Oh me gawrsh
Whutaday,,,,
Doc trip with dad, not happy, not overly perturbed either. His EKG looked good, though his BP and Pulse scared the ever loving shit out self and Doc when first checked. Think it was anxiety cuz after a bit, everything settled down and even the Doc made mention of that. Fam’s will be filled in on deets as I can get hold of them,,, Just so y’all know, Yes, he is still on this side of the dirt, just as grumpy as ever,,,
ON to BLOO-TWUCK,,,,
First off,,, CNS just like I was scared was gonna happen. EASY fix,,, Distro was 180 out. Oops! Turn that around, and she fired right the F! up,, Vrooom! only,,, no oil pressure on the dash. SHUT HER OFF and pull that Distro AGAIN,,,, LOL Gettin’ damned good and fast that,,,
And ya know what I found?
Busted Oil Sending unit. Broke right in half, just like I had done to that Crank Sensor a couple three weeks back. Sheww,,,, thank the small gods its something silly and simple.
to the tune of $50 Oops,,, What the heck are those things made of these days,,, a troy ounce of silver?
Some of you might hear it mid-vid. Some may not. I did, but didn’t understand what I was hearing. I minor ticking noise,,, NOT ENGINE,,,
Nopes,,, I had pulled the number one plug to verify TDC when I had the timing mark lined up, to check my distro position. Even put the plug back,,,
Did NOT plug it in,,, that ticking noise is the spark jumping the air gap to ground in the open air. HOT SPARK!!! Plugged it back in and the engine smoothed out even more.
BUT,,,
I ain’t totally happy right now. NOT engine issues,,, Clutch issues. I may need to drop that center support again so I can get at the bellhousing bolts as I can see a slight gap between the block and the bell.(I’m gonna try to get to them otherways, before I make that decision. Long extensions and wobble sockets are your friend,,, I have both.) My dumb fault of course, like every thing else I have done here. Clutch works, but its not QUITE right,,, hard to get in gear right now. That gap is only 1/16″ but apparently enough,,, I know that depressing the arms on the clutch only needs 1/8th to fully disengage the pressure plate so 1/16th would make things ‘iffy’. Bled the system twice to be sure that wasn’t the problem (and that is such a strange way to bleed hyrdraulics. But its a proven method.)
She’s home now,,, I can shift gears enough to do that, even took her around the ‘block’ for test run and shake down with a quick double check over everything at Da’s, before loading up and bringing her up the hill.
Relieved, frustrated, happy, a touch disappointed (that clutch thing,,, I’ll get over it .) but so frellin’ satisfied that she didn’t blow the F! up when I fired her up. No strange noises (that I didn’t induce, that is) just smooth runnin’ Twuck, even if a little on the loud side. (note, I did get some of that exhaust welded up, but I want to wait till I can get at from a better angle with a touch more room underside. Its enough to hold it all in place, not enough to seal it all the way up.
So, Tippin’ a beer, and a shot, and callin’ it a night. I still have two days to get things in order (and I did domestics today,,, bizzy little beaver I was.) before I head back to J.O.B. and bring Twuck along for her first day of work. (yes, I am being gentle as hell with her for a thousand miles or so, gonna do another oil change in 500. I wants this’un to last.)
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Dio's Workshop 
WooHoo! Congratulations Dio! Few things as exhilarating as a successful test drive when half your engine bay has been strewn across the shop and/or driveway!
Well done Sir!
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December 26, 2025 at 5:51 pm
With the clutch thing, Da asked if I wanted to pull her back in. Nope! I need a break, he needs a break from hearing me down there cursin’, talking to meself, GRUNTING with effort. I can do this in me drive, and all the tools are still right where they have been, IN BLOO LMAO,,, Its likely just a matter of tightening up that bell housing, which I slipped on with taking a break after getting it IN,,, Shoulda had the torque wrench in hand first, THEN took the break.
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December 26, 2025 at 5:59 pm
Unnerstand all the different feelz, don’t blame ya 1 dang bit!
Interesting ya had to replace the oil sender – I’ve had a couple times where the sender wuz perfectly fine, then Shaazam! got ‘er all back together, and either zero or very low pressure. Whatta PITA! Each time, the sender had sprung a leak.
That distributor is SO ezy to slap ‘er in 180 out – also purty ezy to recognize the problem. That clutch problem sounds like the gap is the culprit.
Glad to hear that that Dad is – on the whole – doin’ good. Also unnerstand about the B/P. I do the same dam thing when I go to the doc.
All in all, a good end result – very well done, Sir!🍺🥂😎
Y’all take care,
Mike in FLA.
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December 27, 2025 at 5:36 am
😦 Not just the Gap. Called a buddy up in Cincy, still works as a wrench. He told me ‘put the old pressure plate back in, you got the wrong one. Lite duty silverado Plate will give low pedel and rough shifts.” Pulling the transmission back out today. Fortunately, the old plate and friction disc were good still so I can do that swap with low worry factor. and this shouldn’t take more than a couple hours. at least I ain’t pullin’ a damned motor apart,,,,
Yeah, that sender is in a really odd location. protected when everything is together, exposed as hell when you need to get at things. One little knock from the distro shaft and POP! came right apart. I say aged plastic was the weakness here.
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December 27, 2025 at 7:23 am
i can believe a sending unit cost $50 these days. I had to replace my toyoyo’s fan control switch bout five years ago , cost then like $25… Sadly had to replace it again a year later ! What a pita. Turned out that Auto Zone has a warranty for life for such things and the price has since doubled to $50. They happily gave me another gratis ! Well that one fried too ! Once again , still warrantied no matter what. Even tho I’m pretty sure that the resistor pack is defective and over amps the fan switch. Just a major bitch to get to… And currently is stuck on low speed
That same switch is used by many GM so is very common.
Blood pressure and anxiety , indeed every time when I first go in and get tested it is like fifty to eighty points high . Last time 205/105…ten minutes later 120/80.
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December 27, 2025 at 6:57 am
Same unit at Rockauto: $20+shipping= half price of what I paid. To add insult to injury, I checked up here at the house, and Donor truck has the exact same unit,,, Had one on hand. Thats alright, the new one isn’t aged plastic that will break with stern look (which is why the one broke, I’m sure. Aged plastic that couldn’t take knocking around.)
Yes, anxiety can do many things to the body. Raising blood pressure is part and parcel of “Fight or Flight” responses and Da was definitely in that mode: He despises Doctors, and with some of his past experiance, can’t blame him. The Doc in a box did good, gave him a better impression and he cooled down fast. Won’t be fighting him so much to go when needed.
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December 27, 2025 at 7:17 am
Yepper – the disc could absolutely be too thick if’n it’s incorrect. Hopefully, it’s returnable.
It’s a dam shame the senders have gone plastic. With all that heat, it’s not surprizing that they get brittle.
Glad ya got thingz fingered out!
Y’all take care,
Mike in FLA.
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December 27, 2025 at 8:18 am
Yeehaw!!!
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December 27, 2025 at 8:48 am