Another thing i thought id mention, when i had the front of the engine torn apart, i noticed my water pump looked like this:


Except that mine is much worse than that. it doesnt leak at all but there is no smooth metal left around the impeller. I did keep the Pump from the truck's original engine, and it looks nothing like that, still all smooth under the impeller. so my question is, should i swap it out?

 

Yes get a new one, they are cheap. The gunk looks like it was incorrect 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

 

That picture isnt mine. i didnt actually take a picture of mine when i had it out, i just know there wasnt any smooth metal left under the impeller, it was all pitted out (however not as deep as appears in that picture)

 

Before:


And almost after (still waiting on the valance):

 

Finally got the grille repainted. I had a new valence on there but it broke after plowing through a few too many berms this winter. I have decided to (for the moment) go without the valence and see how i like it. did a little spray painting on the hood to cover up the rust spots after i took the bugflector off (it never helped anyways)
found a few LT235/75R15s that still had some decent tread on them laying around at my dads shop and he let me have them. the 2 on the front are BFG Radial All-Terrain T/A Which are almost new with lots of tread left (had to remove a nail from one of them though) and the other two are BFG All-Terrain T/A, which dont have alot of tread but i deemed they would be ok for a few months on the back. they were free so im not too concerned with how long they last.

Anyways, tell me what you think:

 

Oh the fun you can have in Washington with a nice truck.