The chassis blast may have to be rescheduled due to rain in the forecast. But today we went into Reno to pick up all the metal I need to box the frame rails, and fab up the fuel tank mount. The fuel system should be her this week.

 

I finally went back to the auto dismantler's yard to find out if they pulled the rear axle assembly I paid for - a week ago. They said they would call when it was ready. No phone call. So I went there, and sure enough, it had been ready for days. You gotta love crappy customer service! But they are the only game in town, unless you want to drive over an hour to the next nearest yard. At this point, I have everything I need to make templates, cut the boxing plates, and wait for the blasting. The rear axle assembly requires a lot of stripping of brackets, cables, and sway bar. I am going to leaving the ring and pinion alone this time around. My last one was completely gutted, and all the new bearings and seals were here. This came out of a '98 Ford Explorer with 160k on the clock. It's not leaking, and for a rear axle assembly, that mileage is not that much. It may be a roll of the dice, but I can always pull it back out for a rebuild if it makes noise. The entire fuel system is arriving this afternoon as well. I got everything I need from a new tank, to lines, pump, filter, filler cap, and regulator from Tanksinc.com.

 

Turn the rear diff by hand, maybe pry the calipers open a bit, to make sure they aren't making life harder, see how it feels by hand. If it turns nice and smooth, just run it. If it's crunchy at all, open it up while it's easy.

 

I will be pulling the calipers for a rebuild, so I will spin by hand when they come off. I never cut corners on safety items, like brakes. The chassis will be getting all new brake lines as well.

 

Stainless lines?

 

Here are some pics of the fuel system that showed up today. (complete with two big feet).

 

Running an external pump?

 

Yup. It's a returnless pump/regulator combo.

*EDIT* I went back through my invoice, and the pump is an internal pump rated at 255 LPH. The external unit that gets mounted in line on the frame is LS engine regulator. The pump is separate and goes in the tank, and is rated for up to 600 horsepower. The fuel injection on this LS3 crate motor is a returnless system, there is only one fitting at the engine. The regulator has a return line back to the tank for any excess pressure.

 

I finished the templates for boxing in the frame rails today. I'm only one saw horse away from cutting the metal. The chassis sand blast was postponed due to weather. We will give is another shot on Monday morning. It snowed for 3 hours this morning, but very little stuck.

 

Snowed???? It's friggin' APRIL!!!! The end of April at that.... Of course, we are forecast to have low temps in the 20's this week..... Hhhhmmmmm.......