Long post ahead on this big project:
Successfully got everything torn down and most things cleaned and certain things painted this weekend. I’m replacing the rear main as part of the transmission/transfer swap, along with new clutch and machined flywheel. I figured I’d drop the oil pan and have a look since I haven’t done that with this truck, or ever, and it’s easier to replace the RMS with the rear main bearing cap removed anyway, which requires access inside the pan I also have a mysterious low end noise that several knowledgeable folks have said isn’t a knock - but nobody has been able to identify it. So I wanted to investigate. Oil pan had no glitter or chunks in the bottom, and hardly any sludge. The paint was flaking off the inside and no doubt getting pumper around. Glad I got a new pan to put on.
I got into taking rod caps off one by one today, cleaning, and plastigaging them. All within spec (.02-.06mm), most of them at .04. All of them have visible wear but nothing that you can feel or hang a fingernail on. They’re all very smooth. #6, however was loose and the backside has some wear, burnishing, or both.
The rest looked about like this:
Karen was instrumental in helping me extract this behemoth. I pulled it with the crossmember attached and with blocks of wood underneath, only to realize that the added height meant it wouldn’t clear the frame or slider, even jacked up. We tilted it just enough to fit under and Karen held the jack down so it wouldn’t flip over. Rookie mistakes = lessons learned.
Somebody had been in here before … on a 124000 mile truck. Why? Maybe a clutch job, who knows. The shift lever looks like it was ripped out by force and the two pins in the transmission cover were shredded and loose - held in by a hose clamp. There’s RTV on the front input shaft cover of the transmission as well - did somebody need to rework the innards of an H42 at that mileage?
In the photo above you can see at the very bottom where somebody pulling the transmission bonked the lip of the tunnel opening. Oops. I pulled the seats & carpet and took the whole cover off for more working room No rust in that part of the floor pan!
One bellhousing bolt was missing a split lock washer, so that had been off. Why remove that if you’re just changing a clutch? The motor doesn’t appear to have ever been taken out though. Usually there’s bent heat shields and hardlines at the firewall and the front radiator support has intact seam sealer. So they pulled the bellhousing for fun? What else … the clutch fork boot is as nowhere to be found, the transfer case shifter linkage was hanging on for dear life and missing a plastic flange bushing, so that’s been apart before. The transfer case neutral position isn’t working - front and rear outputs are still locked together. One of the pressure plate bolts was a hardware store special. Nothing crazy, but evidence of work that was rushed and/or disorganized.
@Capriblue45 with your recent 2F adventures, what do you think about the state of those bearings? I’m still planning on having my spare block rebuilt. I figure tighten these up and run until that’s ready, eh?
@RDub thanks for all the consultation work today! If any other thoughts strike you let me know.
So here she sits for tonight. Back at it tomorrow.