A little more affordable thermostat / engine swap

[redthegreendog]

Would love to see the dolly. Need to build 2 for the engines i have laying around the shop but cant move with out a tractor, that i don't have

 

[patracy]

Actually that came from wreckerman. I traded something for it, and gave it to Tony when we pulled that motor.

Ahh ok. Anyhow, got the turbo, starter, alternator, and relay swapped over. Can't really do much more than that today. I'll have to run to CSI tomorrow for gaskets and the oil line. Been studying the TM's last night and I understand how to time the pump now.

BTW, there certainly was something wrong in the top end. When I pulled the turbo off, there was little water that poured out of the compressor outlet.

 

[patracy]

Not moving as fast I should be on this. But 95F weather in direct sun is just too hot for me. Picked up all the gaskets that I needed. Swapped my oil filters overs (They only had ~400 miles). Got the air compressor swapped over. Belts are installed. IP is reinstalled and timed. Lines are reinstalled. Transmission is bolted up to the engine as well. Turns out my engine had a 4 lever clutch as well. So it looks like the throwout lever won't have to be reclocked. Tomorrow will be a long day at work for me. So I won't even get to touch this tomorrow. Maybe Wednesday I'll get it sat back in place at least and start plumbing everything back up.

 

[patracy]

I've got the engine/trans sitting in the truck. What a pain that is doing it solo. I finally threw in the towel and asked my wife to help after fighting for an hour on my own. After about 15 minutes we had it sitting inside. I've REALLY gotta build a platform extension for the side of the wrecker. Momma is due in 5 weeks, so there was a lot of me helping hold her get around into the control cab.

I'll try to get the mounts installed tomorrow and the driveshaft/floorpans back on.

 

[OLDCHEV4X4]

I finally threw in the towel and asked my wife to help after fighting for an hour on my own. Momma is due in 5 weeks, so there was a lot of me helping hold her get around into the control cab.

Momma gets a A+++ for even being out there in the heat, helping out, running the wrecker!
My pregnant wife would have said "What? NO!"

 

[patracy]

Yup, she's a trooper. Tonight I took her out for a 5 course dinner at a local restaurant for their Greek night. Didn't get in until about a hour or two ago. I tried to work on it, but it's dark and I'm not getting anywhere. I managed to get 3 out of 4 rubber mounts between the frame and engine. But I really need a second person running the controls while I move things around. I'm going to see if my son will help tomorrow. I'm going to see if I can get at least one bolt all the way though and a bottom rubber on with a nut. Maybe then I can just pry the motor around to line up the rest of the bolts.

 

[gungearz]

The bad thing about those 2 words together.... LOW COST. Usually means its going to cost you more somewhere else down the line.

 

[patracy]

I have 100% faith in the parts I ordered being quality after receiving them. Actually I have better faith in these parts than the parts I could have ordered from NewStar (China made repros). Funny thing is, it's actually slightly cheaper to order name brand parts from rockauto for this than dealing with the fees of the newstar stuff. Rockauto is a online parts warehouse, you have the option to select manufacture of the parts, unlike autozone. Since there's no brick and mortar storefronts, their prices are way lower.

 

[patracy]

Well got the motor mounts reinstalled correctly. Got everything plumbed up and got the engine started finally. I think I must have messed up the throttle linkage a bit because it won't idle at all. I don't have the pull throttle hooked up yet. Maybe that's part of it as well. Also it's very hard to start. Without starting fluid cold, it won't start. If I just had it running and it got a little heat, I can floor the throttle and it will start. I'm also going to replace the fuel filters, as the primary filter is still the same and needs to be changed. I'm not sure what the status is of the secondary filters.

 

[Chevyman_15237]

Napa thermostats are made by stant... I put a napa t-stat in mine about a year ago and was having heating/cooling issues. My buddy at napa said that stant had a recall on t-stats, mine was one made out of that production. Returned the old one for a new one; no issues since!

 

[patracy]

Well the heating problem wasn't caused by a stant t-stat. It already existed with the factory t-stat and without a t-stat at all. I'm in the middle of a engine swap since the coolant system was being pressurized at idle.

 

[patracy]

Engine runs! I had a little mix up with the timing and had the pump 180* out of timing. But it's running and back together. Still need to get some bolts for the trans cover. But it moved under it's own power just now. Engine sounds soo much better than the old one as well. I've learned one thing about working on these trucks. Expect a 30+ year old vehicle to pretty much break every fitting or cable when swapping engines.

Going to take care of all the minor stuff tomorrow after the 4th of july parade. Should be ready for a maiden voyage as well then. I left the oil that was in this engine in it since some water had collected in it. (I drained the water from the oilpan first) So I'll need to change that too.

BTW, if you ever have problems getting the IP gear off, just take the center nut off, then use a harmonic balancer puller with three 4" long bolts and the gear and hub will come right off. Way safer than trying to pry or tap on anything!