I just bought rod bearings, so Im going to throw those in there, and see what happens....wish me luck please

 

I have to wait until saturdayto do the rod bearings, so I figured I would do the easy stuff lol..I took out the seats, and vacuumed the heck out of the carpet....temporary until I can afford the 400 bux for new carpet from summit..I didnt get before pics, but here are the afters







here is a pic of the body line, compared to the pic in my sig....what a difference new pins/bushing make

 

tore apart the engine today...had to drop the diferential, steering arms, a pita crossmember, undo the motor mounts, lift the engine up...this is what I found:



spun bearing on #4...its not too bad, but bad enough that the keepers on the bearings are gone lol....The crank isnt too bad. It has slight scoring, but I dont have the time to pull it right now (I know, I know....) Im just putting new bearings on it for now, BUT Im building a spare engine for when this one goes, and it will...eventually....

 

They don't look too bad. Just polish up the rod journal before you put the new bearings in. You should be able to go for a good long while with new bearings. While you are at it, you could throw a whole set of rod bearings at it to stave off problems with the other ones.

 

I threw a whole set in there. I did 1 at a time....just a note/afterthought....anyone doing this..scribe a mark/arrow/whatever onto the cap so ypu remember which way they go. If you get 2 done, and its a pain to turn the crank, they're on backwards lol. Dont ask...But do remember to use lots of assembly lube. It breaks down with motor oil, unlike grease which only breaks down with heat. when the bearings get hot enough to dissolve the grease, its too late for the bearings. The grease can also plug the oil hole on the crank, causing an oil starvation scenario, which will spin another bearing. There goes all of the hard work you just did, which you will have to do again...

Im going to napa to get oil, silicone, and the rest of the stuff I need. I wanted to wait until I cracked open the engine to get the essentials. If I had a cracked crank, I didnt want everything sittin around while I pulled the engine..

On a side story....I want to replace the oil pump while Im at it. I had good oil pressure when it was running, even with a spun bearing. BUT my dad doesnt want me to. He figures that if it was working good, why replace it, AND if the bearings dont last too long this time, why spend the extra money. I told him "what if the bearings fail because of a faulty oil pump?"

I don't know..I want to say Im right, but I guess I just don't want to be down there again pullin the diffy, steering arms, crossmembers, etc, etc, because the oil pump went out 20,000 miles from now.............

 

painted the oil pan:


before:








after:

 

Wanna keep it a v6 and get more power without having to swap the tranny out look into this.

http://members.shaw.ca/betterthanyou...ine%20swap.htm

Personally I wouldn't put a 4.3 in anything and just jump to a v8 if you're gonna have to swap trannys out anyways.

 

that is a beautiful write up...Im gonna try and get the HT 3.4





I got it slapped together, put new plugs in, filled with 10/30 oil, mobile 1 filter, and there is still a slight slap, slap, slap........

Im just gonna let it sit in the neighbors yard for a couple of weeks, until I can afford a crate HT3.4.....

I didn't think new rod bearings would fix it...but i wouldn't have known if I didn't try...It only cost me 35.xx for the bearings +pan gasket. I spent over 300 on a new jack and stands, new ramps, assembly lube, orange high temp, silicone, plugs, and lock tite (for the axle, not spark plugs). If I were at home, I wouldn't have needed to buy the jacks/ramps/stands and the rest, but being 800 miles away from home, I was only able to bring my 117 piece craftsman box, and didn't even THINK about bringing silicone, and all that...

so all in all, Im out 60 bux including the spark plugs, and not including the jack, etc.....I only paid 200 for the truck

 

well, if I have to wait a few weeks to get an engine, I figured at least I could paint/clean a few parts

here is the crossmember below the exhaust...i know its not going to be seen, but I like to see clean stuff when Im changing my oil...im ocd like that hahaha







and just messin around, i did the top of the air cleaner:








and a random pic of my dog lol. she IS my best friend...the only female that hasn't left me...

 

cleaning it out more, and found these:








even though they have been ground, are they still useable????