Update: This is a LONG post, and I'm not sure what my goal is here - to ask for help or share updated information... Maybe a little bit of both.
I've been stockpiling parts.
- Water pump (a co-worker said it looked like my water pump was about to go out because the pulley was wobbling).
- Fan Shroud
- Lower radiator hose (I bought upper and lower from LMC, but the upper one doesn't look right at all. Mine is about 2+ feet long with 5 bends, and the one from LMC is about 1 foot with 1 90* bend
- Radiator cap
- Thermostat
- New HEI distributor for a 1980 GMC Jimmy
- New spark plug wires
- Re-ring kit from Summit that includes rings, main bearings, rod bearings, seals & gaskets
- Spark plugs
First, I got the distributor, wires, spark plugs, and water pump. When I drained the radiator, it was disgusting - worse than any other radiator I have ever drained. Ever. When I took the top radiator hose off, the inlet had a flat spot on the top that I assumed wasn't making a good seal (it was rusty) and thought it would be a good idea to get a new radiator. When I was taking the radiator off, I looked inside and I'm pretty sure I counted 3 rows of tubes. I know 3 rows isn't 4 rows, but it's better than 2 rows, and I should be ok getting a new 3-row radiator, right? I mean, I don't necessarily need a 4-row radiator, do I? Due to the nastiness of the coolant, I wanted to thoroughly flush the water jacket in the block and heads but I've never done that, and I was thinking about getting a new heater core since they're only $35, to make sure the coolant path is completely clean. As for the water jacket, do I need to take it to a shop to have it cleaned out, or is there anything I can do? I was also thinking about swapping to Evans waterless coolant, so anything I can do to clean it out and get rid of ALL the water.
Next, I took the distributor out. At this point, the engine looked pretty naked, and I thought to myself, as long as I have it this far, why not just yank it and do the seals and gaskets, so I ordered the re-ring kit. Since it comes with bearings and rings, I thought what the heck, why not. That way I can make sure everything in the engine is solid.
While taking more stuff loose to be able to pull it, I went to take the oil pressure sending tube out, and when I moved it, oil seeped around it. I recall my friend's mechanic friend said it oil was leaking from there when he did his checks a few months ago. Last week I was talking to him about this again, and he said that if I'm not going to get the heads decked and make sure the cylinders are round, there's no sense in doing rings or bearings - but I can still do seals and gaskets. To be honest, any engine I've ever taken apart in the past, I have never had machine work done to any part of it, I just ran a hone in the cylinder to break the glaze and put on new rings and bearings - unless we were concerned about a warped head, but then we just used a junkyard head. Never went to a machine shop. Anyway, he said I could just to seals and gaskets without pulling the engine, and he didn't think the rear main seal was leaking, at least not bad enough to be concerned with, and he thought that the oil back there was mainly because of the oil pressure sending tube leak that was causing the seal to look like it was leaking. He suggested to replace the sending tube, and the timing cover gasket and seal, and maybe the timing chain as long as I was in there if it looked worn, and see if I still have oil consumption after that.
He also suggested for me to clean out my radiator using some coolant flush chemical and try to straighten up the inlet tube. This morning I went out to try to straighten the flat spot, and I noticed that it is split, and when I tried to straighten it, it just split more and started to elongate the other side (bottom). So I switched back to the new radiator bandwagon. But, as I asked above, can I stick with a 3-row, or should I go for a 4-row? Honestly, I will probably go with whatever I can find that's less expensive (read: in my current budget). LMC has 3-row for $260, 4-row for $290, both of which are not in my range right now, AutoZone & O'Reilly have a radiator for $192 (not sure how many rows), and I see some 3-row aluminum on Amazon for $151, but I've heard those won't fit the stock radiator mounts.
Early last week I was excited about what I was doing, which was a big step for me and this truck because for several weeks after I bought it, I had a seriously bad case of buyer's remorse. But after talking to my friend's mechanic friend, I feel like there's a huge weight on my back and the excitement is gone and it's back to being a drag. Like I said, after this morning, I'm back on the new radiator bandwagon, but not sure which one I want to get. The
AutoZone one is immediate (don't have to wait for shipping), and I think it will fit, but not sure if it's 2- or 3-row, but I can check it when I go there, while the one on
Amazon doesn't look right, even though it says 3-row, and the title says "ALL ALUMINUM 3 ROW CORE RADIATOR FOR 1965-1975 Chevy GMC C/K Series Pickup Truck Blazer", the top says it doesn't fit my 72 Jimmy, but there is another link on that page from
Alloyworks that says it does fit for the same price. Past the radiator, still not sure how to clean the water jacket in the block and heads. As for the rings and bearings, I have shifted to just doing the seals, gaskets, and oil pressure sending tube, and maybe the timing chain. Still doing the distributor. I would also like to do a carb with electronic choke, but that's $300 at AutoZone, and my budget right now doesn't include both a radiator and carb. Wondering if I should just save $1000 and get an EFI kit. I was about to say, but if I go from $300 to $1000, maybe I should just go further and get an LS, but looking on Summit's site for EFI long blocks, those *are* upwards of $6000.
Pictures to follow after I get them off my phone (phone and laptop aren't playing nice right now for some reason.)
Anyway, thanks for being a sounding board.