I finally had a full day to work on the truck. My in-laws are in town for the 4th and my father-in-law volunteered for a work session. We loaded up the Excursion with all the needed parts and tools and then hooked up the trailer with the freshly mounted XL's.
The day started off with the discovery that the truck had fallen off of the jack stands sometime in the last few weeks. Great!
The axles were on top of the stands in some cases and the stands had disappeared into the ground. We made use of some heavy equipment courtesy of Winslow to get the truck in the air and back on its tires. It looks really tough now!
Before we mounted the wheels, we tackled the injection pump. We figured it would be easier to reach everything with the truck on the ground. We removed the old plastic timing pin from the front cover and replaced it with a brand new pin (thanks Will). Then, we tightened up the mounting studs for the IP and slid it into place. That's weird, why is the IP hitting the air compressor?! We went and looked at Winslow's 925A2, which is for sale by the way, to find out what it is supposed to look like. Turns out the rebuilt compressor I got came with a different unloader housing and it was about 1/2" taller than what was supposed to be on there. I had no choice but to steal the top off of a compressor belonging to Joe aka Crash AF. Joe, I promise I will get you another one and put it on your compressor. In the meantime, the one off of my compressor is on there to keep the crud out. The pics include my truck with the oversized unloader and John's for comparison.
Once the unloader piece was swapped out, the IP slid right on. The nuts in between the block and the IP are a serious PITA!
Thankfully I had some crow's-feet sockets with me and we got them snugged down. We already had the engine at TDC, so it was time to get the pump timed. I pulled the timing plug from the IP and lots of oil came out, but the timing pin was gone?? What the heck, US Navy mechanics?? We improvised with some needle nosed pliers. I cleaned the tapered pump shaft and drive gear with brake cleaner before sliding it on. The pump nut was torqued to 15 lb/ft. Then, the timing pins were removed, my FIL held the engine still with a barring tool, and I torqued the gear nut to 80 lb/ft as spec'd by the manual. Once that was done, there were fuel lines to hook up and the lift pump needed replaced.
It was stinkin hot today so it was a perfect day for wrestling 300 lb tires and wheels into place. Thankfully the fork lift and the M816 made for easy lifting. We fought those suckers for about 2 hours before finally getting them off the trailer and snugged down on the studs. I feel like I was mauled by a bear today! What a butt whoopin!
The truck is looking good! Thanks to my FIL, Gene, and David, Winslow's helper who ran the fork lift and the 816. Hopefully it will run next time! Time for bed!!
