My 04 1500 4.7 rebuild documentary with pics starts today !!

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Ole Buck

Ole Buck

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Had a good weekend got the busted short block removed and the engine bay cleaned. Man on a 5 speed there are two bolts that are on the drivers side that are inside the motor mount that goes through the mount, the block and into the bellhousing. I wound up having to tape a wobble socket so it would still flex but not flop and using four extensions coming in from the front of the truck to get to them. Thankfully they were not superman tight. Also learned a new thing " for me anyway " if you are doing this swap or changing out your timing chain be aware that sometime during 03-04 not only do you need to be aware of the 32 vs 16 teeth ring on the crank but they changed they changed the timing cover gasket. The 03 had the " first design " that used an metal and silicone infused gasket and then for some reason they changed to simply using RVT gasket maker. When I bought my timing cover gasket from Fel Pro it was two o rings and two tubes of gasket maker. When I tore down my donor engine yesterday it had the metal and silicone gasket. After a little research I discovered the change. Now I have the correct one on the way.

Bad motor
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Cleaned up Nicely
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New to me clean short block
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yea I know but hey it worked !!
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EdGs

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........they changed the timing cover gasket. The 03 had the " first design " that used an metal and silicone infused gasket and then for some reason they changed to simply using RVT gasket maker. When I bought my timing cover gasket from Fel Pro it was two o rings and two tubes of gasket maker. When I tore down my donor engine yesterday it had the metal and silicone gasket. After a little research I discovered the change. Now I have the correct one on the way....
I know what you mean about that cover gasket. My '02 had the one piece metal/silicone type, and it was easy-peasy.

Your project is looking good!
 
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Ole Buck

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Alright gents i was finally able to grab two off days in a row (rare) and i got to do some catch up work on the 4.7 the last two pics are kinda dark but she was off the stand and on the lift and she is ready to be put back in the nest. I am going to wait to put on the intake and accessories ( ac, power steering, coils and injectors alternator ect ) It sure was convenient having a full donor truck to use as a pattern. If I needed a manifold bolt I had 16. misplace a timing cover bolt? go get the exact one from the other truck. I will say that I was terrified of the timing chain system. I kept my Ipad in the shop and would switch back and fourth between Martin Builds and Brian916 on youtube and my trusty Haynes. But i got it. Still need to put in a pilot bearing and install my new HD Kevlar clutch system. Oh and I bought one of the injector cleaning home brew set ups from facebook marketplace. Its the one with the electrical hookup and the pvc tubes that you place over a can of injector cleaner. may be a pile of crap but we will see.

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Ole Buck

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Got the clutch and flywheel mounted last night. Putting an engine that came from an auto tranny into a 5sp stick is not hard until you remember that you have your pilot bearing and discover that you need the sleeve type pilot bearing to fill the hole in the rear of the crank. Of all places Autozone had one in stock. Come to find out this is a sleeve type bearing used in a lot of clutch systems. If all goes well we should hear it run Sunday afternoon after church. By the way I did score some Gibson shorty ss headers yesterday. Found a pair of new " damaged package " from the amazon warehouse. They listed them in Prime so what ya got to loose? You can send them back and get a refund.IMG_5536.jpg
 
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Ole Buck

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No pics this morning but i did learn a valuable lesson. Remember I am a 53 year old rookie at this, I should have pulled the engine and transmission as one unit and I didn't. I got the engine back in yesterday bolted up on the motor mounts but man lining up and getting that manual transmission straight is pure hell unless i am missing something. Oh and that little pot metal plate that that covers the bottom of the flywheel I didn't put it back in before sitting the engine back in. Plan b is to start removing the tranny this evening. I hope that I can just slide it back a few inches so that i can put that plate in and line it back up correctly. Any suggestions throw them my way.
 
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Ole Buck

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Change of plans. i am going to pull the motor back out. Its just sitting on the mounts that has the four holes in them where it bolts to the block. Something is just not right. I did not take my time and I did not document enough or take enough pictures ( even though I swore that i did ) I keep knocking my head thinking that there is a difference somewhere. Remember my donor engine came from an auto tranny into my 5 spd manual. The inspection plates that bolt on the rear bottom of the block just behind the oil pan between the tranny and the block are different. The auto is shorter and has two additional holes in the bottom where the 5sp is taller with no holes in the bottom. And by holes I mean bolt holes. They both have the same mount to engine pattern. The drivers side engine mount is also different on my 5spd. I have looked at several different sites and cant seem to find one like i have. On my 5sp it goes from the block ( 4 holes ) down to the frame and then back to the bell housing. And where it bolts to the bell housing it was a bear to remove the bolts to remove the engine. I had to put 4 extensions together and remove them from the front of the truck. Could the blocks themselves be different? And I mean that by the bolt pattern that's drilled into them where the auto or manual trans mount? I would not think that the actual engine block itself would be drilled different but hey being wrong right now is the norm for me. So again ANY info shot my way is appreciated.
 

