Project - Stump Puller (94 Lightning)

[shumpertdavid]

I've used the VHT ceramic paint that oreillys carries (claims 1200°), it's held up well on my dirt bike headerand been pretty solid on my BMW streetbike. The BMW is starting to rust on the underside, I suspect the rain and wet conditions it's seen killed it.

[Baba Ganoush]

I bet you could have those blasted and coated same-day locally. Look up Crosslink in Dallas. Anything else will cook off and smell like shit, trust me.

[Mysticcobrakilla]

I kick myself every day for selling my 94L.

[scootro]

how hard is it to pull those headers off and do you need a special header gasket? i've got a leaking freeze plug

btw my headers have never been taken off

[GeorgeG.]

shouldn't be too hard. I'm about to pull the engine tomorrow. I was going to leave the headers on there but I'll remove them first and report back.

Sorry but I was too much in a rush to pull the engine that I forgot about this. Unfortunately I'm a few days behind since I was planning to have the heads at a machine shop by Saturday or this morning at the latest.

I don't know how often this happens but one of my headers is cracked at the collector. A muffler shop should be able to weld this right? It won't be stainless but I guess it doesn't matter. I'll still price out some new headers but this was not in my budget.

[GeorgeG.]

It's finally starting to come together. I had to order some head bolts last minute but I've been getting things cleaned up and ready to install. I got the heads back with the TFS upgraded springs. This should support the .510/.534 lift much better than the stock springs.



Also got some brackets cleaned up and painted.

[naynay]

brackets look good. are you going to paint the engine, hint hint?

[scootro]

looks good!

[GeorgeG.]

brackets look good. are you going to paint the engine, hint hint?

Oh yeah, I was actually prepping those for paint, hence the inserted plugs.

looks good!

Thanks

I got the new timing set replaced. You can tell there was quite a bit of slack, the new chain is tight! I got the engine block, front cover, water pump, and oil pan painted. New oil pump installed. I'll post some pics tomorrow. I started on the oil pan but ran into a stripped bolt hole and ended up breaking a bolt.

[GeorgeG.]

The rain, and life in general, has been kicking my ass every step of the way. It's been delay after delay but I'm slowly making progress. Here's couple more before/after shots. I went ahead and cleaned up the engine bay a little while the engine was out. Degreased and pressure washed the frame and painted.





I started along the passenger fender and removed almost everything and scrubbed it down. Washed the fender linings, heater box, and the firewall. I picked up another firewall plate (by the steering wheel) to replace the bent up one. I just need to reroute the tach wire and nitrous wires.



All in all, I think it'll look much better once it's done.





I'm a little disappointed in the header paint. I guess I can't expect too much from an $8 can of spray paint. Hopefully it'll cure after it bakes on there but I already rubbed some of it off while maneuvering the engine in the truck. I really like the black header look. I'm just hoping it'll hold up. If not, I may do some research on the longevity of wrapping them.

[GeorgeG.]

Well, I suck at taking pictures. I have a few but nothing really interesting along the way. After a few setbacks, it's in and running. I think I'm going to remove the chip and see if it'll run on its own. I also have a few kinks to iron out. These are kinks that were there prior to the tear down. The NOS is disconnected. I closed the fuel fitting as tight as it would go before stripping. I had to keep the plate there since the TB would've hit the intake vacuum tree without it. I need to find a better looking air intake tube and a mounting plate of some sort to get rid of the stock air box. The brakes are shot so I can't even drive it at the moment.



And a link to a video on my FB since my last attempt at YouTube failed.

https://www.facebook.com/george.gonz...69837663896819

[GeorgeG.]

I needed a break from the engine issues so I did a little work to the interior yesterday. I took out the plastic center console and installed a jump seat and spot cleaned the carpet.

[line-em-up]

Looks nice. How did you clean up the intake to make it look new again?

[GeorgeG.]

Thanks. I used a high temp aluminum paint. This was after degreasing, scrubbing, and power washing.

[line-em-up]

Wow. It sure turned out nice. The time I have tied using aluminum paint (not high temp), I realized that it would smudge easily.