Slartibartfast

Think you're talking about #27? Strut rod bushings. Or tension rod bushings, or compression rod bushings. Same thing.

Pulled out my cargo area light to see if I could make it come on when the hatch opened... doesn't look like it ever had a sensor, it's got a wire though. Just gotta trace the FSM wiring guides now. I added a piece of reflective metal to the back of the light housing while I was at it... seems a little brighter now that it's not illuminating above the headliner.

Hmm... you say you crank it but the timing belt doesn't move? All I can think of in that case is that it's chunked out the belt teeth around the crank, which is now spinning on its own. Or, the key for the crankshaft sprocket failed/escaped.

^^My concern is that he doesn't have the VG, he's got the KA. Are the alternators the same between the VG and the KA?

Tore the windshield washer pumps apart, cleaned 'em out, got the squirties working again. For the record, if you're testing the rear window pump on the bench, it'll bind up if it doesn't have fluid in it. Also, if you test a pump on the bench, and it has fluid in it, that fluid is going all over your pantleg.

Does the Maxi alt fit the 2.4?

Mine doesn't have that sensor (not helpful lol) but it does have one in the tire carrier, which recently started acting up. I pulled it out, pulled the rubber cover off, and stuffed a little circle of rubber into it as a shim. Been working great since.

I don't care if you overhaul a Rascal scooter, I'd read the build thread.

I honestly don't know. Kingman's got a good point, it might be a different beast altogether.

This might help, sort of: The manual TPS is simpler than the auto TPS. Basically it's just a set of contacts that open up when your foot's off the gas. The auto one's got a little potentiometer in it, which talks to the trans computer and tells it when you're getting on the gas so it can kick down. (At least, I assume that's what it's for.) I looked up the fast idle cam in the FSM. It says the KA has one, but the VG30 does not. I imagine the VG33 doesn't, either. The Idle Air Control Valve probably replaced the Fast Idle Cam in terms of function. I see no reason why you couldn't push the thing around while the vehicle's idling. Then again, I've never tried it.

PCV failure is more likely to cause sludge or oil consumption (at least from what I've read) which doesn't sound like your issue. The smell of fuel is interesting... have you checked the fuel pressure regulator? Also, mine smelled like fuel for a while (no issues from it) and it turned out to be a loose hose to the passenger's side injector rail. Easy fix (bugger to get to though) and definitely peace of mind!

Have you reset the computer since getting the exhaust done? Now that it's got proper numbers to go with, it might do some good. Now I think about it, though, the dizzy being a tooth out doesn't jive with the onset symptoms. According to your first post in this thread, it started doing this while driving, after having throttle fluctuations when cold. If it was just a case of the distributor being set wrong, it wouldn't have run right to begin with. If advancing the dizzy by a tooth makes things better (and your cam timing truly is correct), I suspect that the dizzy itself has failed internally, like how Adamzan suggested. (I've forgotten if you've ruled that one out already.) If it is shot, you might be able to find one at a junkyard. (I'd probably pull it apart and see if there was something obviously broken that I could JB back together, but that's probably a waste of time.) At the very least, checking it with a timing light will tell you if you're advancing it too far or not. It looks like you're closing in on the problem at least. Look at it this way: if you figure it out, nothing will ever go wrong with it again... because you've already replaced everything else.

Loose bearings would rock up and down as well as side to side. Mine had similar symptoms. It was actually a little disconcerting at highway speed. I ended up doing upper and lower ball joints, TREs, centerlink, and idler, all of which were probably original. It's not perfect now but it's a whole lot better! If you want to try things one at a time, the centerlink's probably a good first guess.

The Euro-spec lights may be designed for driving on the right side of the road. IIRC the sealed beams in a Jag my uncle did were like that. The US LHD ones would probably be a lot easier to aim.

... and make sure that the new manifolds are flat, or those gaskets won't last long.

Crawl underneath and look for dangling wires/ground straps? Follow any wire you see, and make sure it's still attached?

Also see if you've got mud in the backs of the rims... that'll throw them out of balance.

All hail!

It's not the tube that clogs. I saw a pic on here a while back of a stock WD cooler taken apart, and it had what looked like mud (clutch material I guess) mounded up pretty bad on the aluminum part of the radiator that sticks down into the cooler. But yeah, with proper maintenance it probably wouldn't be a problem. Sort of like how arteries usually work okay, but get all clogged up with crap if you don't keep them up... except that most of us don't have pre-owned arteries.

The real trick with a truck like that is keeping the girl in the bed when you're at speed! Straps work, but other drivers get the wrong idea.

I think Tungsten's talking about the three fake air vents in the hood. (They don't actually pass air.) You might be able to adapt some mounts from something else. Looks like the only welding in Hayseed's mounts is at the bottom of the triangle. If you could find a mount (at Home Depot or something, probably for hanging joists or flower pots or something), you could bend the rest of it to work and drill the holes bigger if needed. Or, with the mirrors... if you've got manual side mirrors, you could french some smaller lights into the fronts of the mirror housings. That would be pretty cool.

I've got the Haynes manual. If I had an old 720 it would be perfect. But I don't. Get the FSM.

Judging by the other custom fab on his truck, Hayseed may have made the adapters himself. Doesn't look like it would be too difficult to replicate the mounts. They probably share a bolt with the fender, beneath the cowl.

Somebody on here twin turbo'd a VG30. Looked like he needed a shoehorn to get it all in, but it's possible at least!

It should offset the gearing change from putting giant tires on it. And/or you could replace the VG30 with a VG33.