Swap done,,, Short day today, so went to Da’s and started some wrenching. I did change the timing gears, cover and water pump, made sure things were a good to go there: especially down at the bottom end where the timing cover meets the oil pan. If need be, I can swap a pan gasket easy, with no need to pull a transmission. Watching for now.
Compression test done. All within a few PSI of 175: No real stinkers that i could see, and this was a ‘dry’ test. I didn’t put any oil in anywhere, just the oil being pushed around by the pump.
Fired her up right around 4 pm. LOUD AS F! of course she was, I hadn’t rewelded the exhaust pipes yet. Needed her outside for that. BUT SHE RAN!! and only took a couple of hits to get the fuel primed in the system.
Exhaust welded up, coolant topping off and burping, and smoke everywhere for a few minutes as she burned all that oil out of the pipes and off the engine where I made messes (mostly anti-seize or Free-all penetrating oil) Final burp on the coolant, time to run down the road and help burn that shit off, AND see what she is gonna do: impress or surprise me.
IMPRESSED. Oil pressure rides a steady 50psi at cruise, sits right around 30=35 at idle, Coolant running in the window of the T-stat:185, Voltage looks good. No wyrd noises (a little bit of an exhaust leak at the manifold, and I sort of expected that with swapping out that manifold. New gasket set ordered.) I think this engine was much better taken care of than Bloos original, but then, seeing the last 6 months of fun, that ain’t sayin’ much. Still Oil pressure like that and the compression readings,,, Yeah,, this’uns good to go. I even ran down the highway, and fueled up. I’m hoping those new O2 sensors help some with the fuel consumption. (Side note: Cozzie does NOT like the fact that I can’t roll his window up while on the highway, nor the fact that there isn’t a back seat to escape to if the wind is too much. Poor puppers,,, he’ll adapt.)
Finally made it home around 7 pm. and started doing the change over from Buffalo to Bloo. Yes, I am that confident this time around, and its time she started earning her keep.
Shower out of the way, all the tools where they will be needed, (and then some) Time to turn this whirl-a-gig in a better direction. And let Buffalo have a well needed rest (so I can fix HER )
Love y’all, talk more tomorrow.
Love
Learn
Laugh
LOVE
LOAD!

R.I.P. Miss Bear-Bear. That was the bad news I received this AM on arrival to the J.O.B. She will be missed.
That’s what I’m-a tawkin about! Much goodness here.
All the #’s are good. And yer correct – The Cozz will adapt. He just won’t like it quite so much ’til he gets used to it! You can betcher azz that this one was WAY better cared for!! Glad things’re going yer way😎🍺🥂
Time to crash – 👍 No sleep plus early start tomorrow – critter haz a Spa Day, haul azz home ’cause The Steamer boyz’re gonna be here to attempt to clean my carpet. Then likely crash some more – fer a bit, anyway. Then go pick up the critter! Sheesh!😉
L’s!
Y’all take care,
Mike in FLA.
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Numbers look really good! Today on the other hand,,, first real outing with her, seems like there is a very minor misfire thing going on. Could be that I mucked up a wire or plug, but digging in to see.
its one of those “paranoid as F!” stages with this truck and every tink tonk and grunt she makes gets me squirelly in the head.
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Im kinda wondering if all the return ports were clogged up and flooding that bank over the top of all the stem seals on that side ?
always loved building up a new engine , but absolutely hated working on tired and abused old dirty stuff.
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not all that certain about that. recall, I did a hot valve adjustment, with the Covers off. Seemed like it was draining off just fine then. Granted, that was at Idle and low oil pressure/flowrate. They could be plugged enough to let low flows through, but backlog on higher flow rates.
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Great news Dio! Congratulations on the swap, I hope ol’ Bloo brings you much success in your future endeavors! I’m jealous of your oil pressure – my old girl has 332k on the motor and she’s getting wore out.
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I know exactly what you mean on “getting wore out” Buffalos op scares me sometimes: fluttering near the bottom of the gauge at idle. 335k on that block but it still pulls like a beast, just unease at idle.
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