nanuk-O-dah-Nort

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i have only changed one engine in my life. a 300I6 in an old ford. went from standard to auto. the tranny bushing was an issue for the two mechanics who were helping. I found the problem, but we didn't have internet way back then, so didn't know about the grease trick. ended up drilling out the bushing.
I miss those simple engines!
I would LOVE to be able to attack something like this over a winter!
But I doubt my wife would be happy with me spending so much time in the "shop"
 
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Ole Buck

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Got her back out. I have learned a ton on this. Use the knock sensor locations in the intake valley. make your chain as short and tight as you can. Went ahead and mocked up the headers for a pic. I will have both sides installed when it goes back in. This time I am pulling both motor mounts along with that #$@#$%^ engine mounting bracket on the drivers side. Everything will be bolted up for a complete drop in this time.

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With the HO cams, HO intake, headers, new rockers, new cold air intake and that flow master 40 series she should wake up a little. The 4.56 gears are still in their boxes but I believe that i can hear them moving around.
 
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Ole Buck

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Finally back at it again, went ahead and pulled the transmission and the transfer case. By myself i just could not handle the weight of both, trying to push them back up on the engine and then get it all lined up. So I decided to separate and pull both and I am glad i did. Found a bad u-joint ( replaced ) a torn rear seal on the transfer case ( replaced ) and the front drive shaft boot next to the transfer case was torn. Got it yesterday ( Spicer ). Is that a regular ujoint that's in the bigger seal on the front drive shaft or is it some type of cv joint? Haven't peeked inside yet and was going to get one while at work today. The motor is back in and loosely mounted up. I am going to set down on the ground under the normal weight and compression of the suspension before i torque it down. Then I am going to reinstall the drive train.
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Daw14

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Did you line your clutch up ? Read your thread , thought may be why things didn’t go together .
 
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Ole Buck

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Did you line your clutch up ? Read your thread , thought may be why things didn’t go together .

Yes sir i used an alignment tool on the clutch and pressure plate when i fastened it to the flywheel. Once i set it back on the ground and tighten up the mounts everything should be ok. I did say should. I am doing this by myself so weight is a huge factor.
 

Ian_Olivas

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The auto and manual trans should have the same bolt pattern to the bell housing. They don't change. You would need the clutch dust cover from the manual to bolt up though, it's that small piece with 4 bolts that goes right behind the oil pan to the engine and trans. Should mount and fit right up. Some thing I recommend to do is replace the PCV system, it's the hose system that goes from the oil fill to the back of both heads and then to the back intake resonator box. All that crap does is feed oil vapors into the intake manifold and get everything all oiled up. Put 2 small filters on the back of the heads so it vents to atmosphere, clean up and replace when needed, and buy a plug kit to plug up the holes on the intake and the PCV valve at the oil fill. Another option is to ge a catch can but those are just too expensive.

The best way to get the engine in and out to line everything all up is using the two holes at the top of the block to bolt the chains to, it keeps it all leveled. Also make sure those valve covers and headers are on when remounting it just saves time and is so much easier than playing tetras once it's all seated. With those replaced ujoins make sure that's it all greased properly and that the caps are seated properly at well with no binding or you will get vibrations while driving and it will eat up that drive shaft. I made the mistake of saying ill do it later and it costed me a $700 driveshaft because I was just lazy to replace the u-joint I messed up on install. For the hose clamps that you are replacing, if they are screw band clamps make sure they are extremely tight or they will leak. Especially if you're replacing the ones to the heater core, it is honestly probably better to keep the original spring tension ones by the heater core or that **** will leak into the cab and it's a ***** and half to tighten when the engine is all set in stone again.

If there's anything else you need help with or a question on ask. I rebuilt my 4.7 back in 2019 and replaced everything like you did. All new seals, bearings, valves, springs, lifters, etc. I have a forum somewhere in here lost with pics and some light descriptions of what I did and had to do. You can find it on my profile I'm sure.
 
