Well she's running and running good. Turned the key on and off 5 or 6 times to prime the fuel system and she fired right up. Gotta love fuel injection. Temperature comes up to 190 degrees and stays there. Idles at right around 700 rpm with about 35 psi oil pressure at operating temperature. No fuel, coolant or engine oil leaks (yet, fingers crossed).
However, there are two immediate issues to deal with. The main one is that I'm getting a metal to metal contact noise inside the bell housing that starts with the clutch pedal depressed about half way down. It gets louder the further I push the pedal towards the floor. Maybe the clutch disc is stuck to the flywheel, as it has been a very damp winter here. Another possibility is that the clutch/pressure plate is too big for the bell housing. I did use a clutch kit for the donor truck, which is a 12 inch clutch. When looking up into the clutch area from beneath, there seems to be plenty of room for everything.
The second issue it a leak at the fittings on the steering box. The return line fitting is leaking the worst. It is hard to tell if the pressure line fitting is also leaking. I really don't want to tighten them anymore than they are now and cause damage. These are inverted flare fittings but do they need any kind of sealing washer? I seem to remember some plastic or rubber washers that were beneath the shipping plugs when the box arrived to me. Do they need to go back on? The steering box is the CPP 500 quick ratio version.
If anyone has any input about these issues, please chime in. Thanks.