Builds Trash truck .... a diary and build thread (2 Viewers)

[batthewmrown]

Ok, so driving an unknown engine around every day will wear on your nerves. "What's that smoke out of the tailpipe? What's THAT noise?? What if my vacuum and compression numbers should be higher? Is there a time bomb under the hood? Does everyone else's 2F run like this? Maybe 60s normally drive way better." Most days I quiet those voices when I'm driving, but sometimes I can't and that's no fun. So I've decided to replace the head on my 2F. Here goes nothing.

Compression test below, yes it looks like rings would be a good idea, but no I can't pull the block out of a daily driver to have it serviced. Sorry
View attachment 2887947

Seeing as my compression numbers are between 125-143 and have gone down a little over the past year (129-145), and since I have a puff of white smoke from the tailpipe every time after idling - even for two seconds at a stop sign - AND because my exhaust smells distinctly like what you'd expect burning coolant to smell like ... I think I have a head gasket leak. Who am I kidding, mostly I'm paranoid. Blackstone found zero trace of coolant in my oil. I also think I'd see some better drivability and POWER from a fresh and clean head. Yes, huge POWER numbers coming soon haha. At the end of the day, I don't think a refreshed head can hurt anything.

Check the insides of my cylinders - lovely, huh?
View attachment 2887940

As always, because I daily drive this thing I have to streamline the work. That meant I found a spare head. It's already at the machine shop. The goal, in my world, is always to swap s***. I have a spare manifold set that I will build and have machined, too. Swap everything. I've never gone this far on an engine before so I ought to be able to pull it off in a weekend, right?

Here's the head I picked up. Looks clean, hopefully no cracks
View attachment 2887938

I'm getting kind of nutty about the whole project though. I'm considering ordering ALL new OEM hardware - every stud, nut, bolt, washer for the head and manifolds. That alone will cost as much as the bill from the machine shop, and hey ... what was I saying about the blue-collar budget again? Some of it will get pared away as I get closer to swap weekend.

Page one (of two) of a potential shopping list:
View attachment 2887942

Here's where I need feedback:
1. New head bolts or no? OEM runs $120.
2. New pushrods? Why not swap em while I'm in there? $210 for OEM. Yikes.
3. What exhaust valves should I get? OEM will run $155. The machine shop - who has lots of 2F experience - typically uses SP or SB or something, no clue on cost.
4. I'll be replacing the thermostat and associated gaskets and the fan clutch (I happen to have a new Aisin one on hand already) while I'm in there. What else?
5. This f**king EGR J-pipe ... what's the true solution here? I've done the manifold gasket twice on this thing and the J tube leaks on both sides every time. I can watch puffs of smoke come out of the j-pipe to EGR cooler junction in time with the cylinders firing. Since I'm pulling the manifolds I may as well attempt something different here. I HAVE to be smogged where I live.
6. How far should I deck the head? 0.030 to 0.060 are the suggestions I'm reading about. I'm ok running 89 gas but don't really want to move to 91 unless it's gonna be life changing. No I'm not getting a new cam, not for the foreseable future any way.
7. Should I DIY port the intake or exhaust manifold? Should I DIY a gasket match job? I'm not paying the machine shop to do that.

Notes: Jim C rebuilt carb, brand new carb insulator plate

Obviously, spend the money. The radiant heat from your credit card will keep you warm this winter when you can't afford the Xcel bill!

Also, check out partsouq. Shipping is murder but sometimes you can save some $$$.

 

[Spike Strip]

Just a suggestion:

You may want to put some additional insulation or HD loom around those large pos (+) cables that go through the platform slots and attach to the junction box (if you already haven't). I dunno, but I'd be a little concerned they might wear quickly on edges and ... INSTA-FIRE! Particularly if you plan to do much bumping around off road and the cable isn't fused between box and battery.

I'm just hyper-anal about such things since as a kid I saw a J**p burn literally to the rims in Anza Borrego because of poorly wired aux box and winch. The guy didn't even have a fire extinguisher.

And FWIW, I have my aux box wired in that exact spot on a platform similar to yours, but I've secured all Pos (+) cables in abrasion resistant loom and strapped it all down with insulated clasps.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Rust has been on my mind lately. What do you do? Patch the frame and body until it looks like the pants of some dirty hippie in the parking lot of a Phish concert? Came close to horse trading for a good body recently, and maybe a frame too, and it got me thinking - at what point does one just buy a whole new truck? It's hard to stay committed to the one you're with if you're thinking about another. Talking about trucks here folks, stay focused.

