Thanks for the tips on the king pins - I hadn't thought about the fact that most any machine shop should be able to handle it. Duh. The cylinder head for the BMW is at the machine shop right now so I can ask them.

I believe I solved the dieseling problem once and for all. I noticed at idle that the butterflies were ever so slightly open so I closed them down all the way and adjusted the idle mixture and haven't had an issue since. Just like one of you said (can't remember who, sorry), it's clear that the auto trans was covering up some tuning issues. I still have a hesitation off-idle. It's much better than it was originally but definitely still there.

The truck is off at storage for the winter but once it's back home I'll be tearing it apart to do the water pump.

 

Happy spring, everyone. Elmore started up no problem and made the cruise from storage back home with no issue whatsoever. My kids made the trip with me and it felt great to have my truck back.

I then proceeded to tear it apart.

All was going smoothly until last night when I pulled the timing cover out of the ultrasonic cleaner to find it had cracked. It was not cracked before going into the cleaner - no idea how that would have happened. I suppose a combination of the vibration and heat?

I've also been shoe shopping for him. I found a pair of cool looking fronts that I believe came off a Chevy. I really like the profile but I have never seen a set for sale before these so I don't have high hopes for finding rears.

Then I found a set of OEM OBS wheels at a scrap yard for cheap - which is unusual for these wheels. They all have locating/drive pins in them which wouldn't let me fit them up to test. I finally got one out of a front by drilling it most of the way through and then punching it out.

It looks good on there, if you ask me!

The truck is still running the old lug-centric coined wheels and the OBS wheels are hub-centric. I've been looking for an off the shelf solution to be able to run them but I'm thinking it probably makes the most sense to just have them machined to accept a tapered lug insert and I'll probably have to get flat-faced inners for the rear. We'll see.

 

Does anyone by chance know if the ~85-97 F350 steel wheels are interchangeable front/back inner/outer? I haven't been able to definitively figure that out with searching the internet using the F2TA - 1015 - LA part number.

 

Not sure, but you could just try it?

 

Yes they are, just be mindful of the dowels. At least they were on my 97...and my converted 87..

 

fe390pc - I had intended to just try it but would rather not buy a couple wheels that I then couldn't use.

KubotaOrange76 - Thanks!

 

Ok, I thought you had them. Great that K jumped in with an answer!

 

Ah, no, just have the coined wheels that are on the truck now.

Yesterday the kids climbed into the engine bay and helped me get the fan/shroud back into place and tighten the power steering belt. We also changed the oil and then stopped by the parts store for 3 gallons of coolant on the way to a nice walk in a park. Three gallons came out of it but I think I need a bit more.When I first started it up it began leaking coolant out of the bleed screw in the t-stat housing that I had forgotten to tighten down. I then heard some uncomfortable rattling from the driver's side valve cover after a few min. Turns out it was the PCV rattling away. I pulled it out to find...more... blow-by than I would prefer.

After a 10 minute test drive all seemed well although it was running hotter than normal. Not hot by any means but 190 cruising around at 55 degrees ambient. Usually it would be around 175-180 in this situation. It had a t-stat in it but I'm wondering if it was stuck open. It was an unfamiliar design to me.

Turns out the bleed screw clearly needs some sealant as it was leaking when I got back from the drive but everywhere else seems dry.

The engine ran great, sounded great and had great oil pressure. I still hate all the noises this trans makes.

 

Meanwhile, I've been very productive work-wise this morning so I decided to take a quick break to seal the bleed screw. I was rewarded with this.

It was so stuck in place that I needed to use an impact to get it out and it tore threads out with it. It's surely dropped aluminum shavings into the coolant, probably not enough to be concerned about, but I am concerned about getting it threaded back in there and sealing.
I truly don't understand this one. I tightening it down yesterday, sure, but I didn't feel anything strange or that I had over done it...

 

I did the Nv4500 conversion in mine and the noise that it makes in all gears but 4th are deafening and extremely annoying. I can definitely relate.

 

moto_hero - Very similar. All of these horrible noises are at idle or extremely low speed. Once up to speed, it actually has a really nice, smooth gear whine noise.

The parts store was able to get me a new housing by this afternoon. It's casting quality looks terrible and it also came with a steel bleed screw. I did, however, pick up a brass one.

I don't know yet if I'm going to try to get the brass one to thread into the housing already on the truck or replace the whole thing.

 

Do you have a tap you can run down through it to clean up the threads? Being on a taper it will only take about 1/2 turn to clean up. Use some Permatex #2 for a sealant it you should be good.

 

Well, it continues. I took a few cotton swabs, dipped them in grease and got all of the various filings out of the hole. I do not have any pipe thread taps so I then slathered up the new steel bleed screw and very carefully attempted to use it to chase the threads in the housing already on the truck. I got to the point where I felt it was working pretty well, put some goop on the brass screw I bought and fired it up.

It didn't even have to warm up to start leaking. Good thing I topped off the rad since it looked dry. I'm not going to mess with this housing anymore and just replace it with the one from the parts store.

 

May have finally got it. I ended up going with the new, new housing and the steel plug it came with slathered in my preferred goop.

No leak after a test drive during which the t-stat definitely opened.

 

In other news, I was able to order inserts for the OBS wheels and the machinist has figured it out!