Project Big Red

[riotwarrior]

The only reason I have kept going honestly was that I knew I could turn this off anytime I needed to. Can't just call the bank and say... I'm not going to pay you for the next few months and you are going to be okay with that.... Just no sense of humor on their side.

thats fricken funny

 

[F350camper]

Yeah, but I've stacked a lot of $500 payments together here lately... plastic is still smoking...

Yes I am glad I didn't just slap it back in there and run it because honestly, I came real close. It would have eaten itself about the first time I loaded it down heavy and took off on a trip because that's how my luck runs. The good and bad news is that the only real question marks at this point will be the tcase and the carrier/pinion bearings in the rear end. Everything else will have been gone through.

At this point I have so much time and money tied up in it, I could have bought a decent truck. The only reason I have kept going honestly was that I knew I could turn this off anytime I needed to. Can't just call the bank and say... I'm not going to pay you for the next few months and you are going to be okay with that.... Just no sense of humor on their side.

Here is how I look at it. 200 thousand miles from now, after x number of years, you will still have a truck that you can afford to keep on the road, which is capable of anything you want it to do.
Sure, you can look at the pile of money you've thrown at it so far and think of other ways you could have spent it. But not many of those options give you what I said in my above point.

 

[laserjock]

[emoji3]

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[F350camper]

Nice!

 

[subway]

Looks like a similar kit I used to plumb in my intercooler. If it is 2.5 let me know I have spares boots and pieces lying around if you need more.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[laserjock]

Yep. It's 2.5". I must have goofed. I thought I bought the kit with black boots, so the extras I needed I ordered in black. [emoji849]

Got a bunch of parts painted.

You must be registered for see images attach

Supposed to pick up the trans tomorrow. Hopefully.

 

[riotwarrior]

Nice

 

[F350camper]

all that time you put into getting your paint booth set up seems to be paying off!

 

[laserjock]

It's nice to be able to just hang stuff up and kick the fan on. I cover up the important stuff, but with the fan on and just using the detail gun, you never see any overspray. I don't even drop the curtains. When I shoot the epoxy primer I'll drop at least the side curtain. That stuff don't come off. [emoji15]

I have massive cleanup to do before I paint the outsides. I have 20 feet of shop vac hose to reach the high spots.

Got to call the shop now and make sure trans is done before I make the trip.

 

[laserjock]

Okay. Little irritated. Called on trans... not ready. Missing part. Part arrives Monday. [emoji35]

So soldiering on. I pulled the turbo off and worked on final installation.

You must be registered for see images attach

I sealed and tightened up the coolant fittings. I cut the oil drain line and it goes in fairly easy. I hope it doesn't leak. Turbo flange gaskets installed. All bolts tightened. Lines are all tightened. Oil pressure senders and feed are installed. The feed line is not tight. I want to bleed it it into a can before start up.

So now at a crossroads... I decided to start going for it.

You must be registered for see images attach

Climbed up in the rafters and got down the core support. It looks pretty decent. It's already in epoxy primer. Now I can install the bits on it to empty the paint rack so I can do more bits. I'm shooting to get the fenders epoxy primed (by the end of the weekend) on the inside so I can finish putting the engine compartment together. I am shooting for a first start next weekend.

 

[F350camper]

the silence has me intrigued..

 

[dieseltruck]

Ya, I'm starting to get the DTs

 

[laserjock]

I wish there was a good story..... Maybe there is....[emoji6]

Probably not though.

 

[laserjock]

Well I'm baaaack!

Well, sorta. It's been a hell of a week, but I've about wrapped my honey-dos. Time to at least pretend to get started.

I picked up my trans last week. The final verdict was that the front seal was trashed, one of the detents was bent and cracked so basically, we got a full reseal with new bearings. One of the shift tower bolts had the head rounded out so I picked up a new set for that. The reverse light switch plastic was roached so I picked up a new one of those. Decided I'd hit it with a lick of paint. So I stood it up and hit it with some primer.

You must be registered for see images attach

Picked up a can of elephant snot because that's what the trans guy recommended I use to seal the shift tower and tcase. Based on that and recommendations here I took the plunge. I'll pick up some paint tomorrow. At least it will look clean even if it's not the greatest paint job ever. Time will tell if it was a reasonable deal or not but it's a rebuild with a warranty so I guess it was worth it. Always good when the guy says, I'm really glad you didn't run it like that. Makes me feel better about just biting the bullet as much as it hurt. Guy said to bring it buy once I get it running and he'd check it over.

I think I'll order that hardware kit tomorrow just bite the bullet and get it over with. More urgency now with the other truck wounded. Weather is starting to get right for paint. Gained some clarity on my work situation and that was a change in the right direction so we are full speed ahead.

 

[riotwarrior]

I love how my nomenclature of...."elephant snot" is sticking around so well.....pun intended

Been using it for 34 + years now...great stuff.