might as well change the 12 point valve cover bolts to Allen's while your at it.

 

Nice security system. Now all you need are a few motion tracking cameras with magnatrons from an old microwave oven wired on top to follow the camera. Set the magnatrons up with infrared triggers and you can fry the brains of any intruders while they are loading up your stuff. Just lay out a pile of shiny objects to make them stand still for a few minutes so your camera can get a good bead. I hear rats love shiny objects. If you are lucky it won't do them in completely and you can just sit them out on a street corner somewhere and they won't remember their name or how they got there.

 

Time for an update!

I finally have the last parts I need ordered for the engine, transmission, and transfer case rebuilds. The engine rebuild will go way fast, especially given all of the new parts and freshly machined everything!

I was able to take the transmission apart and lost a few very small pieces. I'm headed to a transmission shop to see if they carry the spares. It's the two check ***** and the dimple-shaped check valves in the valve body. I am having trouble finding a good manual to show the proper rebuild procedure for our 4hp22/24's. Plenty of others floating around, though. And the one I'm using can be found in the google drive folder I linked to a few posts back. The only real assembly trouble I've had is knowing how many of each of the layers of metal/textured clutch plates to use and also getting the entire assembly to fit back into the transmission housing. I have it within a 1/4" of fitting under the snap ring. I know that means something isn't engaging or I did something wrong, but I don't know where, yet. The other trouble was trying to replace the bearing of the oil pump. The kit from Rock Auto came with that bearing, but trying to put it in is crazy hard unless using a bearing press. I also found out the rear seal that comes with the Rock Auto kit is useless. It was made for a RWD output adapter, not like ours. The part we need is RTC4650.



The new transfer case is in and I've cleaned it up and I'm waiting on the gasket and seal kit (and bearings) from England before I rip it apart and reseal it with new bearings. The transfer case looks good. But then again, anything looks better than my old one...

While waiting for parts, I've taken the bumper off to repaint it and also do my headlight conversion. Don't let anyone tell you the sheet metal comes off easy. It's a huge PITA!

And after removing it, I have no clue where to make new mounts or how to mount the new headlights. All I know now is that I'm going to make custom mounts with some threaded rod. I'll use 3 rods per headlight and secure them to the headlight with RTV sealed mounts. I'll also have to figure out mild shock-absorbtion. There are plenty of write-ups on the conversion, but so few on how to secure the headlight after gutting the old mounts. I think that will be one of my contributions to this community. I'll put that together with photos in a separate thread.

The bumper was rusting much more than I thought it was. I sanded it down and chipped away as much rust as possible. I then covered the ARB emblem with tape, and put a few coats of the "Rust Reformer" by rustoleum on it. According to them, it converts the rust to a paintable and primed surface. I'll coat it a few more times with some matte high performance enamel and then a coat or two of the glossy high performance enamel. I'll have it done this evening. Here's a pic of where it's at now:

 

For anyone keeping up with this thread, here's an update.

I have the engine, transmission, and transfer case in. Engine is doing well. It sounds great and hasn't had any issues except for the front O2 sensors that aren't sending a signal. I had a bit of an overheating issue, but I was also using the old thermostat that wasn't opening. After installing a new one, it's as happy as it can be. I've adjusted the throttle and cruise control cables to the spec in RAVE, but after the truck warms up, the idle drops gradually from 1k to .5k. It takes about 5 minutes to do it. While warming up, though it idles at 1.1-1.2k. I'm guessing the low idle speed is due to the lack of feedback from the O2 sensors. I'll run new wires to them later this week.

I installed Magnaflow cats and a custom magna flow muffler with the resonator removed. To make sure it gets nice cold air, I have a snorkel coupled with a K&N air filter. I bought a cheap snorkel kit on eBay for $180, and it didn't have the best instructions, just a template. I had to figure out where to cut the holes to make it fit correctly. I used a lot of RTV to seal all the joints and the air box. I also had to rebuild the connection between the air box and the fender. When cleaning it, a pressure washer was used. The fabric disintegrated. It's fine, now, and sealed up nice and happy! The truck breathes well.

As you can see in prior posts, the original transfer case was shot, so I bought another and resealed it as well as well as replaced the bearings. It's in generally good condition. I bought a CDL kit from Abran and was going to put it on my old transfer case, but now it's on the new one. I only had one issue with the transfer case. When I tried to shift the transfer case into hi or low, I couldn't. It was the lockout solenoid that I put in from the old D1 transfer case that was in there before. I tossed it, and now it works fine.

I have an early D1 rear driveshaft instead of the rotoflex one. The front and rear driveshafts are rebuilt. New U-joints and centering ball kit. the front driveshaft came front Dusty1. Huge help.

Power steering fluid is replaced and happy. Brakes are, too. I put new rotors, pads, and longer stainless lines on. It will be able to stop! I do these projects after school and work, which sometimes means doing work in the rain at night... Good thing I work for a company that does portable emergency power!


Because I wanted a fun look, I bought 18" mondial rims and some 33" tires. I'm using 1.5" hub-centric spacers to give it a wider stance, too.


The transmission is not playing nice with me, though, and I think I know why. I think I need to add more transmission fluid. I've added it until it runs out of the fill hole while in park and neutral, but not drive, reverse, or 1,2,3. I still need to add that, and it could be the cause of the issue, but more likely it's the XYZ switch needing to be serviced and repositioned.
This is why:
-Cannot get the dash or gear selector to tell me I'm in 1st,when the gear selector is put in 1st and the selector on the transmission is definitely in 1st.
-Reverse is the only gear that works. 1,2,3, and D do not work.
-When trying to drive, the "M" and "S" start flashing, with the D on the gear selector.
-Just started getting a P0722 code
-Also, it feels like if the transmission had a hand, it'd be flipping me off

Aside from the major stuff, I still need to do a few smaller things. I need to run lines to the washer jets of the bumper and the hood. I have new jets for the hood. I also need to do the wiring for the 03-04 headlights. The spots are prepared and the mounts are made, I just need to do the wiring. The hood is also repainted with mixed results... You can read more about it in the thread I put up about it.



On a more fun note, I have a custom roof rack being made! There's a guy a few hours north of here making it for me and also powder coating it and my rims. The roof rack is all aluminum, and has a few fun perks. I designed the rack in CAD. It won't block any sight through either of the sunroofs. It has a removable insert to make it compatible with a roof tent. It also has two skids that slide out from the back that are very grippy, and will help get me out of snow, mud, ice, etc. Lastly, there are LED bars facing every direction that are built into the rack. One very large one on the front, and 3 large ones facing the sides and rear. I figure I'll need to be able to see the zombies coming from any direction in the apocalypse. And as if that weren't enough, I also have 4 flood lights mounted on the front of the ARB bumper. With the rack and wheels, I feel like this truck is going to look pretty Bad-A.





Now if I can just get it to move forward under its' own power...

Also, if anyone wants the CAD files for the rack, let me know, I'll be happy to shoot them over to you. My only condition is that you don't use them to make money.

 

This is a great thread... the documentation of your work is very helpful. I know that I will be using this. Thank you!! Keep the updates coming.

 

BUMP!
this is an excellent build thread!
I found this while waiting for my wife to come out of the Cumberland mall.