Well yesterday afternoon was brutal.
Started with running a new return side power steering line. New hose was thinner than the old stuff so I had to find some different constant pressure clamps. That took some searching...but they were in the back seat pocket of the Jeep...that plastic box assortment of clamps saved my ass on my fuel line.
Moved from there to getting the condenser bolted to the grill. Holes wouldn't line up. TYC was an inch shorter than the original. Slotted the holes, added a fender washer and installed the grill.
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Spent an hour looking for one of the rubber bumpers.
Installed a new belt. My AC delete belt was too short previously and I lost the tensioner pulley...all replaced. K060790 which is an equivalent to a belt a forum member found.
Went to install my original Spectra JB Weld edition radiator and it wouldn't fit. TYC condenser hoses are an inch shorter than the original. Can't get the radiator passenger enough to line up the bolt holes.
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So I unbolted the hoses from the old condenser, replaced and lubed the o-rings - I have an o-ring AC kit - and reinstalled the condenser...which is now a PIA for the bottom bolts being out of sight. Took 30 minutes to get it installed only to discover one of the metal lines was bent passenger...so out it came again...used a punch to bend the thin aluminum...then pushed one of the new bottom well nuts into the grill reinstalling. That's gone. Three bolts will be fine.
Radiator bolted up. Took a while to locate bolts...only got three...lower passenger corner sticks out 3/4" so pretty sure this radiator has a twist. Got the shroud on. Hoses clamped.
Was going to fill with distilled water and this Blue Devil radiator flush but destructions said not to leave it in for more than 4 hours and thoroughly flush the block. Too spicy for me.
Decided to go straight for coolant because instead of buying concentrate I bought premix and I didn't want to fight ratios with distilled water.
Poured in a gallon...and it poured right out the lower block drain on to the floor. Hour of mopping and cursing as I did a stomach crunch bear hugging the header pipe finger tip threading a bung into the hole behind the header.
Poured in another gallon. Whew. No leaks. Poured in a second. Waterfall out of the thermostat housing. I have the hardest time getting the thermostat to stay put in the recess...it fell down, keeping the housing proud of the sealing surface.
Four attempts later...belt on and off... finally got it sealed up. Mopped up a half gallon of coolant off the floor.
Cleaned up the IAC and throttle body passenges.
Topped off the oil and went for a 20 minute break in. Had to give it gas to get it to start and run...but it settled into a slightly high idle... reconnected the PCV 1/4" hose... manually worked the throttle getting RPM up to 2500-3300 or so like you're supposed to do for a break in. Not that we're breaking in a cam... it's used...but the lifters are new...lot of lifter noise by the way.
Four minutes in coolant pouring out of the passenger side. I replaced the worm drive clamps with constant tension clamps on the oil heater...it really doesn't ever cool the oil, let's be honest...and the forward clamp didn't provide enough tension. Replaced it with a smaller one which was a pia because the clamp max open would barely fit on the hose...the nipple at best off the oil heater is 5/8...hose is 3/4...it works but I really should do a 5/8" hose and 5/8 x 3/4 elbow...but I don't want more clamps and fittings and places to leak...and I can't find a reasonably priced aluminum elbow.
Mopped up another gallon of coolant.
And a puddle of ATF from the power steering pump. Looks like my selection of a generic o-ring from my kit was insufficient to seal up the reservoir. So that's going to need to be sourced and removed and disassembled again.
Plus a half gallon of MT-90 spewed from the transmission. It's hanging there on a floor jack. I pumped up a little higher. Towel I had stuffed in the back came out. Might be in gear. I thought it was in neutral. Shifter is disconnected.
No word on that bellhousing I ordered.
Called it quits at 9:30 pm.
I think I put at least $100 worth of fluids on the floor...
-Mac