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Didn't take pictures of my work, so did I really even do it? But what an absolute pita 💀 Went to jegs and picked up a valve holder/air hose thingy on Saturday, was supposed to take a ¼" NPT fitting, fitting was 5/16 compression thread... So ordered one with air fitting from Amazon, the hex on the spark plug fitting with that hose was to big to fit in the recesses on LS heads, so I had to grind down the fitting to clear.... Tried to use the cheap universal "pry bar" valve compressor and it ended up sending two valve keepers on an express one way flight to the abyss. Tried to get a hand full of replacements from the local autozone and they were useless (the hub store closest to me on West broad specifically is useless not the valve keepers) so I ended up having to go BACK to jegs and get a full set of comp keepers, and picked up the expensive bolt on valve spring compressor (because I forgot the one I already had was for LS3 style heads AND DONT FIT THE LS1 STYLE 😂) Old seals were definitely crusty with lots of sludge around the valve stem and guide under the seal. Truck is back together and seems to be running maybe a little better, wideband looks a LOT more consistent, but I haven't plugged the laptop in yet. U joints are in, originals were pretty chewed up but not loose so I think that was some vibration and noise... But the crusty bearings sound is still there on left turns, might be wheel bearings so I ordered those today. Could also just be the diff, supposedly the F body Zexel torsen make a "rusty screw" sound.... Just because 🤷‍♂️ idk it feels smooth when I rotate the wheels in park, and when I hold the wheels letting it idle in gear on Jack stands.. probably should have replaced the the bearing when I installed the rear brakes but they looked fine when I had the axles out.

Remember kids don't daily drive your projects 😂 After attempting a 1/4 mile pull the other day, the truck developed some odd noise that made me let off it before I even hit 60mph. thought it was the transmission, then I thought it was the differential or possibly the original 33 year old u joints.... after reviewing the under truck video I took trying to kind the noise, I THINK the rear strap for the fuel tank has come loose.... which would definitely cause some unsettling noises at speed.. So this weekend I'm still replacing u joints, I know they are loose but they don't seem sloppy yet, but preventative maintenance right? especially considering I'm planning on taking it down the track at least a few times in may. Also going to tackle the valve stem seals, occasionally a big ole cloud of smoke on start up. don't think it's a ring issue. valve stem seals are only 10 years old, when I had to swap the 862 heads from the 4.8 onto the new 5.3 since the 706 heads had cracks in the head bolt recesses. I deep cleaned the heads, lapped the valves and replaced valve stem seals... maybe I did it wrong, or maybe they were just crappy seals. hopefully the valves don't leak much because I don't want to pull the heads to fix the valves unless I'm doing a cam swap 😂

If I was on Tod's bike and he was on a dirtbike.... he's still faster. 😆

Thinking of wandering around Ashtabula county tomorrow to check out covered bridges. anyone interested? Tourist pace. Lunch. Maybe a fatty by the lake

Oh man, there is a bunch of small things since April. Got the "new" valve covers and coil brackets installed, along with a catch can Switched all the lights over to LED with some slightly sketchy H4 projectors and even did the interior lights finally. Got the rear brakes installed and also powder coated the diff cover and battery tray while it was all apart. for smaller simpler stuff... installed power studs on the tank because I'm sick of melting the racetronix bulkheads. Primitively did the trunnion upgrade since I had a spare set of rockers, got those put in last monday. FINALLY threw in a set of 2" blocks with JTR setback plates, also did a quick buff/seal to get the paint cleaned up a little and got compliments how clean the truck looked this year! And some pictures from the trip! First stop in PA, noticed the rear looked like it was squatting pretty bad because I was also delivering a GM 8.5 to carlisle for someone. only hit the bump stops on the expansion joints on the bridges, in hindsight I probably should have turned the compression on the shocks up a click or two... second stop was in MD at the welcome center, absolutely beautiful area! And sad sunday everyone packing up I was just getting some last photos since it rained off and on most of the day on saturday