87 Crew Cab 454/TH400 to Cummins/NV4500

[jltait]

With the rear seal taken car of I moved around to the front of the engine. I wanted to ensure the Case dowel pin aka KDP (acronym for Killer Dowel Pin) was taken care of. The KDP can wiggle its way loose, drop into the timing gears and cause lots of damage. I also wanted to pull the gear case bolts, thread lock and re-torque since they have a reputation for loosening up as well. The KDP looked like it had not moved much, but to be on the safe side I peened some burrs into the gear case KDP bore with a hammer and center punch to prevent it from moving. I then pulled each case bolt, added thread lock and re-torqued. Glad I did, 1 bolt was finger tight and a couple others were not much more than that. First pic is the gear case cover removed showing the gears. Second is a close up of the KDP prior to peening dimple into its bore.