New engine for the family truckster!

[njsteve]

Oh, the joys of getting those last two upper bellhousing to engine bolts. There is no easy way to do it. They are double studs with all sorts of brackets coming off the studs. And not accessible from under the truck. I had to rip the remainder of the inch-thick, sound deadener pads (probably made of asbestos) off the firewall to even see the studs. That, of course is after I pulled the intake manifold, fuel/water separator, assorted non-moveable wiring harnesses, etc,. Luckily I borrowed my friend's ladder-creeper - a real life saver! I used a ratcheting, angled, closed end, 1/2" wrench for the nuts and 9/16" for the studs. - yeah this is a 1995 so they used SAE threaded transmission-to-engine bolts. Everything else on the engine is metric.

[njsteve]

Oh, and yes this was the extent of my family's assistance in this endeavor on this holiday weekend - laughing at me as I am devoured by the family truckster and photographing it for posterity. :-)

[earntaz]

Climbing into the engine bay like that is really getting into your work ... LoL TAZ

[njsteve]

I spoke too soon this morning. My wife was busy so my son actually helped me take the hood off the truck so the hoist would fit. Though I did have to wake him up at 11:00 AM to do it.

[njsteve]

We have lift off at noon E.S.T. today. Of course the new lift cylinder was at max extension with the rad support still 3/4" higher than the oil pan. I had to take the truck off the jack stands and use two floor jacks to lower it down as far as possible so I could get the engine over the front end. The boy actually assisted in pulling the cherry picker away from the truck. So he is now taking credit for pulling his first diesel engine.

[earntaz]

Extend the boom one or two notches ...

[njsteve]

In its present position, when level, the boom is the same length as the feet. I don't want to put it out any further than the feet will extend. Kind of a stupid design to allow the boom to extend two feet further than the legs. That's a 1,000 pound flip waiting to happen. When I tried to have the boom further out, I had to stand on the rear of the hoist to keep it from lifting. Very scary!