Thanks, Rdub6, I like that idea. I’ll run it as I have it with the stock hard lines, but if they ever need to be replaced, I like your solution. Clean install and about $300 less expensive.
Good day on the car today. Flushed the engine block, no issues. Water ran clear after a few minutes. Pulled every spark plug and sprayed each cylinder with foaming oil to get them ready to move again. Plugs looked pretty good, but new ones will go in. Wires look great. Cleaned up the timing cover so I can put the new water pump on.
Moved to the rear end. Had to remove the sway bar to get to the drain plug. It had surface rust all over so I brushed that off and painted it. Thought maybe I was wasting my time when clean gear oil drained from the top hole in the pumpkin, but it was thick and nasty looking at first when I removed the bottom drain plug. It looked good after that bottom sludge cleared out. Some shavings on the magnetic plug, but nothing to worry about. Good idea to change all fluids, though the motor oil looks great on the dipstick and is at level.
New gear oil is in the rear-end, thanks to the hand pump I bought for the tranny fluid swap. Tomorrow I’m changing the tranny and motor oils and installing the water pump. New radiator and fuel tank go on next, then we fire it up. Fingers crossed!
Once she’s running I’ll remove and replace the dash and heater core. New heater core will be here next week. That job should take a couple of days! Lol!
Fun stuff, though I wish my body was in better shape for this. Stupid aging!