Now that the engine is out, the fun really begins. Certain parts (like the intake manifold upper and lower) need to be removed and sent to McCoy to be worked over, while everything else needs to come off so that it will be ready to swap over to the new engine when it arrives. I also need to get the transmission ready to travel, so when my stuff arrives from Brian Hartman it can all go to the shop to be rebuilt.

Remember how hard it was to get at those transmission cooler lines? With the engine out and the transmission on the jack, it’s a piece of cake.

Getting the transmission out from under the truck was another story. I found that I couldn’t jack the front of the truck up high enough to clear the top of the bellhousing with the transmission still sitting on it’s zippy little jack, so I had to carefully (clunk!) slide the transmission off the jack and onto the floor, then drag it out from underneath. Of course, the 45 gallons of ATF the tranny spontaneously generated all came out through the dipstick hole and once again soaked the shop floor.

There goes the last of the kitty litter…

I lifted the transmission back on to the jack so I could roll it out of the way (being sure to bend from the knees!) and was pleasantly surprised to be able to lift it by myself. With that accomplished, I set to work on the engine, pulling off random bits with gleeful abandon. First to come loose was the fuel rail and regulator.

Hey, look what I found under the fuel rail! Maybe this was why my truck was so slow…

As I pulled the intake manifold bolts and studs out, I employed this sophisticated device to store them in their proper positions, the better to avoid head-scratching when it goes back together. Pretty slick, eh?

Just like that, the lower intake manifold and valve covers come off. Sure is easy when the engine’s on a stand and you can work it over with an air ratchet.

So here’s my motor, innards exposed to the world. Even with 150k+ miles on it, there’s no sludge worth mentioning in the heads or lifter valley. It goes to show that synthetic oil is good for more than just keeping the turbo bearing from coking up.

The next big, harder-than-it-should-be task is getting the bracket that holds the power steering pump and alternator off. Time to beg, borrow, or steal a puller for the power steering pump pulley…