I finally was able to run into my mechanic. Found out why my truck hasnt made it in... he has 3 bays, 1 is his cutlass that he is doing body work after a rebuild, 1 is a late 80s mustang doing a big black swap(reason for 1 bay short, needed a custom flywheels and now custom clutch kit), and the 1 bay in and out. He had to do a leaking tranny, turned into a broken tranny body in that bay before mine as it was family...
but with a deposit, hes gonna pull in the sonoma and do the rebuild after he pushes it out after the FORD....
hes going to bolt in the 4x4 axle in place of the zr2 to wheel it around, and do the re and re on both front and rear axle/diff...
I'm pulling the front fenders and cutting the rear flares, seats and doors. Those are sold. Sold the front bumper and whatever body pieces I had. Tail lights got sold with those. Thinking of getting scrap wheels to put on my random rims to sell those...
Oh and the neer so new 2000 intrepid dual fans in the last pic lol...
got the hood swapped over in preparation to getting rid of the sonoma, looks good on the blazer, mechanic got offered 350 for it lol. Went to take the fender off the sonoma but they are rotted around the wheel under the flare, so I'm just gonna cut them off. Someone wanted them, but I cant bring myself to selling garbage.
Had these laying out to flatten when I received them in the mail, thanks again red! They are exactly what I asked for, and look exactly as i expected. Now i just need to leave them with my keys so i remember to stop by the blazer and put them on!
Stopped by the mechanics today, last week his dog passed away so he was taking the week off, but the week before he had a hell of a time getting the engine out. Couldn't do it at all, so today I worked my butt off to leave early, and met him at the shop to give him a hand.
the front diff was about 1" in the way of the oil pan being able to pass and go over it, so I crawled under the truck and removed both lower end supports that are bolted behind the LCA(got a set of engine plate mounts while I was there). Then I removed the two bolts that hold the "axle" to the support arm behind the passenger side front wheel. With a pry bar and a few shakes, we got it out. Strapped the tranny to the air duct at the bottom on the windshield, and the truck is almost ready to be taken by the guy who's buying the remains(making my money back for the truck, and some to pay the bill). Gotta swap the axles before that happens tho, glad hes not in a rush for it. But I bet he will be happy to hear itll be ready lol.
started tearing the engine down, was extremely happy with how "clean" it was. No sign of fluid mixtures, and the only oil on the outside of the engine, was from the power steering leak.
also brought home the valve covers to degrease, clean and detail. I'm also going to go over the "v6 vortec" with white paint.
Job well done Don. Aren’t they cute little motors? My brother has a old (pre balance shaft) one on a stand all hot rodded up in orange and chrome in his shop.
It's funny you say that, I had the valve covers off and brought them to work to clean off. And it took me about 10 min of looking at them to notice how small they actually are... tinny little thing is right!
got some more done today, as well as cut off the back fender flares from the sonoma. Gonna move it and take the axles out early next week.
For the love of all
Replace the bearings while its on a stand, and the (oil pump entirely or its) gears because all that stuff is super cheap insurance. too many stories of a "running condition" engine spinning a bearing a few miles down the road.
06-05-2020, 08:03 AM
