Wow that sounds like a really cheap seal. I will have to make sure mine is better when I do my rebuild.

the second seal i got was a more conventional rubber, i put a little grease on the end of the crankshaft and on the seal lip, and it slid on there just like i would expect it to.

then i realized that i had installed my pistons in a different order than they originally were - they were numbered ford style, but i put them back in chevy order. you know
ford
5 1
6 2
7 3
8 4
or chevy
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
and since i'm reusing some parts down there, i decided i had to have them in the original order. more time wasted.

but now my oil pump is on, and as soon as i'm done cleaning the pan, that'll be on too. then i flip it over and start screwing in head studs

I found it!!
1979 Ford Bronco RangerXLT
1979 Ford Bronco Ranger XLT 5.9 Cummins Turbo Diesel 6bt Conversion

Ford : Bronco RangerXLT in Ford | eBay Motors

Sean :-drink

Are you hinting at something eh Sean? That thing is very pretty but it's going for 5k... That's a bit too much for me. Also I don't think I know anything about diesels so if I were to attempt something like that, I would want to have owned and cared for a diesel before hand so I don't screw something up.

It's gone up. It was only at 2K when I posted the link.

Still think a 6.0 L and transmission and transfer case would be cool.
Just a project thought.

Sean :-drink

you and your 6.0's - they have great power, but in stock form are stuck with so many problems like the EGR system, and cost thousands more to make them solid. not my choice, i'll stick to my budget-friendly 6.9 :)

If some one had a new one the one thing that would save all the money would be to change the coolant first thing. Ford went cheep and used a coolant that they already
were using on one other line (Navistar said don't do that) But Ford did and that is
the root cause pf the EGR/Head gasket/oil cooler mess.
How is the van doing?

Sean :-drink

well, i'm having all kinds of fun out here. i got the heads installed today, and just a few minutes ago i put the rockers on and tried to spin the engine over by hand, found that i have valves touching pistons now due to the closer tolerances of having the block and heads milled down. i'm looking into the option of either getting shorter pushrods, or shimming the rockers up a little to make up for it

Wow, that's quite a mess man...

I finally got the parts needed to do my rear brakes, new shoes and spring kit for both sides. I also got 2 cans of brake cleaner all for about $36. I might end up doing it this weekend but I'm not sure yet. It shouldn't take very long to do as long as the weather permits.

Weather permits
Did you apply in advance for your weather permit?
You know if you don't they will send the rain copy out to
your place. They might even send the snow cops.
I hear the sun cops took off south for a few months.

I really should be filling out some stupid forms.
But this is much more fun.

Anyone use Netflix? I was thinking that if I am going to
be stuck here at home for weeks on end I will need something
other than the stupid cable to keep me sane. Oh that right
I am not sane so no need to worry.

Sean :-drink

dylan, you may as well replace the wheel cylinders as you're in there. usually less than $10 each, and we all know what happens when they leak.

for my problems, it appears they don't offer shorter pushrods, so thats not an option. i tried putting flat washers under the rocker arms, and that appears to be working, no slack in the pushrods, and i can spin it freely. i'll study it a bit more, but i think it'll work for me

Josh, I thought about it but mine aren't currently leaking as far as I know. Everything was fairly dry when I checked em. Though they were pretty dirty.

http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/...pscb7b3dbe.jpg

I thought about getting some and replacing them but the I don't know how to do those and I don't know if I have the tools to do it. I think for now just shoes and springs outta be good enough to get them to actually work. They were way out of adjustment and the adjustment wheels for both sides were frozen till I forced them to move with pliers.

cool. those shoes in there look pretty well spent! and those star tighteners (you called them adjustment wheels) are readily available at any parts store if they're damaged. you'll want to lube those up with some anti-seize if you have it, or grease if thats all you have, so they don't get stuck again.

for the wheel cylinders, they mount to the backing plate with 2 bolts, wrench size probably 1/2", and its best if you have a flare nut wrench to get the line off, otherwise you're likely to round off the corners, but those wrenches can be had for pretty cheap

Yeah the shoes are toast but they still work for the most part. I can feel them actually hitting the drums and helping stop the truck. I don't have anti-seize, I have been meaning to get a small jar of it but always forget. I do have bearing grease though so that should do fine.

As for the cylinder, I tried reading up on it. I think the part that concerns me the most is bleeding everything, I've never bled brakes. I helped my brother once but all I did was pump the pedal while he twisted the bleeder screw so I have the general idea of how it works but I wouldn't want to try it till my brother could help me. But for now, they should be ok. Hell, anything is better than they used to be with only having just the front brakes.

fair enough. in my experience, when only replacing the wheel cylinder its usually good enough to put the new one on there, tighten down the bolts and the line, open the bleeder, and wait a minute till gravity pulls the fluid down there for you. then close the bleeder, make sure the drums are in place, pump the pedal a couple times, and then open-close the bleeder once more in case a little bubble appeared.
when more work has been done and you're facing a bigger bleeding job, they make a little bottle with a hose attached to it, which goes over the bleeder fitting, you hang it up where it stays, open the bleeder, and go play with the pedal until you think you've done enough. they're real friendly.