This spring we focused on getting the engine running. During the process we noticed the valve guides were cracked. The heads had to be removed, valve guides replaced and heads re-installed. Unfortunately the number six head bolt hole on the right side of the block broke. After having the truck towed to the machine shop and a heli-coil installed, then towed back home, the heli-coil failed. The truck was once again towed back to the machine shop where they repaired the bolt hole. With the heads replaced, we had a running engine and were finally able to install the wiring and take the truck around the block. The good news is, the transmission was functioning as it should (since we had no idea if it was good).
Finally, some cosmetics were addressed, such as, repairing the rear fenders, shaving the hood, sandblasting and body work on front fenders, and installing frenched headlights. We decided to go with all in one headlights (headlights, parking lights and turn signals), so we welded over the old parking light holes. More body work to come...
