RedBurb
OBS Enthusiast
Hello, Newbie to the site.
I bought the '97 a few months ago with 179K miles on the odometer. The primary use will be occasional towing of classic cars to & fro shops and shows. Expect to put no more than 2-3K miles on it per year. Everything on the drive train seems to works flawlessly and sounds solid.
However the engine's pan and frame cross-members were covered with nasty oil gunk when I bought it. Contrary to some opinions oil gunk is NOT a rust inhibitor plus I quickly got tired of oil dripping on the driveway. So I jumped on the repair last week. The rear seal and the oil pan gasket under the rear main were the worn culprits. I decided against pulling/lifting the engine out so instead removed the major components required to access the seal and oil pan gasket. Now finally, but decidedly not innocently laying on ground are two tires, the exhaust pipes and collector, drive line, the transmission cross member, transfer case, starter, transmission inspection cover, transmission, flex-plate, steering rack, front differential, cut cardboard, grease snots, and hellish smears of various lubricants all over that holy driveway. Also dangling are tagged and labeled spider webs choke full of wires and connectors. Yep, fun job.
I believe in tapping into the wisdom of others so my question to those of you who may have tackled such a job before is do you have any suggestions or recommendations on what other parts I "might as well" replace and/or inspect now that almost everything other than the engine is on the ground?
Appreciate any thoughts on the matter.
I bought the '97 a few months ago with 179K miles on the odometer. The primary use will be occasional towing of classic cars to & fro shops and shows. Expect to put no more than 2-3K miles on it per year. Everything on the drive train seems to works flawlessly and sounds solid.
However the engine's pan and frame cross-members were covered with nasty oil gunk when I bought it. Contrary to some opinions oil gunk is NOT a rust inhibitor plus I quickly got tired of oil dripping on the driveway. So I jumped on the repair last week. The rear seal and the oil pan gasket under the rear main were the worn culprits. I decided against pulling/lifting the engine out so instead removed the major components required to access the seal and oil pan gasket. Now finally, but decidedly not innocently laying on ground are two tires, the exhaust pipes and collector, drive line, the transmission cross member, transfer case, starter, transmission inspection cover, transmission, flex-plate, steering rack, front differential, cut cardboard, grease snots, and hellish smears of various lubricants all over that holy driveway. Also dangling are tagged and labeled spider webs choke full of wires and connectors. Yep, fun job.
I believe in tapping into the wisdom of others so my question to those of you who may have tackled such a job before is do you have any suggestions or recommendations on what other parts I "might as well" replace and/or inspect now that almost everything other than the engine is on the ground?
Appreciate any thoughts on the matter.
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