Slartibartfast

I don't think there are a lot of R51 guys around here at the moment. I guess it would depend on how much body lift the R51s need for popular tire fitments. Seems like you could make the 1.5" kit, but make it stackable, so a customer could order one kit and be at the limit of lift without further mods, or two and jack it way up if that's what they're after. I assume either option would require different bolts, though, so maybe that wouldn't work as well as I'm thinking.

Looks like there's a small gap between the bezel and the head unit, and something reflective behind. If you can't scoot the bezel over, you could just paint the reflective part of the head unit so it doesn't show as much.

If it had one leaky injector, it would have one wet plug. Six wet plugs says it's getting fuel but not firing. Starting and running eventually says it has spark, though it wouldn't hurt to verify that it has spark even when it refuses to start. I like Colinnwn's idea of holding the throttle a little open to rule out an idle control issue. I would also pull the vac line off the fuel pressure regulator to see if it's leaking gas into the manifold. Not likely the problem, but easy enough to check. I'd also be tempted to double-check the tooth counts on the timing belt in case the last guy set it the same as it was when he took it apart rather than looking up the actual specs. Long shot, but something to check if you run out of other things. The ignition timing is probably not set right (tough to set timing on an engine that doesn't run), but I don't think that could cause the issue you're having. Keep an eye on the oil and change it once you've got this figured out. In an engine that's flooding/not firing, the excess gas in the cylinders runs past the rings and dilutes the oil. I've got a small engine in my shop right now that flooded repeatedly due to a carb leak and what I drained out of the crankcase looked more like wood stain than oil.

Bezel looks good!

I used a semi-gloss on mine. Turned out looking pretty good IMO and it's held up reasonably well. I think it was just Rustoleum in a can. Gloss is tougher to work with and shows every fault, and I figured flat would be harder to clean and end up going chalky.

Carpets came out nice. I need to pull the carpet back out of mine and run the rug machine over it one of these days.

Aftermarket gears are listed as fitting both the R50 and the D22, suggesting that the pinion length should be the same. The pictures look like the ABS sensor on the D22 3rd is occupying what's wasted space on the R50 3rd, but, yeah, measure if you're not sure. If it's the same length, and the same bolt pattern on the flange, you should be able to just chuck the whole 3rd in there, though I would be tempted to make some kind of blockoff plate to cover the broken-off sensor. The front diff will need to be from an R50, though, the R50 front end was unique unfortunately.

Slap a second heater core in there and make a warming oven! Hot burritos anywhere.

PM sent! RCWD21, if there's something you need from the '87 manual, let me know, I have a hard copy because it was cheap on fleabay and I'm a hoarder apparently. I'd expect it to be largely the same as the '89, except that the ECU trouble codes are slightly different.

I tried braided lines on mine. Noticed zero difference. Went back to rubber when I realized that the lines I had weren't coated, and so were vulnerable to abrasion as road dust got between the stainless steel and the hose inside.

What part did you get that didn't work? This one is listed for all VG30/VG33 trucks, but I don't see one shown for the VQ35 trucks (not sure which one you've got). Worst case, how bad is it broken? Do you know anyone who can weld aluminum?

You mentioned you have an FSM, do you have the '89 or the '94/'95 from Nico? I've got an '89 manual PDF I can hook you up with if you need it. That's about all the help I am on TBIs unfortunately. +1 on checking that the timing belt hasn't slipped.

Looks good! I'm surprised you found another one that color, I don't know if I've ever seen a red R50 in person.

Wouldn't hurt to try rotating your tires, maybe check the brakes before assuming it is in fact a bearing. I've got one going on my '93, or at least I'm 90% sure that's what it is. It doesn't change with load, so it's not ring and pinion or U joints, or with braking, so it's not the brakes, but it does get angrier when I'm turning right. Mine doesn't start making noise until I approach highway speed, or maybe I just don't hear it until the trans hits overdrive. I tried jacking up the rear end (with the fronts chocked) and turning the wheels by hand to see if I could hear/feel a bad bearing, but the limited slip made this difficult and I couldn't tell for sure if what I was feeling was the bearing or something else. You may have better luck with this test if your bearings are bad enough to make noise at lower speeds. The service manual makes rear bearing replacement look like a whole lot of fun requiring a press and a special spline wrench. I'm considering picking up some shafts (or a whole axle) from the wreckers and just swapping the offending bearing/shaft assembly for now, then possibly rebuilding the old one later as an exercise in "how hard could it be."

