I promised some pics - but my phone would not let me post them dirrectly nor would it upload them to my photobucket until I went through the whole process of deleteing and re-installing the program on the piece of crap Droid 4G lite from Verizion (yes - I am telling everyone I can - stay away from this POS phone. I have had it 6 months now - they have replaced it 2 times (so I am on my 3rd phone) and it needs it once again.
Ok - phone
over and I feel better.Tell the tale and post some pictures about the adventure Drew and I went on Saturday.
I borrowed Mikes hoist, loaded the truck up Friday evening with the tools and "workin on cars" clothing, some road snacks and off to bed. Woke up at 2:30 am thinking of other tools we might need.... Loaded some more stuff and back to bed.
After a few more of these I finally got Drew up at 5:00am and we hit the road by 6:00. A nice drive to Sheraton WY and we arrived there after lunch about 1:00 pm.
I pulled a few spark plugs, tested the compression, crawled around underneath, took the truck for a small drive and came to terms with the seller. All he wants from this truck is the cab (he has one with a 7.3L in it that was rolled) I can have everything else I want from the truck for $500. Heck if I had a trailer I could have rolled it on and taken the whole thing - leaving the cab. Compression was from 85-95psi on the 3 cylinders I checked. She did not smoke, no obvious either. One hell of a deal so we started disconnecting wires. I asked the seller what he had to drain the coolant into - at first he said to drain it out in the dirt. I told him that we can pour it down the drain - he is on a septic so that was not ok. He found us a bucket, we drained into it and I watched him as he poured it out in the weeds nearby... uggh. I noted the stains from several obvious oil dumpings and decided we would leave the oil in the block until I got her home.
We proceeded to unbolt everything - setting aside all the parts and pieces I could imagine we just might need, O2 sensors, the exhaust up to the muffler and including the cat, all wiring, ECM - charcoal canisters, smog stuff....
We fought with the motor mounts and finally out came the torch - cut the bolts off from the under side (so I will need new ones - probably custom anyway) We cut the trans cross member - hooked up Mikes hoist and started pulling the engine and trans only to discover that without removing the intake system - it is not going to come out. So we just removed all the sheet metal - the whole front clip. This took an extra 1.5 hr but was well worth the trouble.
This is when I realized - this is a much bigger and heavier engine than the 302's I am used to with these rigs. Holy smokes this thing is HUGE! So we loaded everything up, took the saddle tank (because it had about 1/2 tank of fuel and he was going to pour it out on the ground) and the pump / sending unit from the rear tank, some more wiring harnesses and started heading south. Let Me tell you - I was wishing I had brought Daniels 3/4 ton truck. My 1/2 ton was maxed out, suspension would bottom out with every hump in the highway. The trip home was as easy as the trip up (albeit somewhat slower). We got home at 3:30 am with Drew taking the wheel from Chugwater WY on. I was real glad to have his help and company for the whole trip.
On to the pictures
Hood off - just getting started
Yeah - she is shoe horned in there for sure
Nope - no way she is coming out
Much easier with the front clip removed
Here you can see how big this Engine is, Taller and longer than the standard 302 / 5.0L. Shoe horning this into an EB is going to be another adventure!
Anyone interested in a 5 speed manual? I brought it home but I am not going to use it. make me an offer - otherwise she is heading to C/L or to scrap
Fueling up in Casper on the way home (BTW - unleaded gas in Casper - 3.09 / gal.) you can see how the truck is sitting low. That is a load for sure.
