CHERRY PICKING 12.18.20

 

Welp, I'm pleased to report that the engine and transmission are out. I pulled them as one unit. 

Next move will be to clean and detach the transmission from the old engine and attach it to the new one, which should be arriving in the next few days. 

Meanwhile, with the engine and transmission out of the way, I now have a clean shot at detailing the engine compartment and the frame. Some deep cleaning, sanding, steel-wooling, a little stripping here, and a little filing and priming and painting there should do the trick. 

Time to dip into the supplies I purchased from Eastwood. 

I'll have to keep an eye on temperatures, as the is in Austin's cool season, with winter approaching. It will be vastly important that all residues are removed before paint is applied. 

This is the messy stuff where it's important to take the necessary time to get into all of the nooks and crannies that are inaccessible once the drivetrain is remounted.

I've just placed an order to Brother's Truck Parts for a lot of the incidentals I'll be needing to make the engine compartment look great. Rubber linings and shims and I've even treated myself to some new replacement bolts.

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Don't ask me how I managed to spend $500 bucks, but I did and it was easy. 

I did order a painted replacement front bumper for Ratiki after discovering I had some alignment issues with the previous bumper. The bumper didn't sit level and was lower on the right, in fact so much so that it was contacting the body at the passenger side bumper bracket. 

I figure a fresh bumper although not as durable, will allow me to sort out the situation. I will ultimately be painting it silver to match the truck's grill. 

That's probably enough detail for this installment. 

With cleaning products at hand, it's time to tidy the truck's frame and engine compartment. To cherry it out, if you will. 

It's also time to decide whether a drop cross-member is in the card for this old girl. Time to have a discussion with my wife. Argh.