Enough whining. I'm reposting the questions about the cylinder head project. I think they got missed due to the length of that post. Here they are...

1. New head bolts or no? OEM runs $120.
2. New pushrods? Why not swap em while I'm in there? $210 for OEM. Yikes.
3. What exhaust valves should I get? OEM will run $155. The machine shop - who has lots of 2F experience - typically uses SP or SB or something, no clue on cost.
4. I'll be replacing the thermostat and associated gaskets and the fan clutch (I happen to have a new Aisin one on hand already) while I'm in there. What else?
->(water pump? go ahead and do the front cover gaskets? May as well do the leaking front main then. What about the side cover gasket "since I'm there"? Where do I stop? Remember this is a daily driver and I'm shooting for doing all the work in a 3-day long weekend)
5. This f**king EGR J-pipe ... what's the true solution here? I've done the manifold gasket twice on this thing and the J tube leaks on both sides every time. I can watch puffs of smoke come out of the j-pipe to EGR cooler junction in time with the cylinders firing. Since I'm pulling the manifolds I may as well attempt something different here. I HAVE to be smogged where I live.
6. How far should I deck the head? 0.030 to 0.060 are the suggestions I'm reading about. I'm ok running 89 gas but don't really want to move to 91 unless it's gonna be life changing. No I'm not getting a new cam, not for the foreseeable future any way.
7. Should I do some light DIY porting on the intake or exhaust manifold? Should I DIY a gasket match job? I'm not paying the machine shop to do that.
8. I can get all brand new OEM studs, bolts, and nuts for every part of this: head-to-manifold, manifold-to-carb, manifold-to-downpipe, etc, etc. Is this even worth it if I have no mangled threads? Will studs even come out? It sure would be nice to look at I guess. I'm trying to save dollars so this might be the first thing to go.

Notes: Jim C rebuilt carb, brand new carb insulator plate

 

[batthewmrown]

OEM everything, I say. Warts on the outside are one thing but warts on the inside? Yikes.

I dunno what your problem is on the J-pipe but I replaced mine with the SOR SS one but my old one was in good shape. Yours for a song if you want it.

Also, let me know when you're digging in and I'll be happy to be a second set of (fairly) capable hands.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Ok, well moving on from work on the head....

I tried to solve the non-working rear wiper and rear-doors-not-activating-the-dome-light issues yesterday. I pulled out old spliced-in trailer hitch wiring and unfortunately three of the OEM wires turned to dust in my hand. Green corrosion everywhere. I wonder if that's because of water intrusion????

So I drove home from the shop without tail lights. Tried to solve two problems and created a third. Wonderful. I wish the the phrase "Cult of the Lost Cause" wasn't already taken by the Confederacy, because that perfectly describes my attitude towards the truck this morning. Today's plans have been cancelled and I'll spend it rebuilding most of the entire rear harness. I'll be bypassing connectors with straight wires for now, maybe forever. Those were put in place to facilitate installation at the factory and future repairs, but it's out of my
scope to repairing the wiring using them. First, I don't have the proper terminals or crimping tool, and second the connectors themselves are crumbling.

In other news I picked up a very mediocre set of brown wheel arch covers and put those in to replace the blue ones I had. This truck came to me without anything over the wheel arches so I grabbed a cheap set of the blue ones a while back to cut down on road noise a bit. It's nice to have the right color in there finally.

Aren't these trucks something???

 

[MoaByte]

Don't crimp a splice. Solder them. It's super easy with a butane torch and are nearly fail proof. Just my $.02.

 

[CruiserTrash]

[Beavis and Butthead voice] This sucks

The crimp connectors I'm using are super thick heat shrink and melt to the wire insulation under heat for a water-tight seal, so there's that.

 

[CruiserTrash]

So I decided to upgrade my BigCartel website that I was using to sell the rear seat bumpers I make. I bought a domain name and everything. There's a bunch more new products on there as well as some used stuff I'm clearing out (an ongoing process). Maybe this will pay the for head work I'm doing

So .... I guess this is the big worldwide announcement right here:

Cruiser Trash Parts

 

[MoaByte]

So I decided to upgrade my BigCartel website that I was using to sell the rear seat bumpers I make. I bought a domain name and everything. There's a bunch more new products on there as well as some used stuff I'm clearing out (an ongoing process). Maybe this will pay the for head work I'm doing

So .... I guess this is the big worldwide announcement right here:

Cruiser Trash Parts

I digging the waxed canvas winch cover. It would tie in nicely with the waxed canvas tarp I use on the roof rack. Nylon just doesn't hold up. Great idea

 

[WSOPgold2012]

Been a while .... The truck has been running pretty well, but I'm still forever going into the cycle of "if I replace this, I could replace that ... how deep should I go??" and "blue-collar single dad in an expensive metropolis doesn't have funds to go all the way". So I do what I can and hope for the best. Here's some random fall/early winter photos. More below pertaining to the head replacement job I'll be embarking on soon - I'll write either today or tomorrow.


