New to me 350 advice

[tc197]

Its been awhile since my last update. I have a lot of good news - things are finally coming together.

After my last update I went ahead and tried to start the engine, it would crank but not catch. First I figured it was related to my check engine light, but that turned out to be a loose bulb. Figuring it still might be spark related i hooked up a test light, but verified I did have spark. Next I figured it was fuel. I had a small leak on an old hard line so I patched that up and verified my fuel pump was working but still no start. At this point i decided to double check my grounds and still couldnt find a problem. I started searching online and noticed a bunch of topics involving distributors and being 180* off so I double checked my setup and realized I had connected my distributor plug wires all wrong. After following the correct chart, the engine fired immediately and life was great.

I got the cooling system back installed and at this point I think I only have the exhaust, trans, and tcase left to put back in. I can’t use my old Y pipe for my exhaust so for simpicity I ordered a 95 Yukon Y pipe. I also ordered seal/gasket kits for the sm465 and np208 so that they wont leak after I reinstall them. Once those three components are back in I should be on the final stretch. I still have a few unknown wires in the engine bay that I’ll play with later but all in all things are coming together.

[tc197]

Update: The trans and transfer case are back in and are sealed with new gaskets. The new Y pipe fit nicely until it came time to install the clutch slave. The way the old bell housing and clutch slave mounted in comparison to the new y pipe caused all kinds of interference.

The first problem was I needed a longer clutch hose in order to avoid the line sitting on the exhaust. This proved to be harder than expected because I couldn't find a longer line with the correct m12x1.0 fittings. Instead I had to order a longer line with 1/4 fittings and then use two 1/4 to m12 adapters in order to make everything connect.

The next problem that came up was the clutch slave inlet hole was directly in line with the exhaust pipe and only about 2" away, so I flipped the slave 180 degrees but then the inlet hole was directly inline with my oil filter. Finally I had the idea to swap the bleed screw and the inlet hole since the bleed screw doesn't require much clearance and as far as I can tell there is no difference between the inlet and bleed screw holes. The holes are identical, both hold the same pressure in application, and it gave me the clearance I needed.

The final problem was bleeding the clutch. It was a pain in the ass. After many tries of conventional bleeding (hold the pedal down, release the bleeder, tighten the bleeder, release the pedal) we finally got it bled by actuating the slave cylinder by hand nice and slow until the air trapped in the slave had escaped up through the master and out the fill cap. A quick regular bleed after that and I had clutch pressure.

The pile of parts is getting small now. I think I have to get the driveshafts back in, double check the wires/cables running to the trans and tcase, move the back half of the exhaust over to the passenger side and attach it to the y pipe, double check all my fluids, and I may be just about there.