Start of a Dart
I swear, if I wasn't going backwards on this project I'd be going in no direction at all. The new (and long-enough) alternator belt was installed but now for reasons I can't fathom, it is virtually in contact with the head. Clearance is maybe a 32nd of an inch. No Bueno.
Out comes the grinder, we whack off a bit of excess meat, and now it clears by about 3/16", good enough for me.
Next up is to change the rear end fluid. I've been all over this thing and for the life of me, can't find a drain plug or fill plug. I mean nowhere. It's an 8-1/4, first one I've had, and I can't figure out how to drain or add fluid.
After many, many trips above, beside, in front, below, you name it - no plugs. I'm thinking this is impossible. How could there be no way to do this other than to remove the axle, take off the cover, drain, refill, install the cover, and back in the truck. Then I see this little blip in the orange circle. Yep, sure enough, under all that scrunge is a plastic fill hole cover. So today I'm off to get a gasket so I can pull the cover, drain, fill, and put this deal to bed.
The one bit of good news is I got the stereo all wrapped up. The truck came with a pretty decent head unit from Sony and a pair of 6x9 Kenwoods. I added a dual voice-coil speaker for the dash and a subwoofer, it sounds very good. Progress!
I swear, if I wasn't going backwards on this project I'd be going in no direction at all. The new (and long-enough) alternator belt was installed but now for reasons I can't fathom, it is virtually in contact with the head. Clearance is maybe a 32nd of an inch. No Bueno.
Out comes the grinder, we whack off a bit of excess meat, and now it clears by about 3/16", good enough for me.
Next up is to change the rear end fluid. I've been all over this thing and for the life of me, can't find a drain plug or fill plug. I mean nowhere. It's an 8-1/4, first one I've had, and I can't figure out how to drain or add fluid.
After many, many trips above, beside, in front, below, you name it - no plugs. I'm thinking this is impossible. How could there be no way to do this other than to remove the axle, take off the cover, drain, refill, install the cover, and back in the truck. Then I see this little blip in the orange circle. Yep, sure enough, under all that scrunge is a plastic fill hole cover. So today I'm off to get a gasket so I can pull the cover, drain, fill, and put this deal to bed.
The one bit of good news is I got the stereo all wrapped up. The truck came with a pretty decent head unit from Sony and a pair of 6x9 Kenwoods. I added a dual voice-coil speaker for the dash and a subwoofer, it sounds very good. Progress!