Trail Tailor sliders I was gifted for finding a local guy's stolen 60. Insurance totaled the truck out and gave him a nice check, and he swiped the sliders for me. It was a nice surprise. @TRAIL TAILOR was nice enough to send me out some missing hardware real quick and at low cost so I could get them installed. Top-shelf service, especially since I didn't even buy the sliders from him.
View attachment 2887623

Went back to Ohio this fall for a quick trip. Got to see the parts 60 I bought sight unseen and stored behind my dad's office. Frame is toast, otherwise there's lots of good parts. Anybody want this thing?
View attachment 2887626

Still got the Pig, despite trying to sell it for months. Anybody want this thing, too? I lack both time and money to do it justice, and I need to focus my limited resources on the daily driver 60. I feel bad camping out on this truck.
View attachment 2887627

Went to get an Xmas tree in the mountains above Ft. Collins. That was a nice day. Got this full-sized Surco brand rack used for cheap - never heard of them before - and it's working out pretty well. Definitely not in the same class as a Gamiviti or something, but it'll do.
View attachment 2887628

Did a very cold New Year's Day run out on the plains. Lots of old ghost towns out there that are about ready to shrivel up and blow away.
View attachment 2887629

hows the dash in the blue 60?

 

[HemiAlex]

I’ve got 60,000 miles on Felpro HG, speed pro/federal Mogul intake and exhaust valves and it’s all fine.

No need to replace head bolts either.

 

[MoaByte]

I’ve got 60,000 miles on Felpro HG, speed pro/federal Mogul intake and exhaust valves and it’s all fine.

No need to replace head bolts either.

I was waiting for someone to answer. I'm due for a valve job.

 

[CruiserTrash]

hows the dash in the blue 60?

Not great. Sorry man.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I’ve got 60,000 miles on Felpro HG, speed pro/federal Mogul intake and exhaust valves and it’s all fine.

No need to replace head bolts either.

If I opt for new head bolts and new pushrods, that stretches the budget out. Those two items are ~$140 each. Not that much alone, but when you're adding up a list of a zillion items those two are among the most expensive. I also don't want to screw myself by "cheaping out". Trying to find the balance.

Already ordered the Cruiser Outfitters head gasket kit. Inisho Stone head gasket. I figure Kurt wouldn't sell it if it was junk, plus there's the convenience of ordered the kit and getting a bunch of stuff I need. Interestingly Partsouq sells the Inisho Stone HG as well - not sure what that means or if it matters.

 

[CruiserTrash]

FYI the potential solution to the EGR J-pipe leak at the big EGR cooler nut is here. I had a machinist make these for me.

 

[HemiAlex]

Check pushrods for straightness. Not a wear item typically but they do get bent.

 

[MoaByte]

Roll your pushrods on a flat surface. If they aren't bent or buggered up, they are fine. New valve springs make sense to me though.

 

[HemiAlex]

I did oem springs. My beat to heck stock bottom end has seen 4200rpm and not blown up.

Good valve springs are a must. Doesn’t matter who makes them as long as it isn’t China

 

[CruiserTrash]

@MoaByte @HemiAlex The place building my head is THEE place in Denver for 2F stuff and has been for as long as the local old timers can remember. The owner said something like "these things usually don't need new springs because the Toyota ones are pretty bulletproof." He's going to let me know if they need replace. That seems to be going against y'alls wisdom.

Regarding pushrods, since I will be swapping this head onto the truck over a long weekend, I can't wait on pushrods in the mail once I start the work. I either order them and have them on hand - and return them if not needed - or I go into the project without them and roll with whatever I've got. I suppose I can pull the valve cover and rocker assembly now and check them, but that seems like an awful lot of work before the real work begins. Is there a way to fish them out if the cam lobe is down (meaning, they have a little more space)? I need to replace the side cover gasket so I'm not opposed to bumping that up in line and doing it sooner if I can get the pushrods out that way.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Head gasket kit arrived from Cruiser Outfitters today. Two days from my phone call to getting the package - those dudes never cease to amaze me. This is the Ishino Stone head gasket. Hope it works, because everyone recommends Toyota or Felpro.