So this weekend, amongst 28 hours of thrashing on the truck and engine, we put a Valair OFE in, 13" conversion with new flywheel and HD hub as well, 3400 # PP, new oil pan gasket, new rear main seal, fresh Rotella in the motor, new filter, new trans fluid, new transfer case fluid, and cleaned the amsoil BHAF.
Clutch went in without a hitch, well, it took us longer to put in the crossmember than it did the clutch, we finally figured out that you had to put it up in the frame further back and slide it foreward. We had two old chrysler bumper jacks cranked to the hilt spreading the frame too.
Found out you cant take off the oil pan with the motor in, so we put the engine lift over the motor and hooked it to the front lifting eye, loosened the pass. side mount and lifted and tilted the motor up about 2" to drop the pan enough to get the old brittle gasket out and cut and slide the new one in. The gasket leaked so bad we lost a quart of oil to the bottom of the truck by the time the oil had to be changed.
Cant wait till we get this thing broke in some more, it does engage a bit earlier, but it's workable. The pedal is sooo much smoother too. I will get pictures up of the older clutch that was in it. Had a Luk, but it was toast, there is a smeared streak a half inch wide around the whole thing where we had melted the facing down on it, was down to the rivets. pressure plate has heat checks and bluing on it, flywheel can be ground, its still pretty good, but rough.
Forever, the truck used to rattle and vibrate a lot, we thought it was in the drivetrain, such as the tranny or a U-joint. We put this thing it, it acts just like the 02 my dad has with 25K miles on it, no drivetrain or floorboard vibrations what so ever... Absolutely beautiful product.
Will keep you guys posted on how it breaks in and such. We did lean on it a bit last night, turned the box up and hit the map switch in high gear, doing about 40 mph, floored it, my god did it pull! Truck hasnt been this strong in a year since we got the drag comp and it started slipping a bit then it was all downhill from there. Engine pulled 40 psi of boost it 900' of elevation at 65*F, just going down the road. Cant wait to tow with this thing and see how well it holds.
Also, got a ford around here with an auto and a 6 way TS chip and big tires, gonna give him a run in a couple weeks.... along with my brother's banks equipped automatic '03.
- Neil
