Since finishing the wiring there really wasn't much left. New valve cover gasket was fit, oil cap fitted (there wasn't even one to begin with), oil and water.
I put the hose in the upper water neck nd turned it on blast to try o get some gunk out of the engine before hooking up the rad. Not too much stuff came out but the water did run dirty for a minute or so as some stuff got flushed out. With the rad hoses all hooked up, it was time for an oil change. Knowing the fuel pump gasket had been leaking I was expecting fuel to be in the oil. But good god not as much as I was expecting. The oil was literally the viscosity of water. I have no idea how this motor was running with this oil in it. That coupled with how dirty it was (picture how dark it is down in a cave, and then x10 the degree of blackness), this motor is a fuckin champ.
With everything good to go, fluids topped off. It was time to crank her over. Turn the key, wince slightly. And nothing. Not a sound. F$%&##$%^&#!!!!!
Turned out I had one wire wrong, ground wire going to the solenoid post vs the solenoid mounting bracket. Simple mix up. Swap the wires, try again with dumping some gas in the carb and she fires right to life. Runs beautifully. Zoo more minor miss at idle, pulls through the revs smoothly, and sings like a canary. Ok, maybe not like that last part. Muffler needs cutting off asap, ole girl needs to make some noise.
After we had gotten it to fire up and ran it for a bit and checked over a few things, my son wanted to get in and play. By "wanted to" I mean I wanted him to get in the truck and play and I snapped a few shots. He seems to enjoy the truck. I can't wait till he is a little older and I can really start to teach him some things.
new computer (1 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (2 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (3 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (4 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (5 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (6 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (7 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (8 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (10 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (11 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (12 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (13 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (14 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (15 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
new computer (16 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on FlickrWith the truck up and running, I started poking my head in areas I had yet to do. I found the ONE of the wipers works, sporadically. Some is better than none right? The "cooling" fan for the interior works, both high and low. However it makes a ton of noise like its moving some air yet you can only feel the faintest of breezes form the vents. Im scarred to see what is blocking them....
And lastly, I found this glorious rats nest of wires. This basically made me feel like all the wire clean up I did in the engine bay was complete null and void. The WHOLE truck needs to be rewired, with I was expecting to do, I just dint know the rest of the wiring was this bad. I guess the engine bay and the twisted together tailight wires should have been good indicators towards that....
new computer (9 of 16)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr
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