(In mortal kombat voice) IT HAS BEGUN
Dads poking at it while im at work today. Doing stuff like pulling the exhaust and fan shroud, etc. Both driveshafts are going to the driveshaft guys for mix and match, balance, and rebuilding.
The question for my four loyal followers: blow by blow/daily haphazard updates, or wait and do a writeup of the overall?
blow by blow
Blow by blow
Constant updates.
livestream
All of the above, and check your rear brake hose while you're at it.. Swapped mine out for Russell hoses and found this when I got to the rear 
If you've done this already by all means carry on...
Game on! Ive heard from all four of yall that you want daily updates. So, prepare thyselves for it!
We'll leave when im done work today. Goal for tonight is the blown up 4l60e and exhaust manifolds on the floor. Pretty much get ready for reassembley when i can get help loading the 4l80e into my daughters truck. I can't pick it up by myself....
Did get the headers painted this morning before work though! 
In reply to 06HHR (Forum Supporter) :
Swapped every rubber line for just that reason. Money well spent in my opinion.
first time ive run out of vertical space on this lift. Wound up dropping via floor jack.
No broken bolts. Exhaust came off pretty well. Overall everything is going as well as could be hoped for on a job this big and miserable
Little more detail so i don't forget:
Dad pulled radiator shrouds, exhaust, trans cooler lines, and dropped the driveshafts off. The inspection cover was rtv in place. Labeled and removed cap and wires. Exhaust manifolds put up a bit of a fight, but came out. Starter is a reman. All grounds are nasty. Rear main appears to be leaking, but won't know for certain until the torque converter and flexplate are off. All coolant hoses are original, need to order heater hoses. Cat was gutted, and it had a 2.25 muffler scabbed into the exhaust. No other real suprises noted, and other than the problem with vertical space, no real issues with disassembly.
Need my parts to get here. Bolts, seals, and computer chips
5, 5 followers
Be sure to add me as a follower to all Mike's builds.
I like Duster's builds/threads because they seem like I could remotely possibly do the things he does with vehicles if I just put in the time & energy. There are some build threads that are honestly so beyond what I think I could do that they're frustrating to read through. These are obtainable!
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
This is EXACTLY why i do build threads. There's a lot of "holy E36 M3, I'll never be able to do that " builds. I want to be an example of "anyone with an opposable thumb and three brain cells can do that!" Taken to the next step. The limbo between where most of our talents actually are vs the pointy ends of the build thread spectrum. God bless nohome and mke and skinnyg, but i sure ain't one.
And ill round up to six faithful followers!
Don't forget me, every day or so
Me eight. I don't comment often, but check in on the thread whenever I see it is updated.
I also enjoy the updates. It gives me motivation to work on my own truck.
Well, it seems i greatly underestimated the number of folks that dig the daily driver truck stuff! Were in to double digits!
Thanks everyone. Means a lot to me
I try to comment where it makes sense so that the thread owner knows folks are paying attention but often it's not so easy to write something worth putting in print. "Yeah dude uh those wheels are ugly" is not so useful...
"Need my parts to get here. Bolts, seals, and computer chips"
Are you piggybacking ecu's/ecm's for this trans swap?
May I join in on the phun too?
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Im the same way. Which is why i had initially questioned the blow by blow, as i didn't think it would be too useful....
Hopefully this helps someone else with a blown up 4l60e swap to a 4l80e in the future!
759NRNG (Forum Partidario) said:"Need my parts to get here. Bolts, seals, and computer chips"
Are you piggybacking ecu's/ecm's for this trans swap?
May I join in on the phun too?
Yes-ish. Burning a new chip and piggybacking it to the existing memcal inside the factory ecu. In theory. I haven't actually DONE it yet. So i don't know how successful ill be. Thats the most nerve wracking part of thw whole swap to me. Im messing with things i don't fully understand.
And you can join in the fun too. The parts and such are cheap enough, and the learning curve is steep. Thirdgen.org and gearheadefi.com are the places im doing my learning at.
I haven't been lurking as much lately but I like the threads too, add me to the list under the 'daily updates' or whatever is convenient and fun for you column.
Keep up the good work! Taking something cast off and making it pretty is rewarding from all angles.
Seriously, we all like to "play" with cars, but I don't think anybody else plays so thoroughly with everything from racecars to daily drivers in a manner that shows, and don't take this the wrong way, that an average guy with average tools and average money can put together something nice for cheap, or something fast for effort. Did that come out right?
Oh, and I nominate Stampie to lead the Duster fan club since he's important enough to take your car to the Challenge
Does this make me eleventeen? I dig the daily driver builds.
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