The MAF connector is a common trouble point on these, possibly because they get reefed on when people check the air filter. Recently mine started having a stumble just off-idle. Breathe on the throttle and it would try to die, but then catch itself. I found that pressing on the MAF connection cleared it up, so I unplugged it, tweaked the female pins in the plug to tighten them up a little, and stuck it back together. Good so far.

I think it's catalytic converters wreckers aren't allowed to sell. You can buy used airbags on eBay, so I don't see why a yard couldn't sell you one. You might also look for a private party parting one out. I'm not familiar with the R50 or its plumbing, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow one end of the pipe to what it connects to. I'd hazard a guess at aircon, given where it is and where it looks like it's going, but it could also be the transmission cooler or the power steering.

I'm not sure why your TX10A would've made clicking noises in 4H with no CVs. I've run mine in 4LO with the hubs unlocked many times (great for backing trailers) and haven't heard any unusual noises from it. I had a look at the TF section of the '03 manual and it looks like the system's response may vary by what options the truck has, because the trucks without VDC get front end speed info from the front revolution sensor on the transfer case, and the VDC trucks get that signal from the VDC/TCS/ABS actuator, which I assume gets it from the wheel speed sensors. This might explain why some people have more trouble with blinking lights and pissed-off computers. I don't know what auto mode with the hubs unlocked would do with either setup (and I wouldn't want to be the first pig through that chute), but I don't think I've ever heard of someone's ATX14A actually blowing up because the hubs weren't locked.

The listing for a new aftermarket MC should specify if it's for disks or drums. They're identical externally as near as I can tell. The part that's different between them (the proportioning valve) is internal.

+1 for the snap ring pliers, I've done it without and it's much easier with. And yes, make sure you've got any seals you'll need, and think about the order you're putting stuff together in so you don't put the seal on and then realize the bearing doesn't fit through it. You can use a hammer and a brass drift to pop out the old races. I didn't need the impact screwdriver when I did mine, but the screws were so chewed up already that I replaced them while I was in there.

The service manual for your year should have that circuit and mechanism laid out, hopefully well enough that you can see what to unplug or how to get past whatever the PO did to it to blow the drains out. If the silicone leaks, and the drains are still blocked, you've got a lovely little cavity for rust to fester and rot your roof out. I didn't know the R50s still had wind-up antennas! Should be easy enough to unplug the actuator inside the fender, or there may be a separate power antenna amp like there is on the WD21. Again, service manual's your friend here.

I hooked my cooler up in line with the stock one. Unless you're working with an R51 (they had crap coolers that broke and dumped coolant into the transmission), or you've had a trans fail and fill the stock cooler with gunk and you don't want to replace the rad, I'd leave it in.

Generally you test injectors for resistance, not voltage. If your meter shows no continuity between the injector pins, either the injector itself is bad or there's a break in the wiring between the injector and the computer. If you do have continuity, compare the resistance against what's spec'd in the manual. If that doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll pull out my '89 manual and see what I can work out. I haven't stared too much at the TBI troubleshooting because I don't have one, but the FSM's usually pretty good about laying out how to test stuff like this.

Yeah, it seems like the front end shouldn't be doing much with the hubs unlocked. I've found that my hubs do have a little bit of drag when they're unlocked, which could still be trying to turn stuff, but yeah, that shouldn't be transferring enough energy to do much. I'd be tempted to test it with the transfer unplugged, to rule out the computer doing stupid things, but I don't know the ATX14A well enough to guess at how it would behave without power. I like the camera idea, hopefully that'll give you a better idea of what you're up against.

Looks like you've got plenty of light going forward already. Maybe two facing sideways for work lights and two backwards for reverse lights? I've got aux reverse lights on mine and they're a massive improvement over what it came with. I've got mine wired to come on with the stock reverse lights, but if you go that way, make sure you've got a kill switch for when you're driving around town so you don't blind everyone behind you.

Shouldn't be anything spraying from the pan. Oil filter leaking maybe? Nothing else on that side that I'm aware of. If you can't figure it out, clean it as well as you can, drive it, and check it to see what's wet again.