Hey Don,

I think you should gone with even BIGGER flares!

 

dont worry, come next summer, there will be even bigger tires!

 

Installed second upper ball joint in my Rough Country upper control arms. When I got it in, I noticed that the rubber cup came off and I had to get it back on with the spring retainer for it. Ugh. I also did a very thorough flush of the cooling system with distilled water. I drained and refilled five times. I figured only about 1.25 gallons could ever be drained from the radiator out of the 2.5 to 2.6 gallons left in the system (not including the expansion tank).

By the way, I thought the expansion tank looked clean but when I did a thorough rinse I kept getting dirty water out until about an egg-sized clump of brown sludge came out. It is well worth washing those tanks out very thoroughly.

 

Today I worked on my manual equipped truck. Washed it and finally defeated the inspection and registration stickers from Pennsylvania. Enough Goof Off and a razor blade.

I changed out the clutch position switch so I hope it will solve the P0704 code. No data when scanned to give me more of an idea.

I ran down the dead short in the reverse lights. It's in the switch. How do I know? Checked the bulbs and most of the accessible wire then used a piece of wire to complete the circuit. the lights stayed lit for 10 minutes without blowing the fuse.

I need to talk to the installer of the new trans as I specifically asked him to check the switch. He installed it when I got the truck so I may use the warranty.

 

Started 2000 Blazer for 1st time after complete engine rebuild. Word to the wise: Check your oil cooler line so you don't blow 2 quarts of Royal Purple break-in oil at $11/bottle all over your frame and driveway. And if your PCV valve vacuum connection to upper plenum comes off you'll spend 3-4 days troubleshooting a misfiring, sputtering mess thinking you really made a mistake during assembly. But man when things are right and she fires up what a feeling. Only took 7 months so won't be changing my day job.

 

Man! Looks like it just rolled off the assembly line! Well done!!

 

Don't feel too bad about the oil. twice, while doing drains and refills of my cooling system, I forgot to reconnect the hose to the heater core I removed to help with the draining. The result was quite a bit of water on the garage floor. Not as bad as your oil but then again rebuilding an engine means having to remember to keep track of LOTS of little bits.

 

Replaced the LCA bumpstops. Used some $4 Moogs, a different shape but should work. Oddly, the old ones came out with a 9/16" and the new ones went in with a 14mm.

 

I was just about to say, that's one damn clean engine bay!

 

I replaced almost all the vacuum tubing using Christine_208's thread. Still have to do the one to the actuator under the battery. While doing it I found a wire connector with a broken female fitting still attached. After much searching I found a sensor in the side of the block above and between the #3 & 5 spark plugs. What is this sensor called so I can replace it? I'm attaching pics of the vacuum tubing condition before replacement and the connector and sensor.