Old 1 Ton Progress

[crashz]

Well - its been a long time, but I have finally got myself into gear and began re-assembling my 87 1-ton. So far I have:

- had the frame repaired by a professional welder (Old plowing accident & repair from previous owner had cracked);
- descaled the front frame sections, painted, and under coated;
- replaced all hard and soft brake lines;
- replaced front springs, bushings, shackles, shocks and bumpstops; and
- replaced the thermostat.

While I have the nose off of the truck, I'm going to replace the crankshaft seal (oil is everywhere) and lift pump. My goal is to get her going soon so that I can at least pull her out of the garage and get the rear frame sand blasted and painted. Its been sitting in a damp garage (wet gravel floors) for nearly two years.

The whole ordeal of these repairs started by me searching for a an air leak in the fuel system, causing hard starts. By priming the system with a vacuum pump, I could start easily. I'd like to solve this issue. So on the agenda is replacement of:
- soft lines at the lift pump;
- rubber return lines and end caps;
- lift pump;and
- fuel filter.

Anything else I should look for? Should I replace or re-seal the Stanadyne 80 fuel manager? I suspect that or a faulty seal on the filter (Fram), but have no evidence. The fuel tank and soft lines were replaced when I got the truck about 3 years ago.

Next time I'm at the garage I'll get some pics. We all like pics!

[Inspector]

I would suggest the front crank pulley/dampener. Along with the series 80 filter, replace the gas cap on the fuel tank.
Denny

[crashz]

Thanks Inspector!

I pulled the pulley and harmonic balancer, as the timing cover seal looks as if its been leaking for many years. The dampened pulley looks to be in good shape as it isn't loose at all, all the rubber looks good and the steel parts are firmly and completely bonded with the rubber. The harmonic balancer looks less impressive. Its cruddy, rusty, and the rubber look like its just beginning to come loose at the edge on the front. The back looks similar, but half of the rubber in the back looks damaged by the oil leaks. It's soft and weather cracked with tiny little cracks.

I'm sure the pulley would be fine to re-use, but the harmonic balancer is a bit questionable. I priced a GM replacement at $178. A Fluid Damper is nearly $300 more.

As far as I understand, the GM and Fluid Damper are pretty much the only trusted sources for harmonic dampers, right? I'm getting more budget concious on this thing because there is still lots to do, and with the new truck, I'm saddled with a payment again.

While I'm in it this far I'm tempted to put a timing chain on it too. Good idea now? The truck has 24K miles on the OD, but the title has 124K miles. I trust neither. As a former city truck, it probably idled for endless hours too.