4 months later...how about some updates.
Back in July my town had it's annual fair, the Cornfest. There is a mud bog as one of the events. I finished the D60 install and had gotten a few miles on it. Having previously been bogging with a locked front (in my 10B), I wanted the same with the 60. Couldn't come up with the cash for a lunchbox locker....so I welded up the spiders. Wasn't really a problem turning as long as I was moving under power or had one of the hubs unlocked, that's a key part of this story...so remember that.
Day of the bog comes and I head down to the fairgrounds. A short 1/2 mile drive, 5 corners I figured I didn't need to trailer it. Got tech'd in as being able to run the mod2 class. I asked about my tires being grooved. Guy said that didn't matter. Come to find out he was wrong. I got bumped up to the open class for having cut tires...no big deal. The first few trucks to run made it through without much trouble. As the day went on the pit got turned up and was becoming more difficult. Most trucks making it less than 100'.
Finally my turn comes, I was second to last to run. For those unfamiliar with the concept, I'll explain. You start from a dead stop with your front tires about 5' from the edge of the pit. Object is to get as far as you can in one shot. Once forward progess has halted, they wave the flag and your done. Farthest distance wins or quickest time if you make it all the way. So.... I line up at the start line and wait. Get the go ahead, rev the motor to 5000 and dump the clutch in 2nd. Truck jumps forward like a bat outta hell. I'm flying through the pit at 7500rpm. Then.....it just shuts off. No sputters like it got wet, just flat out quits. I can hear the crowds disappointment through my helmet. $hit, I think to myself...I'm done. Look out my window and see the flag guy waving my on. Without thinking about why it quit, push the clutch in and hit the key. It turns over a few times and fires right up. Great! Back in business. Into creeper and drop the clutch @ 6k. Start moving forward again (no small feat in mud deeper than my front bumper) and see out of the corner of my eye the flag guy frantically waiving his arms/flag to get me to stop. By this time I notice the cab filling with smoke and glance at my gauges to see my temp pegged past 260*. Flag guy jumps into the pit and pops open my hood, probably thinking I'm on fire. Good news is I wasn't. Bad news is, apparently the front half of my motor didn't like the R's I was spinning and decided to part ways with the block. Snapped the front of the crank off all the way back to the first bearing. Taking out the timing chain, cover and water pump in the process. As well as bending the crank pulley egg shaped and breaking chunks off the balancer. The crew working the pit was nice enough to fish out the parts that went under the truck.
The loader pulled me out and I got pulled back to the pit area by another truck. After surveying the damage we/I decided since it was just around the corner to flat tow it with a strap. Remember my great idea to weld the front end...not so great anymore. Couldn't turn to save my life once we got out onto the paved roads. Tried unlocking the hubs...that was a no go. Everything was bound up, couldn't get either one to budge. Ended up overshooting a turn and landing in someones yard. Decided to go back to the house and get tools to pull a hub so I could make the turns. Pulled it back to the house and stuck it in the backyard.
That's where it sat for 2 months or so. I did pressure wash the mud off the next day. Don't know if it was disappointment or just being burned out on it. But I didn't feel like working on it. I did get around to swapping the old 350 back in eventually. That involved putting the small 235's back on it so the cherry picked would go high enough (even then I had to pull the valve cores and still barely cleared). Drove it around the block a few times to get it up to temp and top off the fluids, then parked it back in the same spot it was in.
That pretty much brings us up to date. I did end up using the heads/cam from the 400 on another motor. A 350 I'm building for my Camaro.
Now, the real updates. I got a line on a Nv4500 for a good price. $550 for the trans, bell, pedals, master/slave, 2 clutches and a few other small bits. Not sure what year it is, but I know he was gathering parts to put it into a square body, so at least the pedals are correct hydro parts. Will need to find a 208/241. Probably need to modify the driveshafts too.
Other things to address. Steering box still leaks, from around the sector shaft. I've got another one to put on, but my is drilled for hydro assist....which I'd like to do in the near future. Somehow the nuts on the pass side of the diff came off. Not sure how, but they're MIA. Need to either find new ones or pull the studs and run some bolts. Still haven't gone to disc's on the rear, even though I have all the parts sitting in the garage.
I didn't renew my plates/insurance for next year yet. Mainly to keep me from driving it this winter, trying to prevent unneeded salt exposure. I plan on putting historic plates on it when I do get it legal again.
