A bit of wrenching

Figuring at best I have a pile of junk in my yard I thought why not tear in to it and see what we have...... Worst comes to worse I call the junk man and have it hauled away for scrap value. It is clear the #1 cylinder blew the gasket and sucked in coolant.

Options are;

1) replace the engine with a newer 3.4 liter version of the same V6 engine,
2) re-do the heads on this for the third time or..
3) yank every thing out and put an American carbureted engine and trannie in it.

The last would mean losing the 4wd.

Yesterday I managed to drag the truck in to the garage with a little electric winch, and started tearing in to it today. The wood stove I built a couple of months ago came in handy. Proceeding slowly here in order to make the best of a bad situation. Removed the peripherals air-box, mas airflow sensor, wiring harness, throttle cable radiator shroud and hoses, and generally make some space

then a bit deeper.. an remove the upper intake manifold, fuel rails to expose the lower intake manifold and remove the valve covers.

then I get to the lower manifold and unbolt it...

after some persuasion with a rubber mallet it gives way

tomorrow we tackle removing the heads