Build Meet Uma and not the one you are thinking of

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mtn biker said:
My youngest daughter was at a friends house all weekend and my son went out to hang out with his friend so I told my oldest daughter that we could do somethings fun today for so this morning we binged some modern family and this afternoon we took Uma out to stretch her legs in the Saguaro National park near our house

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We saw this cool little stone building and wanted to go see what it was come to find it was a picnic shelter. This window framed the view really well of Uma down below. While we were there a National Park Ranger came to check on us. We asked what this odd building was that looked like a bunker of some sort.View attachment 4019073
Come to find out it was an old outhouse that was boarded up. So we went to check it out.View attachment 4019072

You can kind of see Uma in the background. Yeah it was like 80 degrees and my desert rat was cold so she wore a hoodie.
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So this daughter just got a 3rd gen 4Runner on Friday. It is good to see her making correct choices now that she is an adult. Yeah her new 4runner isn't 4x4 but it is a nice vehicle, much better than the Corolla. So today she wanted to go back here to take some pictures of her truck and mine together.

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My son who wanted to get a better vehicle because lets face it my Avalon was never supposed to be a permanent fix to the motor blowing up in Uma, saw his sister driving a "new" 4runner and wanted a better vehicle. So we ended up getting "him" a second 4runner, although it is a lot older than the Avalon it is in some what better condition. I say "him" because it is technically my car but he will be the one driving most and will have the chance to "buy " it off of me after high school. When we went for a test drive we knew the tires were dry rotted and really old. In fact there was 4 different tires. It just happened to be 31x10.5/15 I didn't want to get him aggressive mud terrain tires and one of the things on my to-do list for SAS is a functional spare tire. The one that I had on the back was round black and "held" air. It was the one that I put on there when I got the rims that I got from a guy that I know who owned a tire shop. He gave it too me because it was a 31x10.5/15. but it was a 2004 Pirrelli scorpion and had next to nothing for tread. So we bought him a set of 4 all terrain tires and me a good spare tire.
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So this is this final result of my leaf spring knife
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Bath day for Uma
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Latest on the never ending to do list to get her ready for SAS#10 wasn't a pig part or a big project but I replaced the PCV grommet because the old one was caked in grime and hard as a rock and possibly one of the many vacuum leaks that I might have. A few months ago one of the studs from my parking brake drum was broken off which created a vibration which eventually almost cost me my drive shaft. I got the replacement stud and hopefully this week I can get that swapped out and start getting a look at my parking brake and just maybe I might be one of the few who have a functioning parking brake. I also fixed the broken passenger seat hinge. I knew it needed to be fixed when I broke the e bolt when I was putting in the seat covers, but when I took my son out off roading in his 4runner I hit a bump and the whole seat flew forward. I also got my GMRS radio hooked up and installed
 
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So today my son's annual fundraising car show and I really thought I had a chance to win some hardware this year especially with the display that I had


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But alas no hardware, but we did come home with a New floor jack that we won in a raffle. The senior class were the judges of the car show but a lot of the older people and off-roaders liked how much articulation that I had going on, I had to put it in 4 low ( unlocked hubs) to get both wheels to go up at the same time. My son thought that I was going to slide off of the ramp because I was on the side of it.
 
My to do list for SAS is supposed to be getting smaller but no, it is getting longer. I had a couple oil leaks but I was always staying on top of the oil level and pressure. One being the valve cover gasket a wire got caught under the gasket and creased the gasket. Another one is the HEI dizzy that I put in didn't go down far enough to drive the oil pump and when I added a bead of weld to the bottom it made the o-ring sit to high that it has blow by either that with all of the install and removal the o-ring got damaged. My radiator has started to leak, again staying on top of it and watching my temps like a hawk. Yesterday I was heading to a relic run that I had planned since October/ November it lost power and started clacking. I checked my pushrods and they all passed the roll test and checked that all of my rockers were dancing like they should and then I drained the oil, and my worst fear was realized that the oil smelled burnt and when I felt the draining oil it felt gritty. I found some oil sitting in the galley of the head and stirred it with a magnet and to my dismay it started to become shimmery. If It isn't for bad luck I would have no luck.
 
Living in the Past said:
This really sucks. You have had nothing but back luck with this engine. Were planning on taking on the run Saturday?
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I made it all but 10 miles away from the meeting point.
 
matzell said:
Do you think the dizzy popped out and stopped pumping oil?
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I had oil pressure the whole time and that was honestly the first thing that I checked was the distributor height and it hadn't moved
 
rlong said:
That sucks… and is odd. Typically a failure with metal will knock first, be due to an oiling failure.
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The oil burnt and I think that caused a lack of lubricity but I was using a full synthetic 15-w40 oil but i don't know if it had zinc in it.
 
sogafarm said:
Time for a V8.
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maybe the Toyota 5.7 Tundra motor with a 4 speed 🤔. First problem is getting a new permanent daily driver and reserving the 40 for fun.
 
So bummed to hear this, @mtn biker. I haven't caught up on your thread in a long time and didn't realize the bad luck you've been having with these last two engines. There are still deals to be had out there on strong running 2Fs if you take your time.
 
Has anyone one done an H55 trans and t-case in a 69? I am also going to ask on facebook
 
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