Well, I got everything back on the truck today! Started monday afternoon and worked on it a little bit each evening this week and got everything put back together today. I took pictures of everything up to tabbing the KDP, from then on it was just doing stuff in reverse. I will say it was a lot of work... the hardest part was getting the fan and shroud out. Oh and make sure you read each step entirely with the TST kit before you start performing an operation, because sometimes things show up a little later than they should .

And don't be like me and spend 10 minutes trying to put the crank seal in backwards... LOL. That was one of those "make sure you read the whole paragraph first" moments. Enjoy the pics!

Truck before I tore her front end apart



The TST KDP Tabbing Kit



My extremely high tech workbench with some random wrenches I brought down from the toolshed



Under the hood



Disconnecting negative



My cardboard box for punching bolts into and labeling where they went & overflow tank removed



Space left from removing overflow tank



Removed the top radiator hose... and unleashed a flood of antifreeze. Thank god for having cats

Drip... Drip... Drip...

 

STUPID WASHER TANK MOVE OUT OF MY WAY



More progress



The next day



My best friend in this project...



You really do need that cardboard between the fan and the radiator...



Out come the bolts



Working it out slowly



Forgot what this pic was for...




Another picture

 

And another



Removing the balancer bolts... GOGOGO BIG PIECE OF PIPE!



DARN AUTO! I had to wedge this angle iron into the notch in the balancer to keep the engine from turning over...



Still removing bolts



And its off!


The next day



Progress..



Oil fill removed



An extremely high-tech way of remembering where the gear cover bolts go (GREAT IDEA BOX!) I kinda ran out of space at the top LOL.

 

Gear cover bolts removed



Finally inside!



Its moved a bit...







Ramming it back in





DIE! DIE! DIE! KDP "S"TABBED TO DEATH!



The WRONG direction to insert the seal from... LOL!



Ok there we go!

 

And we're done! Not to shabby

I love my truck...

Cardboard under to check for leaks... hope to see it bone dry!

 

Great pics, it's a big but comforting job isn't it?
I couldn't help but notice the Canuck flag

 

lots of pics, lol. Good work, it's satisfying once u get it done isn't it?

 

Thanks for the great "documentary" DFO...

I love where the gears are turning as you scroll...
(did I reeeally see that???)

My 98 12v is gonna be here soon, and now i understand how you can't tell if its been done till you're in there...

So if its been "stabbed" , but you can't tell,
is it still possible to remove the pin?

And that looks like a lot more work than I thought...I hate to think
what I might have to pay someone else to do it...

Thanks again for a great view of the job! Now you can rest easy....

 

Another disaster averted...

This would make a GREAT Technical "How To" article - Hint, Hint...very good pics as well.

 

Great pictures. I just picked up my 94 and those will come in handy.

Thanks

 

DFO, when you lifted your plastic fan shroud out, did you have a hitchiker (wireloom) connected at the bottom preventing you from pulling it out?

 

Barngal-- I'm not quite sure what you mean by you're question, but here is my answer :P

Unless someone has used the jig (which is not reccomended by me anyway because if you hit the pin, then you have to somehow get it back in, which means removing the cover anyway), there really is no way to tell if its been done. So go through the process, tab it, and be done with it. There really is no way the pin could fall out after that.

Dr. Evil-- Thanks for the kind words. I'd be more than happy to write up a little more "in depth" howto, but the TST instructions were really easy to follow. But there are a few things that could be a little clearer, so if you guys who are doing the fix have any questions I might be able to help. Hopefully these pictures will be of help to you all.

 

Guess I can't type fast enough

Sorry I didn't answer this in the last post: I had someone tell me that they would do the job for about $200. I don't have that kind of money to spend, so I did it myself. It was nice because it really helped me get to know the insides of my truck a bit better.

Timmy -- No hitchhiker, just getting caught on every other imaginable hose/mount/random piece of plastic/battery cable (REMOVE THAT FROM THE TOP OF THE RADIATOR -- MAKES IT MUCH EASIER)/my hand/getting stuck loop from the shroud getting the fan jammed up against the shroud against the fan against the shroud (LOL). It was a PAIN to get out... don't try it yourself, get someone to help you, I did and it was still very hard to get out, I can't imagine doing it by myself.

 

Mine had a wire loom with one of those factory cable ties with point/barb setup that snaps into a round hole right in the center of the plastic shroud at the bottom. So, when I was lifting it out, I had some resitance there. Looked underneath and saw the culprit attached to the shroud.

 

Thanks for the pics. How long did it take? I'm trying to decide whether to do it myself or pay $300 to have it done including seals .