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Ole Buck

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The auto and manual trans should have the same bolt pattern to the bell housing. They don't change. You would need the clutch dust cover from the manual to bolt up though, it's that small piece with 4 bolts that goes right behind the oil pan to the engine and trans. Should mount and fit right up. Some thing I recommend to do is replace the PCV system, it's the hose system that goes from the oil fill to the back of both heads and then to the back intake resonator box. All that crap does is feed oil vapors into the intake manifold and get everything all oiled up. Put 2 small filters on the back of the heads so it vents to atmosphere, clean up and replace when needed, and buy a plug kit to plug up the holes on the intake and the PCV valve at the oil fill. Another option is to ge a catch can but those are just too expensive.

The best way to get the engine in and out to line everything all up is using the two holes at the top of the block to bolt the chains to, it keeps it all leveled. Also make sure those valve covers and headers are on when remounting it just saves time and is so much easier than playing tetras once it's all seated. With those replaced ujoins make sure that's it all greased properly and that the caps are seated properly at well with no binding or you will get vibrations while driving and it will eat up that drive shaft. I made the mistake of saying ill do it later and it costed me a $700 driveshaft because I was just lazy to replace the u-joint I messed up on install. For the hose clamps that you are replacing, if they are screw band clamps make sure they are extremely tight or they will leak. Especially if you're replacing the ones to the heater core, it is honestly probably better to keep the original spring tension ones by the heater core or that **** will leak into the cab and it's a ***** and half to tighten when the engine is all set in stone again.

If there's anything else you need help with or a question on ask. I rebuilt my 4.7 back in 2019 and replaced everything like you did. All new seals, bearings, valves, springs, lifters, etc. I have a forum somewhere in here lost with pics and some light descriptions of what I did and had to do. You can find it on my profile I'm sure.

OMG thank you so much. This has been an adventure but so far its not been to bad. Fortunately I was blesses with patience and the fact that its not a daily driver. Again thank you for writing this
 
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Ole Buck

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did some more wrenching last night. While lying under the truck staring at that ugly exhaust system that's going to bolt up to my new headers I got to thinking about all that white wet exhaust smoke from the antifreeze and oil that my blown head gasket pumped over around and through my cats and 4 02 sensors. So out came my brand new Ryobi Sawzall and to cutting I went. I took out everything from the headers back. That crap is a lot heavier and bulkier than I realized. So this morning at work in between calls I started searching for a new exhaust system and cats. I was thinking that you had to cut and piece and bend like old school but I was wrong. While searching I discovered that you could buy the entire drivers and passengers side cats included and bolt them up. Got a hell of a deal from magna flow for both sides but i am still going to dump them into a flowmaster super 44 ( mainly because i already bought it ). Anyway my tires and wheels arrived last week so I m still moving forward. Oh one question, any suggestion on the brands to use or stay away from on the 02 sensors? Looks like all four will work in the same manner either up or down stream left or right bank. If i am wrong correct me now please. Here's a couple more pictures. I'm hell on saw blades.

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I like the look of the headers and the new HO intake.

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Ole Buck

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Didnt snap any pics last night. Was kind of in limbo waiting on the new exhaust and ***** cylinder system to show up. Got to looking and around and thinking it sure would be silly to put all this back together and then undo everything again just to put my body lift on. So i grabbed the box and pulled the instructions out and began reading and said well dang I have all this stuff already unhooked !! It took about 45 minutes to do the front and man did it clear up some room. That new to me HO intake pulled away from the firewall and has around 3 inches to spare. No more binding, the harness is has plenty of slack. can get my hands on top of the tranny with no busted knuckles and most importantly I can see where everything is. Plus it looks good. I didnt realize just how far down over the frame that a 1500 sits. You can hardly see the bottom of the frame with the blocks installed. Anyway i will get back on it this weekend and will add some photos to go with it. Man that new magna-flow header back looks good!!! and the difference in weight between it and stock is unreal. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving people and ( if you believe ) pray for our country.
 

EdGs

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I've always been told to use OE on sensors and such. I'm on my 3rd aftermarket oil pressure switch on my '02, and going to go OE when I finally replace it again.

Your rebuild looks awesome so far!
 

panoz3

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Great thread, it's exciting to see your progress. I too have the Gibson GP316S headers on my 06 4.7 and really love them. In the basement I have Magnaflow catalytic converters waiting to be installed, I might find time in December to work on that project. Keep the updates coming!
 

10 Break

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Love the thread. The 4.7 in my 07 has 215,000 on it but runs great, doesn't eat oil or coolant. I still think after the current round of home improvements, I'm gonna grab a spare 4.7 and may be re-fresh it to have for the inevitable....they're machines and they wear out.
 
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