gbrettin

Added a idler pully on the Dirty Dingo mount near the bottom and re routed the belt, which only took four trips to NAPA. The belt system clears the electric pump and there's plenty of belt wrap now. Cinching the manual tension is also MUCH easier because when I apply ape strength to tension the belt I am ratcheting downward. That downward momentum applies pressure on the belt system. I want to point out that there's no off the shelf solution for an electric pump and f-body steering pump so this is a bespoke piece (free to copy for anyone that comes across this).

The X pipe had a bung welded in so I re-installed the X pipe with the RIFE IAT sensor. It seemed a little easier putting on this time.

I looked over the shifter linkage and decided not to use the OEM transmission shifter with the 4L80e because I would have to make a reverse pivot to change the direction of the lever action. It was decided to make an Outlaw shifter work, which would require some customization inside the car to mount that. I made an aluminum plate that would use the OEM rubber boot (for the old shift linkage). I have to add the HVAC controls back into the car so I can see how close the shifter comes to that. A bit of modification will be required on the trim ring, which is fine. I'll likely get a nice micro suede boot for the area that has a hole after everything is said and done. That's my half baked plan anyway.

At the end of the day, I filled the radiator with water. I forgot to add a block off on the head and it pissed water all over the floor. Block off was added to the head and then the system appeared to work awesome with the swirl pot! I had my hand over the fill and I could feel the system purge air and then it made suction. What a wild thing to see everything start to work!

After the start-up I found oil leaks on the fittings for the sending line from the oil pan after an inspections. If anyone is thinking about a Clearview filter, do it. I can see line debris and metal bits on the screen from the engine starting to break in.

I probably need to do 2-3 more heat cycles before I change the oil (about 30min of total run time). Then I'll change the oil and do fresh break-in oil for about 500mi.