I'm hoping that tapping doesn't raise any concerns.

Anyway, I did state earlier that I would post how I got the fan clutch nut off without a true pin spanner wrench...literally this method took less than 2 minutes.

I could not find a spanner wrench anywhere to buy or rent, except on the net for $40, well...I needed it then not in a week. So, staring at the water pump pulley, I came up with this...I ripped a 2x4 down to the size you see, drilled a tight hole, inserted bolt through lumber and thru pulley with nut. With my measurements, I cut it so that on force of the left hand threads would force the top of the board against my A/C pulley hence stopping the pulley. Three medium taps on the cresent wrench and she was loose....I figure it cost me about 1/10th of the 2x4 ($0.29)...take a look: *If anyone is interested, I can mass produce these right here at my home, for $1 plus S&H, PayPal preferred

 

After removing the fan and shroud, the coolant reservoir needs to go somewhere, found that if you sit it right between the air box bracket and front corner of radiator, it's a perfect sturdy fit and out of the way without having to remove it from the engine bay and loss of coolant:







Also, came up with the bar on a ratchet for the crank turns, this made it much easier keeping the tool on the subject constantly rather than with just a breaker bar & re-adjusting after each pull...



This was my home for...well...quite awhile...with no enclosed garage...temps in the 30's/40's...gusting wind and rain....tarps helped with makeshift walls....although the 2500 watts worth of light, it was a steady 80 degrees...and overcast...but comfortable:

 

and last of the photo tour...gotta show off a couple of my new toys:

If you remember, my air compressor was the first to go....got a full refund from Advance Auto after purchasing 4 years ago! Went and got this for $179....I love it...blows the other little 4.5 gallon one away:





THEN, the next day. my air ratchet went south on me....sooooo...got this beauty...works lovely:



I need more light, so picked up the new 1000 Watt tripod stand worklight in other photo...what happened to THAT you ask? Well, after 4 hours of operation it blew up...literally...ballasts burned up...hence another trip to parts store for immediate replacement. Yeah...was frustrated. All in all....it cost me more in tools than parts:

Total Parts internal engine: $28.79
Total Tools $341.00


oh yeah...Saturday night, 1 hour before parts store is to close, I am connecting my plug wires when the ..of course... #5 plug would not connect to the coil pack. I examined the plug and the little metal ring that keep the conductor connector from spreading to much was gone. Haul a$$ to the parts store! Another $57.00

DONE!!!!

 

Anyone following the thread, my updates today start on the previous page.

Finally and most importantly, I wish to thank the following DF members:

Abarmby, AF_Hemi, Superchargedram, Rocket23, DirtyDog, HammerZ71, RedTruck-VA, Weedahoe, Steve05Ram360 and oneHEMI57

I sincerely thank each and everyone of you for taking the time in participating to educate a n00b, help me, walk me through this....everything. I honestly could not have done this without the good Lord above and you guys. You helped save me ALOT of money that I just didn't have and have truthfully helped my wife & I in ways you just do not know. I wish you all were closer for an all out BBQ & Beer bash here in the mountains on us! I have made some good friends on here and I surely hope that I am able to help you guys out with something on here in the future.

My custom tool will be here from Adam in a few days and I can honestly say that when I tackle the full spring swap, it will now be an easy task from ya'lls help.

As AF_Hemi stated "Learning is Priceless"

*(PM me for any orders on my custom built spanner wrench, I will discount for bulk orders)

 

haha you're quite a character man. glad you got it all worked out. i think i speak for the rest of us when i say "dont need nuthin in return, just your loyalty to the forum. meaning stick around and input when you can, learn when you cant help."

I know i started out on this forum not knowing a whole lot. after hundreds of hours of reading posts, im finally pretty comfortable on just about any subject. so again, congrats on the fix, and good to have you around buddy

 

I'm with AF_HEMI. It's nice to be thanked, and need nothin' else in return bro.
Your part of the DF family........that's what we do for each other. It's a pleasure to help.
As for the noises on startup..........yep it's upper valve train noise. Could be a lifter just pumping back up after loosing pressure, because of all the work on that valve? Sounds very much like the "Hemi Tick" and I know for sure, those video camera's pick up all kinds of nosies. My friends sports car has a really bad squeeky clutch pedal. Eveytime he changed gear when he was driving on a video'd race circuit, there was this God Awful SQUEEEEEEK!!!!!. Couldn't here it when in the car at all???? On video playback from the camera, it was terrible!!! lol.
Anyway, it seems as if things have settled down if the noise has gone now.
Just run the truck and enjoy it and make sure when you get that new valve tool, to change the other 15 out as a high priority. I can't tell you how lucky you were, in not dropping a valve.
Your fan tool is ace, but I sure ain't paying shipping to the UK on that so I'll copy your idea from here
As said previously, looks like you've got a great attitude to life and are a great character, when you can go through what must have been a very frought 4-5 days and still make posts with pics and also make me laugh my *** off with the video.
Nice one bud and good luck driving your truck!
ENJOY IT !!!!!!
Al.

 

Great job Firefighter! I miss the finishing up process with my travelling back home from the PI so I had to hunt down the thread to see how it worked out. No surprise it was brillant. Well done...

 

Thanks guys, I appreciate it, couldn't have done it with your dedicated help. My best friend (my wife) said she was very proud... I can say, now that I have done it, it's not that big of a deal, just gotta be careful on what and how you do it. Alright, I'll say it, yeah I'm proud too, it was a major accomplishment for me as I've never done any internal motor work.

Yes, I will stick around, this is a good forum. I actually found it 1 month ago as my son was driving from Orlando to Atlanta calling in a panic about his RPM's spiking on his Durango while driving. Googled it and it directed me right here, found out the problem thru reading threads was his TPS. Directed him to nearest dealer to buy part, and texted him all the directions of installing it. Pretty cool. Hopefully can help someone one day on here, well, I did somewhat the other day on a broken spark plug boot.

No copying fan tool Al, I have a Patent Pending. I had to keep a positive attitude and it was hard as I had ALOT riding on this truck being back on the road by this past Monday...and I do mean ALOT.

Must have been a lifter as it settled down and went away 100% when I gradually increased to RPM. It was loud though and yes camera amplified it. Not the "hemi tick" though...but yes, I do have that as well.

My custom spring tool should be here today. What springs do you guys recommend? I checked Comp Cam's and they are outrageous. I also want to do new push rods. The rockers look ok. I know it was mentioned several times about 6.1 springs. You mean 6.1 Hemi....they will be ok for my 5.7? Why these...any particular reason? Stronger build?

 

yeah get the springs from Art at Henson Motorsports in TX. He's got the best price on them too. They are the 6.1 Hemi springs. All 16 springs will be EXHAUST springs!!! Do NOT get 8 intake, 8 exhaust. the lift is different on the intake springs. You need 16 6.1L exhaust springs. While you're at it, may as well do pushrods too. Total package for springs and pushrods was like $85 shipped.

To answer why the 6.1, yes they are much stronger. You can tell just by looking at them they aint gonna break. There are some REALLY aggressive cams running on 6.1 springs and never heard of a spring failure yet.

 

OH man, I like THAT price! Ok, will check it out. So, exhaust only because if I got the intake, lift would be wrong causing valve seating, etc issues? Am I correct...am I learning?

What about the valve seals? I want to change those also. and retainers, keepers...I am assuming the keepers are same spec to fit the valve stem correctly.