...but it was soon understod that the work had only just begun.

This situation reminds me a little of my kinda business.

Everybody's relieved and thrilled when the baby finally comes out.

Until they realize now they gotta raise the kid!

Dave,

I can now say of you for jumping into that extensive engine work what a fellow kayaker said of me when I went over the "wrong part" of Chittem Rapid on the Salmon River and got caught in a mid-river hydraulic that he had to drag me out of): "Either you're a very brave man or a crazy SOB!" I hope you can turn a wrench better than I can roll a kayak to its upside.

H2

I can honesty say that I'm thinking to myself..."What the f@%$ have I gotten myself into?"

I froze my nuts off today. I had to leave the garage door open to have enough room to manuever the hoist, and it's about 15*F outside. I ended up removing the wiring harness from the engine since I could not get that damn rubber grommet to push through the firewall.

I noticed today that I now need a new fuel pressure regulator on the passenger side....the one on there now bent as the engine came up. There goes another $90.

The wiring harness itself is stiff as a rock. The brown covering on it wants to break instead of flex, but the wiring inside is fine. I obviously don't want to drop a wad of cash for a new harness, so what should I use to wrap it around where the covering has cracked?

I've used the stuff from Harbor Freight for same problem as you. Not on the harness (brown outer shell) itself but on a wire to the injector. It's only been on there a year so I can't vouch for the long run but it brushed on nice and thick and seems fine.

WTG Dave! It takes determination to take on such a project under those conditions.

so.... you're going to post the obligatory "owner in engine bay" pic soon, yes?

Way to go Dave...Hope to see you on the road this summer...Dave there is a split covering that is available for just your purpose. I believe it is made by "Grote" Madison Wisconsin?? It is a black plastic wire wrap for lack of better words. I picked up 8ft of it at my local parts store for around 5 bucks. It is meant for your purpose but you might want to see some specs on it "ie...heat tolerance etc". I used a portion of it on my Tractor..you know snowmover, ignition and lights overhaul a few years back and still going strong....Good luck and try to keep warm....

Dave, Do me a favor. Can you get me a couple of nice close up shot of the motor mount area from above? My email is jserio1@socal.rr.com. TIA.

Awesome, Dave! Very impressive. You've proven that you've got the determination and the talent, so I'm betting that you'll see this through. If I had half of your bravery, I'd be a much better man. Congratulations on your achievements.

Here's an enlargement of the original photo. I'll take some closeups next time I'm in the garage. I'm anxious to get the heads off, but I seriously need to clean up in there. Part of the reason I'm getting cold feet (literally and figuratively) is because of all of the nuts, bolts and screws that have fallen to the floor. I'm nervous about knowing where everything goes when it comes time to put the engine back together. I tried to put everything back into the holes they came out of, but tight spaces and frequently numb fingers lead to falling pieces.

Adding to the fun is the fact that a disturbing amount of snow and ice found their way into the garage...and onto some of the parts when the door was open and gusting winds hit the wall of snow drifts in my driveway. The bits of white in the first picture are pieces of snow. I've got to pick all the little pieces up and put them aside.

If anyone has a good collection of diagrams from the PET CD that show the locations and sizes of fasteners, let me know. They'll come in handy in matching up the AWOL nuts, bolts and screws to their little homes.

So far my list of parts that have crumbled, bent or otherwise become unusable BECAUSE of the engine pull are:

- 13mm motor mount bolt (snapped off with 1/2 still in the block)
- spark plug wires (the coating was already brittle and cracked, but now the coating is completely off in many places)
- passenger side fuel pressure regulator (engine bent it)
- that damn wire bracket that sits on top of the crossmember and steering rack (had to Dremel it)
- nut securing the throttle cable to the firewall (engine smashed it)
- flex plate (possible that one of the bolt holes is stripped...not sure yet)
- 1 exhaust bolt (stripped and had to Dremel off)
- metal bracket securing the transmission cable to the bellhousing that travels along the top of the torque tube (had to cut it)

If anyone has a fuel pressure regulator, the throttle cable nut, the transmission cable metal bracket or the wire bracket available for donation to my cause from a parts car, please let me know.

Congrautlations, Dave!!!

But losing your nuts in the process sounds like a pretty high price. Did you factor that into your estimate?

Dave, where are you located? PM me if you don't want to post on the board.

You're an ambitious fellow, and have my respect for undertaking this...

Think how nice it will be when it's all back together, and your engine and bay are spotless, and everything is as it was meant to be when it left the factory!

Royal Oak, Michigan. It's about 10 miles north of Detroit.

Dude, sounds pretty rough working on it right now. This reminds me of a few engine pulls I've done with added frustration.

Dave, I would be inclined to leave it be until this bone breaking cold eases up over there. You will be less aggravated. If you've gotten this far, you can easily finish the project. Pace yourself if you have the time.

Good job Dave, now to take a step back and a deep breath .... it is amazing how much space you will need to store all the parts that come of the engine, doesn't look like much on the stand but when you start taking it apart it spreads everywhere. Go create some space, go buy a whole bunch of those freezer storage bags in various sizes with ziplocks, you can use masking tape to write on and stick on the bags (saves a few pennies).

When I took a part off, I took a picture of said part, at the end of the day I printed out the pictures and put them in the bag with associated parts. I know this seems **** but when you come to put it back together in a few weeks time things can look v different.

Keep us informed of the next phase !

Chris