I just now realized that I haven't posted here in...well, kind of a long time.
So, Minion's developed a significant top end noise. I was pretty certain that one of the lifters was toast until I, a couple months later and in an amazing moment of clarity, did the ole', soapy water trick on the driver-side header. Turns out there's a big leak somewhere between cylinder 3 and 5 right at the head. Man, I can only hope that the problem is with the cheap, eBay headers and not the expensive Remflex gaskets. Either way, looking like it might be time to swap out my piecemeal "performance" exhaust with a more proper setup, starting with some long tubes.
I have also, twice this year, encountered a situation where the transmission will not shift out of first. Needless to say, limping through town at ~2,500 RPM in first gear with my open exhaust makes plenty of noise, LOL. In both cases, the situation happened during in-town driving on hot days and was resolved by simply letting the truck sit and cool for a while. Can't say I'm happy anyway and I'm hoping the situation can be resolved by improved transmission cooling. Shelling out a couple grand for another rebuild is something I would prefer to avoid as long as I can, LOL, especially since it's getting about time for a new set of tires.