99 K2500 Burb Adventure/Camping/Hunting Rig

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1952Chevy

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Well, fell short of my goals. I was so sore and tired this morning I didn't really even want to work on the truck. Ended up getting the nut on the exhaust flange off right away with my larger impact. Then started working on the bell housing bolts. The 2 that were left were on the passenger side, there is a bracket/heat shield there which made it super difficult to get. The bottom nut(for the head shield) wasn't too bad, got it fairly quickly with a ratchet set up. The top nut was a different story. The heat shield was in the way for a ratchet set up, and using any type of wrench from the bottom. So I had to go from the top. I was able to get it, but it took forever with 1/8 turns of a ratcheting wrench. After I got the head shield out of the way, I was able to get the bolts out fairly easily.

I disconnected the oil cooler lines from the motor, as well as pulled the motor mount through bolts. I was ready to pull the motor. Or so I thought. I struggled, but was having no luck getting the motor to separate from the trans. After about 1.5 hrs, I was beyond tired. I knew even if I got it out tonight, I was going to have to struggle to get it in the parts truck, as I have nowhere else for it to go, and don't want it just dangling or sitting on the ground. So I decided to call it a night.

After thinking on it. I believe I still have the upper 2 bell housing bolts to remove. A friend was helping me, and he got the 2 nuts off. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but I believe they were just the nuts for the trans dipstick, and fuel line brackets. So when I get back to working on it, I will see if that's the case. I assumed the nut came off, and they would just slide out of the trans, but that was just tired brain not thinking properly.

I felt so defeated coming inside. My plans for the weekend didn't pan out. But mostly I don't get to drive the truck to work tomorrow. It's probably for the better though. I would rather make sure everything is done correctly and not miss something, and either break a component or cause problems that I later have to troubleshoot.

While I was waiting for a friend so help with the hood and motor mount bolts, I did get my 2" spacers installed on the rear wheels. They are still slightly narrower than the front, but it looks so much better. I test fit my hubcaps and they fit perfectly. Now I just have to get them painted and finished up. I'll do a thread about that with pictures when the time comes.
 

1952Chevy

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Got the old motor out yesterday. In the process of getting the good motor 100% ready to go in. Should be dropping it in the hole tomorrow morning before work.

It's amazing how easily the motor and trans separated with all the bellhousing bolts removed. Only took me about 5 minutes to have the motor/trans completely separated after getting the bolts out.
 

1952Chevy

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Good motor is in the truck, went in super easy. Bell housing bolts, and all associated brackets are installed. New oil pressure switch is installed. The oil pressure switch ended up being a nightmare. The old one broke, then stripped. I ended up drilling it out, and using a bolt extractor to get it out.

Currently working on the exhaust manifolds, and spark plugs. Then I'll get the radiator installed, prime the oil pump. And keep working from there. Finally can see the finish line, only a week late. Probably still won't drive it before Thanksgiving.
 

1952Chevy

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Well today I got the exhaust manifolds installed. Spark plugs/heat shields. Water pump and radiator are installed as well.

I ended up using the Radiator from the parts truck which has a smaller overflow tube nipple. So I'm likely going to have to replace the overflow hose with a smaller one or get a reducer.

Also found something broken. It appears to be a vacuum controlled coolant switch. I'm assuming it goes to the heater core and/or rear heat. I noticed I had coolant dripping on me while doing the exhaust manifold on the passenger side. Eventually found the crack. I kept working at it broke completely. I grabbed the one out of the parts truck and will get that installed soon.

While taking that out of the parts truck, I noticed the dipstick tube that I had sitting in that area of the parts truck. So then I had to back track a little on the passenger exhaust manifold to get the dipstick tube installed. Took about 30 trips from under the truck to under the hood to get it right, but I did get it. Pretty happy with todays progress considering I wasn't originally going to be able to work on it at all tonight.

I finally registered the truck a few weeks ago, got the plates in today as well. More motivation to get it finished and start driving the truck.
 

1952Chevy

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Ended up doing a lot of backpedaling today to move forward. Got the lower intake installed. Went to prime the oil pump, and one of the oil cooler lines popped off the bottom of the motor. Apparently I didn't have the retainer clip installed properly. Got that fixed properly, and continued with the priming. Of course I didn't have a priming tool, so I took the bad distributor I had. I cut it up, and attached a drill directly to the shaft on that.

I had to remove the drivers side valve cover to ensure I was at TDC compression stroke for cylinder 1. While doing that I realized I had not primed the oil pump enough. So I continued that for about 30 mins total, slowly rotating the motor by hand to make sure oil was getting everywhere in the motor.

Once that was taken care of, I put the valve cover back on. Installed the distributor. I finished off the night getting the water pump bypass hose installed since I picked up the nipple for the water pump today.

The fuel rail is completely together and ready to be installed. I feel like I'm getting close, but I know I am going to be so nervous when I crank it for the first time.
 

1952Chevy

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Yesterday before work I made a lot of progress. Distributor is is, plugs/wires connected. Got the upper intake installed and started routing the wire harness.

I'm hoping next time I go out and work on it, I'll be able to fire it up. I have the belt driven accessories, the torque convertor bolts, flex plate cover, starter and battery.

Of course it always sounds simpler than it is.
 

1952Chevy

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Nice! No photos of progress?
I have been slacking on the pictures. Kinda figured, it's an engine bay :Big Laugh::Big Laugh:. But I do have a few I will add.

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This was after the motor came out.
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Where I'm at now
 
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