Gotta get the '95 back in the game. I'm tired of riding along. Coolant pours out somewhere up front as soon as you dump it in the radiator. Pa_Jero looked at it with me and neither one of us could see where it was coming from. Today's the day to find it. Thanks again to AlphaMale for the inspiring leads on what to aim for and for stopping by with even more parts last night.

I'll get on it as soon as I shoot off the resume that was requested by a promising job lead in my former field of work. That's a touch more important.

John B.

Because of my issues with dealing with cold lately, we didn't get as far as I would have liked, but we did get as far as the last bolt that still needs to come out to get the a/c bracket/alternator bracket off of the accessory bracket on the front. as soon as those both come off, I'll be able to remove the timing covers and should be able to see more. Luckily, warmer weather is returning.

In the meantime, we are going to look at the Craigslist '94 SR with the salvage title to figure out what is up with it. Jorge went to look at it yesterday, but he wants me to go back with him. The couple that is selling it are car flippers, so they don't know the history on it. Anybody have a Carfax subscription?

Also, we are going to a secret (I'll spill it later) place to get some parts off a '96 SR. Jorge needs trailing arms and springs for his '89 and Pa_Jero needs mirrors. We may get other stuff, too. If you need anything Gen 2, text me ASAP.

John B.

I meant to say the '96 SR that WAS in Craigslist, not '94. And I say 'was' because somebody bought it last night.

We went to the Pick A Part in Tolleson today. The '96 SR they had there hadn't been touched by anyone. I sent out a bunch of texts and got a lot of responses. I'll be tallying everyone's total up and letting them know what the parts cost later, but we got mirrors for Pa_Jero, a speedometer cluster for Monte3, a center gauge cluster for Toasty, belt moldings, an EGR tube and brown center vent section parts for RyanY and a driver's side door lock actuator, hazard switch and a driveshaft for myself.

Originally Jorge wanted rear trailing arms and the SR springs, but after we found the bolts on the rear of the trailing arms where they connect to the axle too tight to remove, Jorge swung a deal for the locker, pump, trailing arms and springs instead. We even got the switch, just for good measure.

I also managed to grab a letter 'R' for the driver's side of my '95 to replace the one that looks like a 'P' since part of the letter broke off.

Pa_Jero, Jorge thought of you and grabbed an extra spare tire holder bolt, too.

John B.

Good haul guys <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Thanks JB, and I'll see you this Friday! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

If you're talking about the green one on craigslist with 155k, that car had an odometer rollback.

Same VIN:

264k miles

This was a blue one. From the pictures, it had a 2" body lift and BFG A/T tires on some black 15x8 steel wheels. Can't say as I have seen it around before.

John B.

Yes, blue, sorry. Same one. A friend called the owner and got the VIN. It had odometer rollback. It's the same truck in the link I posted above.

Looks like wrenchfest #1 for 2015 is off for this weekend for me. I'm going to order still more parts and have decided to go with a new set of 3mm lifters for the '95 as well as a few other parts I was overlooking or underspending on, like a quality timing belt tensioner.

Instead, I'll be busy with a professional matter on Friday morning, then working on getting Jorge's SR axle ready to install in his '89. I want that in and ready to test by Sunday at the latest. Why so long, you ask? Because we clean and paint everything around here, and I want to make sure the brakes are up to par with new pads and potentially a resurface on the rotors. We may have to depend on ourselves to get the driveshaft to connect to the pinion flange since Toasty may be off camping with the wife; not sure if we can just connect it up or some modification may be necessary (the driveshaft, not Toasty and his wife, you sickos).

Jorge had me drive to the junkyard last Sunday and I was testing the brakes on the off-ramp at 83rd Ave because he had said the brakes were locking up. Well, at least the front driver's side did, so there's work to be done there. Gotta get those pins cleaned up, rotors checked and new, quality pads put in. May as well adjust those wheel bearings, too, which means machining the new hub socket I bought to replace the old one that got misplaced (thanks HoseB). We've got quite the selection of emery cloth to rough up the rotors and get any glaze off them as well.

Too many projects!

John B.

We redid the front brakes on the '89 today and it seems to be much better. The old pads were thick but looked like a sugar cookie with surface cracks, etc. We bedded in the new pads and all seems well there. Used plenty of red goop to calm down the squeals and used brake cleaner on the pins and rotors, emery clothed the same, then cleaned them again before greasing those pins.

We're currently half done with the axle swap, with the old one out and the new one staring at us. Interestingly, because this is the first V-6 axle I've taken out, it's not nearly as cheesy as the 4-cylinder truck's. It almost appears to be based on a similar housing, narrower, with drum brakes and without the locker, but pretty stout.

It looks like someone upgraded the trailing arms in the past. They're not exactly the same as the ones from the 96, but very close. They may be up for sale/grabs soon, but it would be a good idea to plan on replacing the four bushings in the rear of the arms before installing them.

The 96 springs are shorter than the ones we took out. This surprised me. The wire on the 96 springs looks fatter, and I know they're supposed to be progressive, so we'll see what we end up with. The old one sacked quite a bit when the truck was loaded with any kind of weight. Thanks to Toasty for the flange with the extra holes in it. We needed that to connect the driveshaft from the '89 to the axle (first thing we checked). We'll have an undrilled flange to give back.

Back to work, slackers.

John B.