GRRRRR
Guy was pretty convincing that he knew exactly what I needed (being that I told him the year engine and tranny) and that he would get me the right one!

Vince why can't all companies be as simple to deal with as you guys?!?

 

Aight soo...On to bigger and better things! I have to write fast cuz I gotta get outta here pretty soon and meet up with Shannon to pick up my HPT and meet up with Lee .

So I got alot accomplised today, started around 7:30 and worked till about 30 minutes ago so I spend a good 12 hours down there and did pretty good!

First thing on the list of things to do was make a bracket so that I could mount the FPR to the firewall, here the mounting holes, for which I had no bolts so I spend about 45 minutes at a local hardware store going through their bolt bins ...



Finally found the right bolts and during my search for a needle in a haystack I ran across this too...



Did some mock up and after all was said and done I think it will do the trick...



I actually cut that bracket down so that there is no gap between the upright member and the FPR, forgot to take a picture of the modified bracket however this is how it looks mounted...





So with that mounted and off the list I ran the rest of my fuel lines, notably the return line with it's 180 degree bend...



And for the time being I had to route the Supply line like so...



Reason being is I do have a 180 degree hose end that I can use but the Y- goes past the Hardline feed line so the 180 would be off by about 2-3 inches so I need to go get more straight Hose ends to make it work. So for now I have a long 180 done by the fuel line and yes it goes around the Hydro boost. But it's only temporary, just want to get this truck started and running for the moment!

After I got all the fuel lines run I installed my injectors and clamped them down one last time and connected the harness to them...





When I went to hook up the TB harness to the TB I noticed that there's quite a bit of extra wiring... Turns out this harness was extended for when the truck had a maggie on it back in the day...



So I went to work and shortened it down a bit! Here is section #1 shortened (thought I would solder them rather than crimp them, cleaner)...



And here is the new length, took about a foot and half out of it all told...



Here's the second section...



I didn't get a picture of the new length but you can probably see it in a later picture but it's pretty much a straight shot without any bend or belly in the line.

 

Next up was the headers, time for the tape to come off after 6 months of hiding the ports...





For some reason I have quite a few exhaust gaskets so this one looked the cleanest so I went ahead and cleaned it and reused it...



Looks like I might of had a little bit of leak by by the look at the bottom of the headers...



Bolts had seen better day so I put them through the wirewheel,
Before (including one already cleaned)...



After...



Passenger side header in (and I thought this was the hard one!! )



And then onto the drivers side one...



However I did have an issue with the steering shaft so Shannon advised that I disconnect it, soon as I did I realized the upper half is spring loaded and luckily it didn't spin on me but I had to jury rig a way for it not to spin free and screw up my wheel rack to steering wheel alignment so I came up with this...



It more or less did the trick. Then on went the passenger header...



Got them all bolted down to 18 ft/lbs and connected the MSD wires to the spark plugs and also installed the O2 sensors and clipped those into the harness!

Then I replaced the Overflow coolant tank with one that has a sensor and followed by the airbox...
(you can see the shortened TB connector in this picture I think




So I guess at this point all I have to do is finish a few loose ends like a few vacuum lines that I need to figure out, what to do with the gas tank vent because as of know it's just dumping into the engine bay .
When I get those few things squared away, the only thing left to do is install the dipsticks, fill the truck with fluids and then flash in a tune. Speaking of which I gotta run to go meet up with Shannon!

 

I am pretty impressed that you are doing this on your own! A few years ago I would have questioned the chances of this getting done.

 

*Tip*
Dont cut and join all your wires in one spot, stagger them for a cleaner, sleeker look... Numb Nuts.

I vote you change the route of your supply..

I AGREE. I hope you inspire many others to try doing their own work!

And dont reuse metal MLS gaskets... unless you dont plan on keeping it for a while...

 

you're missing an intake tube!

 

Thanks B!! You mean to tell me that first day when I stopped by your shop to meet Carlos you didn't think I had it in me?? Now I'm sad! sniff sniff... I've known how to wrench, just never on cars! It's fun!!

When I get her up and running well enough I hope to stop by your shop and say hi, I'm sure there's a few things you could point out that I could redo a little better.

Gotcha! Good tip, will make it easier on the split loom fitting over those areas as well!

I will, just gotta figure out how without having to buy MORE $40 -8 hose ends!! I'm sure it would behoove me to find out why my fuel lines point in that direction to begin with!! I think I twisted the plastic clips that align the three fuel lines one too many times when I was mounting them back atop the tranny. But for now it will stay, to anxious to start fixing stuff before I get her running again.

My TO DO list for things to do and replace is already mounting!!

I didn't know that. I will keep an eye on them and see how they holdup. I wasn't sure if they were one time use only but figured since they looked to be in such good shape I would throw them on and see how they do. I'll add that to the TO DO list as well!

Lol...what's that?
It's actually sitting on my work bench, I need to finish cleaning up some rubber compound that's still on it...really icky crap and I'm not sure how to take all of it off but it will be time consuming but now that I have time to pay better/more attention to it tomorrow, I'll see what I can do with it.

 

Tomorrow's to do list includes...

- Read/copy tune and send it off via the worldwide web and wait for it to come back to me a happier tune!
- Zip tie all the wiring, unused/loose connectors, fuel lines and other lines that are loose and/or close to hot parts.
- Clean up intake tube, and install.
- Install both dip stick tubes
- Run a couple vent lines...might have to go run out and get some
- Put wheels back on the truck
- Drop her to the ground
- Hook up the battery and prime the fuel lines
- Pull the fuel relay and turn the truck over a few times to make sure I have oil pressure and wait for the tune to find it's way home and hopefully fire it up. (fingers crossed)

(I know I'm missing something!! )


Oh yeah, forgot to mention...Went and met up with Shannon and Lee tonight, ended up at some street races in cow country and we got broken up by the cops!!

 

more 2000 dollar tickets?

 

that tranny dipstick tube is gong to be a major PITA with the crossmember bolted up.