Looks good at least. But yeah, that doesn't sound like much fun.

 

if I were to do another or this one again, I'd invest in a rotisserie.

 

Think how cool it would be if you had painted each tube a different color.

 

😂

 

Gonna look sweet though!!

 

Splashed the rear with some paint.

 

Amazing what paint will do to a project. It really brings it all together. Looking really good. Look forward to seeing it all finished!

 

I think I’ll have to bleed the shocks off to install the drivetrain.

 

Whiterhino stopped by on Tuesday night and helped put the drivetrain back in the chassis. After he took off, I pulled the heads and water pump, crank pulley, and front cover off in prep for a cam (BTR Truck Norris) and heads (GM 706 w/ PAC 1218 springs). Last night I cleaned the block head surface off in prep for new head gasket and then went after the carbon on top of the pistons. It took a bit, but that should be all set. I started looking at front of engine in prep for cam swap and noticed a piece of o-ring sticking out of the oil pump pickup. Ugh. Now I'll have to drop the oil pan and fix that. While I'm at it, I'll pull the oil pump to make way for a new timing chain since I'm there.

Odd thing about the o-ring is that I still had oil pressure, but now that I've seen it, I can't ignore it.

 

Best to fix it now before it becomes a problem later.

And if you want extra insurance....

ICT Billet LS Billet Oil Pump Pickup Girdle Tube Pipe Hold Down Brace Support LS1 LS3 LS2 LM7 LR4 LQ4 LS6 L59 LQ9 LM4 L33 LS2 LH6 L92 L76 LY2 LY5 LY6 LC9 L98 L99 551910 https://a.co/d/1amesjk

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

Getting there. Just have to clean up some covers and it's back where I started.

The other day I was looking back to when I first bought the truck with this motor and I had mentioned the previous owner said it used some water, but not a lot. I had forgotten that, but had noticed my coolant was always a little low every time I prep'd the car. Not a lot, but always had to top it off.

I didn't see anything obvious with the head gasket, but I'm wondering if that could be solved now. Will have to keep an eye on it.

 

Some guys always have to one-up their pals with extra HP. Not sayin it's you but just sayin.

 

it's just an LQ4 with all stock parts except the cam & springs. You're the one all fancy with the LQ9 and cam.

 

Uh huh, what about your heads? hmmmm???

 

They're stock, just not originally from this engine. They are actually from a smaller engine!

 

Engine is back to where it was on Tuesday night with exception of installing the water pump. I should be able to start reinstalling the wire harness tomorrow.

I have the Improved Racing version, but apparently I f'd up the original o-ring install. I poked my head all around to make sure the o-ring was in and the tube was flush.

 

Took advantage of the good weather and prep’n and painting. I think I’m caught up except for skid plates.

 

no matter how organized you thought you had it when you took it apart, you weren't organized enough.

 

Wanna laugh with ya but you're probably not laughing right now. Gotta be a little frustrating.

 

LOL that's the truth. I've found that paper bowls and plates with a written label from a Sharpie really helps with fasteners.

 

Made good progress today. The lost part was a 2.5” v-band clamp. I wonder if it was broke so I threw it out without writing it down to reorder. I have some coming tomorrow.

I sorted out the wiring harness. There were a few sections that I didn’t loom originally, so I took care of that along with a few other minor things. I think I have all sensors plugged in on the engine.

My dipstick tube is pretty beat up, so I’m going to replace it and then I’ll install the starter.

 

Looking good. You'll find that v clamp about 20 minutes after installing the new one.... lol

 

I wasn’t happy with my original transmission mount cooler when I did it. This is a copy of the bracket that came with the cooler, but tweaked for mounting it like I need to. This is cut from some scrap 0.040” and I have some 0.080” coming Thursday to cut the final version. That thickness was what the original bracket was built from.

 

I've been really thinking about doing that cam and head combo. Just can't yet bring myself to tearing the engine apart when it runs so strong. I recently added more timing...and WOW.... HUGE gains. Look forward to hearing your feedback on the new combo. Everything is looking good and you are making quick progress.

 

I totally get it. If I was not torn down to a bare chassis, I'm not sure I could have talked myself into doing it. But I figured this was my opportunity to make the upgrade.

I'm trying to balance getting it back together quickly and taking some time to fix things I did in a hurry to get it done. It won't be done, but I hope to have it where I want it by the time I get it reassembled.

 

You have 5 weeks. Please let me know if I need to look for a different copilot.

 

I just ordered my permit today, so I gotta go.

 

Atta boy!