It all started on a sunnny september day after work..... i decide to have my radiator leak fixed. After all i got a baby due in oct and temps are cooling down and cant afford antifreeze all the time. I start by taking my radiator out after i figured out the plastic was cracked and it wasnt the hose i thought it was...I took it to my local radiator shop where he looked to find that my end cap was the only one not in stock
He had to order one, itl be 4 to 5 days he says. so at this point i panic thinking ill be without a vehicle for that long...So with the downtime i decide to replace my thermostaty , simple enough.wrong. I noticed that my lower intake thermo housing bolt holes were stripped! so what do i do? put a bigger bolt in of course (im still an idiot at this point) so i start twistin in a slightly bigger bolt and my intake goes crack! So i get on ebay search the forums call junkyards and figure out i have to get one with the same cast number. SO i found one on ebay 100 bucks it was nice too. i was excited. A week later after researching the whole process i decide to take off my whole intake myself, i was scared. but im broke so no other choice really.So i dig in...i get the top off with only minimal damage, broken vaccum lines and pcv tube. lol. I get discouraged and almost decide its too much work for a few days. but then decide no one else is gonna do it and get back at it.I make a few runs to autozone carquest advanced auto the ford dealer and o reilys to end up replacing my pcv tube with a fuel line and a t connector with clamps it works tho pretty good so far... Then the lower starts to come off, and it does easily except for the bolt i break and have to drill and then put and ez out in it, break the ez out too which is almost hard as diamond i fiugre out. then have to get carbite bits, drill it for 4 days and retap it!!!! So at this point i have to vaccum out the valley cause of all the metal shavings... done that, get it clean and think wow im a real shadtree mechanic now! So theres nothing stopping me from replacing the water pump i think. I had a baby shower at work so i figured id buy her a nice shinny water pump. I get home take off the water pump no big deal. After getting my silicone and gaskets i decide to slap the new one on there. it was goin good till i broke a stud in the block! under the timming chain cover!!! With a lil research i figure out that the timing chain cover will have to come off cause it will leak even with just one stud missing. I decide to just finish up the intake and come back to this prob later. After finding an intake gasket that worked (from ford) felpro didnt line up, I started putting it back together it goes together semi ok jus alot of beer and sweat and runs to part stores...On to the timming chain cover...i research and figure out how to use the puller thing no big deal harmonic balancer comes off and timming chain not far behind. I now see the stud barley exposed. so i brain storm...i use vice grips and lube. dosent come close to working. so i put a nut on the end of it torch it and the nut some how catches at 10 at night and it pulls it lose!! theres nothing stopping me now. In the next day or so working only an hour or 2 after work i manage to get it all back together (i had to make a new stud with thereaded rod cause they dont produce water pump studs anymore) change the oil start it it up it knocks like crazy! but smooths out after a few minutes whew! the only thing that dosent work is my temp guage cause i sent my wife to get me a sensor and she got the coolant temp sensor and not the sending unit there the same size same connector tho so im not completly stupid for putting it in. of course i get a new one undo a few things and now all is well! i did all of this in my gravel driveway over about a months time. forgive any mispells and inncorrect grammer im a redneck and at the hospital with my 2 day old! so the lesson is dont fix what aint broke, all this cause of a craked radiator.
He had to order one, itl be 4 to 5 days he says. so at this point i panic thinking ill be without a vehicle for that long...So with the downtime i decide to replace my thermostaty , simple enough.wrong. I noticed that my lower intake thermo housing bolt holes were stripped! so what do i do? put a bigger bolt in of course (im still an idiot at this point) so i start twistin in a slightly bigger bolt and my intake goes crack! So i get on ebay search the forums call junkyards and figure out i have to get one with the same cast number. SO i found one on ebay 100 bucks it was nice too. i was excited. A week later after researching the whole process i decide to take off my whole intake myself, i was scared. but im broke so no other choice really.So i dig in...i get the top off with only minimal damage, broken vaccum lines and pcv tube. lol. I get discouraged and almost decide its too much work for a few days. but then decide no one else is gonna do it and get back at it.I make a few runs to autozone carquest advanced auto the ford dealer and o reilys to end up replacing my pcv tube with a fuel line and a t connector with clamps it works tho pretty good so far... Then the lower starts to come off, and it does easily except for the bolt i break and have to drill and then put and ez out in it, break the ez out too which is almost hard as diamond i fiugre out. then have to get carbite bits, drill it for 4 days and retap it!!!! So at this point i have to vaccum out the valley cause of all the metal shavings... done that, get it clean and think wow im a real shadtree mechanic now! So theres nothing stopping me from replacing the water pump i think. I had a baby shower at work so i figured id buy her a nice shinny water pump. I get home take off the water pump no big deal. After getting my silicone and gaskets i decide to slap the new one on there. it was goin good till i broke a stud in the block! under the timming chain cover!!! With a lil research i figure out that the timing chain cover will have to come off cause it will leak even with just one stud missing. I decide to just finish up the intake and come back to this prob later. After finding an intake gasket that worked (from ford) felpro didnt line up, I started putting it back together it goes together semi ok jus alot of beer and sweat and runs to part stores...On to the timming chain cover...i research and figure out how to use the puller thing no big deal harmonic balancer comes off and timming chain not far behind. I now see the stud barley exposed. so i brain storm...i use vice grips and lube. dosent come close to working. so i put a nut on the end of it torch it and the nut some how catches at 10 at night and it pulls it lose!! theres nothing stopping me now. In the next day or so working only an hour or 2 after work i manage to get it all back together (i had to make a new stud with thereaded rod cause they dont produce water pump studs anymore) change the oil start it it up it knocks like crazy! but smooths out after a few minutes whew! the only thing that dosent work is my temp guage cause i sent my wife to get me a sensor and she got the coolant temp sensor and not the sending unit there the same size same connector tho so im not completly stupid for putting it in. of course i get a new one undo a few things and now all is well! i did all of this in my gravel driveway over about a months time. forgive any mispells and inncorrect grammer im a redneck and at the hospital with my 2 day old! so the lesson is dont fix what aint broke, all this cause of a craked radiator.
