drivers side so it slung oil everywhere, hard to tell but I think my steering box is sealed up still.

 

[gregkline55]

Great stuff Greg. You are leaps ahead of me. It's good to see a swap going on so well documented while I'm tackling the same stuff. I'll be doing a TC rebuild as well so I'll be watching your progress with much interest. I assume your steering box isn't leaking? One of my axle seals has gone bad on the drivers side so it slung oil everywhere, hard to tell but I think my steering box is sealed up still.

Thank you! Always like to keep things well photographed cause not only does it benefit others but also benefits myself in the reassembly process! TC rebuild progress should be happening very soon as I just received my rebuild kit and all new seals for the trans, so ill make sure to take lots of photos during that process. As for my steering box, I am not sure. With this wagon sitting for 3+ years its hard to tell whats new or old grease/oil.

I have the rebuild process pretty much separated into 3 stages:

1. Stage 1 - Getting the engine/trans/TC in, driveshafts fit, fuel system installed, and all running. As well as some small bits of paint work to make it easier in the future.
2. Stage 2 - Axle rebuilds, steering system maintenance, replace suspension related items (although I dont think much will be needed there), and brakes.
3. Stage 3 - Body and paint, building up the interior for it. This stage will come once its running and driving completely reliably.

Thats at least my current plan, things could shift around a little. But all will be documented thoroughly!

 

[gregkline55]

More off topic but too interesting not to share.

Owning an apple farm and being surrounded by many other farms bring very interesting situations. The last two nights the neighboring farms have had helicopters in to help prevent a frost in the orchards, pretty much they just hover over the trees forcing the warm air down onto the trees, its actually very effective. They dont do this too often so its usually a treat to see multiple choppers flying around so low.

Well this morning at 3:30 one of the three brought in clipped a tree and went down in our field, both pilots walked away without injury somehow, oh and this isnt the first time this has happened, one went down about an 1/8th mile from this one about 10 years ago.

Flying low at night is dangerous, who wouldve guessed....

Being investigated as I type this

 

[gregkline55]

Was a little crunched with time tonight but made progress!

Was able to start replacing seals on the engine, will finish that next time I'm at the shop and then replace the few seals on the transmission so I can get them mated together and install the transfer case.

Looks like christmas in the shop right now! We have a box of all engine and transmission seals, adapter kit, engine mount kit, fuel system parts, power steering line, transfer case rebuild kit, and my twin stick kit! All looks to be there but it looks like AA forgot to ship the mount for attaching the TC shifters, im sure theyll do right by it so no harm no foul!

 

[mongoose2231]

Dude, great work. Let me say...too damn bad about the e30 m3! Big fan of the e30’s myself having owned a few as well. Your progress is fast man, keep it coming. Can’t wait to see more.

 

[gregkline55]

Dude, great work. Let me say...too damn bad about the e30 m3! Big fan of the e30’s myself having owned a few as well. Your progress is fast man, keep it coming. Can’t wait to see more.

Appreciate it! Was hoping to bring you more updates tonight but a storm brought a power outage, which brought me no lights and a lack of progress! Got a few more things done on the engine reseal, hopefully will be back at it tomorrow night but if not, sunday!

Have a good weekend all!

 

[TheNeek]

You’ve got me contemplating a twin stick swap now. Did you get all the parts to replace the vacuum solenoid from AA as well? Got my TC blown apart today. Feels like it will take weeks to get it clean, so crusty.

 

[gregkline55]

You’ve got me contemplating a twin stick swap now. Did you get all the parts to replace the vacuum solenoid from AA as well? Got my TC blown apart today. Feels like it will take weeks to get it clean, so crusty.

So its funny you bring this up cause in my tear down I have noticed that I do not have any vacuum solenoids on my TC, which I'm assuming is because its an '81, not sure how the 4WD system changed over the years.

Also seems as if we had a very similar day today as i pulled my TC off! And I'd like to compare crust cause there was A LOT! Going to write that update right now.

 

[gregkline55]

So as seen above I got some work done today!

Started the day with finishing up the re-seal on the engine, top to bottom, did go crazy with the engine or anything. Fully stock and fully reliable is what I'm going for!

The I started on the transmission, got the output shaft cut off, got the spud shaft and bearing pressed in, and got the adapter all installed onto the trans! My only issue with AA's kit is that the instructions aren't in the fact that you get a bag full of hardware and figure out on your own where it all goes, but hey, we make it work.

Then I tackled pulling the transfer case off of the engine/trans. This went pretty smooth overall, gears all look good, not too worn down/sharp. But I will say its definitely been a long time since its had an oil change, so much sludge and the oil itself looked COOKED, but thats why I'm rebuilding! Going to bring everything to a machine shop with a parts cleaner to get these all nice and shiny again!

This is after cleaning it with a hot water pressure washer for a very long time and scrubbing with purple power/simple green, just baked on.

Also got in my heater bypass valve!

 

[samc2447]

Did you get all the parts to replace the vacuum solenoid from AA as well?

When I converted one of mine from vacuum solenoid I ordered everything from Georg @orangefj45 including the twin stick kit. The only thing I had to source was a metric tap and he pointed me in the right direction.