boxyjeep

Time for an update as a lot has changed since my last post. I moved back out to SoCal (southern Orange County) and immediately ordered a new crate stroker from ATK. While Golen and other vendors have a better reputation, the ~$3k price tag and warranty for the ATK unit just made sense. Unfortunately, there was a ~2-3 month backlog, so after ordering the engine in late November, the truck sat while I wrapped up some minor projects with it. The truck will be getting smogged and registered in CA. Unfortunately, this requires VIN and emissions stickers (which I removed and discarded when I had the truck painted). I created these in Photoshop/Excel and had a sticker shop print them. The bar codes scan and all info is valid. Also ordered some new tail light lenses from Key Parts and installed them on my existing housings. My old lenses were severely faded. Also upgraded to LED bulbs. After that, the truck went off to get the new engine installed. This took about 3 weeks and ran into a few issues--the shop misaligned the intake manifold and broke a few brackets/bolts that were painful to track down. After getting it back, there were a few things I had to adjust. It was also clear that the 19 lb injectors were too small. If you ever have the problem where the PS bracket won't line up with the water pump, it's because the intake manifold isn't fully seated on the dowel pins. It also is likely that your intake was cracked because of this.

No. You would need to swap over a ton of the electrical system for this to work. While possible, it will take significantly longer than just pulling your engine harness and fixing the issue. Use the 88 Electrical Manual that someone linked above.

There is a company called "Key Parts" that makes replacement lenses (about $185 for a pair). They are brand new and recently manufactured. The downfall is that you have to use your old housings and remove the cracked lens. If you don't have good housings, eBay or some of the FB Comanche groups is your best bet. Lowest I typically see if ~$200 for a usable (but not mint) pair.

Nice! I just replaced the lenses in my truck with new ones from Key Parts. Was planning to do a write-up, but it looks like you beat me to it. Looking good :-)

Wondering the same thing--I have "high" knock in my truck. That document that Ohm shared shows between 10-100 at 2500 RPM. Does that sound right and does it correlate to the reading from the REM?

Ditch the valence. You’ll thank me later. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good luck. The only way to find the connectors for the through-firewall harness is from another one. Very tough to find those pins anywhere online. Everything else is viable though.

This is why I took everything off of my truck before sending it to the body shop. They may damage or do other weird stuff. I remove the bumpers, fender flares, vents, door trim, mirrors, cowl panel, everything.

Got mine ordered. Green with rocker panel.

Was impressed until I saw under the hood

I did it in my truck. It's not as simply as just swapping the shifter... You need a new steering column and the new cable linkages.

Swapped it over with generic rivets. The plastic covers it.

Anyone 3D printing the housings yet? I'm going to feel bad chopping mine up...

Name your price. Located in Orange County.

Bought a set of reproduction lenses and want to avoid chopping up my somewhat decent set. Just need the plastic housing, broken lenses is fine. Will take one or both.

Not sure, but have a feeling that it’s either a “no” due to age or super expensive. What year/model is your truck? I’ve got a template I can share. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Damn, you got yours already? Mine is still somewhere in UPS land. Hopefully get it this week. Went with the black trim.

Might be able to get it registered (but not titled in CT). They don't title vehicles over 20 years old, and there is no smog/inspection for that age either. But you can register pretty easily. After you get it registered there, bring the registration to CA to get it titled there. I'm going through this right now with a somewhat similar situation (but my truck IS in the CA system as of ~2019).

What voltage is coming from the O2 sensor? If it's not varying, it's a bad O2 sensor.

What are your plans for rear suspension? SOA seems super high. SUA is probably too low.

Which LSD did you end up going with?

I bought a pair. Will share how they look when I get them.

I think I saw that up for sale on CL in Massachusetts. Is that the one?

There should be a switch somewhere on the manual transmission that indicates when it's in reverse (to turn on reverse lights). I'd trace that back and see if it is connected anywhere (possibly needs to be plugged in here). There should be a connector for the automatic TCU (passenger firewall), as well as the transmission itself (for NSS). If you want to get creative, you can figure out what wire triggers the reverse lights, as well as which one connects to the starter relay (to only allow start in Park or Neutral).

Dude is nuts