Got the front shocks installed, man the PO (or who ever installed the current suspension) really did a hack job. Both shock towers were rotated 180 degrees from where they should have been -- Upper bolts came out towards the fender not towards the engine. The cruise control module dealio probably isn't mounted in the factory place because the inner wheel arch looks like swiss cheese from so many failed attempts of relocating it via holes. I can't figure out how the front shocks were installed to be honest because i had to remove the reservoirs from the shock bodies to remove them from the car / shock tower. I can't imagine installing them and then dealing with charging the shocks etc after install :dunno:

One of the isolator spring mounts had a bum bolt so had to cut that off, will be replaced but I think 3 bolts should hold it just fine for the time being.

Got my parts from Lucky8 (thanks Eric!) so i'll get the engine all buttoned up tomorrow hopefully -- need to get some hose clamps but have everything else.. Decided to upgrade the steering damper since i was redoing all the shocks, too bad the protector isn't red like the rest of the shocks!

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Thought I saw a red and silver steering shock being mounted on someone's truck the other day on here.

Also, when replacing front shocks...usually you unbolt the shock tower from upper coil seat mount and pull complete unit (shock and shock tower...after unbolting bottom two bolts). When you do it this way, doesn't matter what way the upper bolt head is facing...because you are removing on the bench.

Boy, those old shocks look wasted bigtime.

Brian.

Thought maybe I'd mention this...Atlantic British has several videos on making repairs...they are worth checking out beforehand.

Brian.

Seen them all a dozen times at least by this point :popcorn:

MagPie LIVES!!

Had my beautiful wife do the honors of cranking for the first time after going through all of these shenanigans and it started right on the first try. Engine was quiet, no weird noises or anything. Filled the cooling system with distilled water to flush (which i will probably do in the next few days) and all seems well. No leaks anywhere.. yet. SRS light is on but nothing else -- I didn't have any of the seat belts plugged in so hoping that is the problem :dunno:

Drove around the apartment complex for a victory lap -- Ultra gauge was reading 194 degrees and hit a high of 210 for a quick moment. No smoke out the tail pipe and the exhaust smelled like.. exhaust. :dunno: There must be a bubble in the cooling system because the heat was blowing cold so hopefully will get that sorted when real coolant gets poured in. Keeping my fingers crossed that this whole HG issue the PO complained about was just a mis-diagnosis but we'll have to play the waiting game.

BONUS -- The CDL light is operational :bow: There is a lever that someone during the ownership of the car installed -- the passenger can literally just reach out from the open door and pull a bar to engage the CDL.

Congrats on getting it running

Well, drove MagPie for the first time!

Went to go get gas and then went to a car wash. Everything seemed to go just fine, alignment is a little off and steering is slightly vague -- brakes definitely need to be bled. Ultragauge was reading a low of 188 while moving and got up to 205 while sitting at stop lights. Woo! Total driving distance was probably under 10 miles for both errands.

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Got to the car wash and started vacuuming.. then i started to smell coolant. ****. Low and behold, MagPie decided to barf some coolant but not a whole lot. Fine, whatever -- had more distilled water with me and wasnt that far from home. Proceeded to wash the truck, pulled out and dried it. Popped the hood and the coolant level was fairly high -- unscrewed the bleed screw and pressure certainly came out but almost no coolant came with it. Coolant level dropped a little to more normal levels in the expansion tank.

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I should preface this story with I am currently running distilled water to flush out the system -- so no actual coolant is in the truck just yet. I'm fairly certain that i have an air bubble in the system because I don't get heat in the cabin.

Drove home and kept a close eye on the temp -- never got above 210 again, but i decided to turn the heat on full blast. It was cool initially but after a min or 2 it was nice and hot. Success! The bubble must have worked it way out -- I was anticipating that the coolant level would be even lower when i returned home.

Literally as i was turning into my apt complex, the temp jumped from 204 to 221! **** **** **** **** ****. It was there for maybe a min -- then went back down to 214 at which time I parked the car in my spot and left it running. Spiked again to 221 and the electric fan kicked on and temps went back down to 212. Never rose higher after that. Coolant level was indeed lower but as I was pulling into my spot, the heat was no longer hot. Both lines going to the core were hot so must have circulation. All coolant hoses were hot. Undid the bleed screw again and more pressure came out with just a splatter of coolant along with it -- coolant level dropped even more and returned to a normal level in the tank.

I guess i am at a little bit of a loss but i feel like it is just a bubble that hasn't worked its way out. My parking spot is at an incline so truck has been parted facing uphill. Need to drain the coolant and then do another round of distilled water and then i can fill it with real coolant. Must find a more steep hill to bleed the system!

Hopefully, she settles down and you can get all of the air out soon.

Before you put your new plate on...turn over the holder...it's upside down.

Brian.

Did you replace the thermostat, the greenish white ones can be pretty random.

Also do a flush as you are running water right now.