AIRTEX / WELLS 3D1090A Distributor Cap/Rotor
Is this an "oem' style"? If not get it. The oem styles have brass inserts where the others are aluminum and will corrode in no time.

DENSO 2344004 (234-4004) Oxygen (O2) Sensor
I would suggest to use NTK.

GATES 43034 Water Pump
Is this a lifetime warranty pump?

If you plan on doing the plenum plate you can get the "upgraded" stock style or get the Hughes one. I suggest the Hughes kit.

http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/p...p?partid=27091

I would opt for the permtex ultra copper rather than the black. Best out there in my opinion.

 

Hey there, thanks for checking in again.

The distributor cap and rotor are OEM style with brass inserts.

"Airtex Premium Distributor Cap and Rotor Kits include caps that are molded from mica-filled & glass-filled polyester for the best dielectric strength in the market. Tough, highly-conductive brass and copper inserts are used to increase efficiency by resisting corrosion and oxidation. The rotors have brass blades in the precise size with radio frequency interference (RFI) suppression coating that ensures accurate spark gap to eliminate RFI. Features corrosion-resistant stainless steel contact springs to maintain tension."

Here's the warranty for the water pump.

From everything I've read there's no reason to change the actual plenum plate as long as you use the appropriate gasket and shorter bolts for your rebuild.

Copper vs black RTV seems to be interesting. I can't say I have experience working with either other than that I've seen them used interchangeably. Black touts to be oil resistant which sounds appealing to me for applications where the gaskets/seals are in contact with oil.

 

This is personal preference, I prefer NGK spark plugs, they seem to last longer than Champion. I don't care for Fram filters either. Do a search on "oil filter cut away comparison". For air filters compare a few brands at Walmart. Look for a brand with more pleats. I use the black RTV, it works great. Yes this would be a great time yo do the kegger mod. It looks like your on track to do a really high quality repair on your truck. Please share some pictures and let us know how it turns out. Drill a 1/16 or 1/8 inch hole in the flange of your thermostat.

 

Hey there, thanks for the input. I will certainly take it into consideration for my next maintenance purchases. Also, what is the purpose of drilling a hole in the thermostat flange?

Good news: the snap ring was intact and everything looks okay in there. I've reapplied black RTV and attached the housing again.

While I have it off I'm going to replace the rear drive shaft u-joint and then put it all back together.

Once my transfer case saver comes in I will put it on, replace the front u-joint, change the transfer case fluid, change the pinion seal in the rear diff and change the rear diff fluid.

Pictures coming later today when I have some more time on the computer.

 

No worries there. The horse got canned long ago and there's no chance that any of the dogs who ate from those cans are still living.

The math shows that to be true.

I'd expect the aluminum replacement to be slightly more resistant to intake backfire, but then the most common cause of intake backfire in these things is a blown plenum gasket anyway. Whether or not the slightly increased resistance to overpressure is enough to actually save the gasket when it would otherwise fail is, for me, an unanswered question. It's not all that easy to make a modern fuel injected engine backfire against closed throttle plates. It's much easier when you've got an accelerator pump involved.

 

If it fails again I'll have my answer!

Just finished putting it back together. Rear drive shaft universal joint has been replaced, snap ring was fine, tail housing is resealed. Pics as promised:
























I'm itching to change the t-case fluid but I'll wait another week until I swap in the saver and finish off the rear-end work.

 

If you don't get intake backfire against closed throttle plates, any failure is likely to be either extreme old age or a sloppy install. Since you don't seem inclined toward slop, there's nothing there to worry about.

Just curious: Is that a trick of the light or powdered needle bearings?

 

Great I appreciate the vote of confidence.

It must be the light - there aren't any pictures there with the needle bearings exposed.

 

Doing the plenum/water pump/timing chain/tune up repair now and I've finally got the intake off. Plenum was blown very clearly in one spot and the gasket was obviously shot all the way around. With the intake off there's a huge amount of crud in the engine - what do I do about this?

 

Shop vac for the valley. Clean up as much as you can.

Another option (additional option?) would be to pull the oil drain plug, and use kerosene to clean out the rest of the crap, and just flush it out of the engine. Pulling the oil pan may not be a bad idea either...... Keep in mind, it is going to look very similar under the valve covers.....

I picked up a used intake to modify/prep for the replacement..... took it to the machine shop to have it hot-tanked. That cleaned it up REAL nice.