# Replacing a Ford F150 Engine



## DaveNay

Well, I finally got started on the engine change on my F150.  I have had to set up a temporary work area in the old barn, because there is no room in my workshop. 

This first picture gives a general view of the area I have set up to work in.  Plenty of room, with a flat cement floor, so it should be nice.

Te second picture is my "workbench".   Two old chairs and a piece of OSB that was laying around.   I left my big tool box in the workshop, since there is about 300 ft' of mud between here and there, so all the tools are just getting layed out on the workbench.

Next up shows the engine and the hoist waiting their turn.

Then a closeup of the truck before I started taking it apart, with the hood off (had a buddy help with the hood a couple days ago.)

Finally, I got a couple of hours work done this afternoon after dinner with the MIL.  Air ass'y, and radiator are out.


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## Dargo

Nice start Dave.  Are you keeping a notebook as to exactly what went where?  On my first, um, dozen or so, engine changes I used some masking tape to number wires and mark where they went as well as logging in my notebook where they went.  I also used several baby food jars to hold clips, nuts, bolts, etc., and also labeled the jars with masking tape with exactly what was in the jars written on the tape.

I'm sure your memory is better than mine, but I often got pulled away from the job for periods of time to do other things and, without my notes, would have been lost.  Good luck!!


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## DaveNay

Dargo said:


> Nice start Dave.  Are you keeping a notebook as to exactly what went where?  On my first, um, dozen or so, engine changes I used some masking tape to number wires and mark where they went as well as logging in my notebook where they went.  I also used several baby food jars to hold clips, nuts, bolts, etc., and also labeled the jars with masking tape with exactly what was in the jars written on the tape.
> 
> I'm sure your memory is better than mine, but I often got pulled away from the job for periods of time to do other things and, without my notes, would have been lost.  Good luck!!



Everything is going into Zip-loc bags labeled with a sharpie marker.  I haven't thought of doing a notebook, but that's a great idea, I think I'll start one right away.


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## fogtender

Good luck!  

I like that work bench, much fancier than some I have used in the past... Must be nice to be that well off that you could use "Upholstered" chairs verses the "folding metal" ones I had to settle for...


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## Dargo

DaveNay said:


> Everything is going into Zip-loc bags labeled with a sharpie marker.  I haven't thought of doing a notebook, but that's a great idea, I think I'll start one right away.



Excellent idea with the zip-loc bags.  You're well on your way to becoming an ASE certified technician.  When you finish the job do you wanna take the ASE test?  If I passed it, I'm sure you could.  

Unfortunately I wasn't close to being an ASE "Master" certified tech though.  Apparently that takes more than my 30 years of fixing what I've busted to be able to pass that test.


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## TOMLESCOEQUIP

Dave..........Did you end up with an engine off Ebay ??


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## DaveNay

TOMLESCOEQUIP said:


> Dave..........Did you end up with an engine off Ebay ??


No, I found one from a recovery company.  It's a pull from I assume a wreck.  Less than 15K miles on it, compression checked and warranted to run.


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## thcri RIP

Dave,

That is one job I wouldn't tackle.  It just seems like there is no room to do anything under them hoods.  But then I guess I condemn Ford for not backing you up.  The baggie idea is a good one as I wouldn't be able to remember all of where everything goes.  Do you have any estimate on how many hours it is going to take you?


Murph


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## DaveNay

thcri said:


> Do you have any estimate on how many hours it is going to take you?


"Book" time for an engine swap is 20 hours.  I'm going to guess about double that for me.


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## Erik

good luck - and congrats on finding a local motor!
the one time I helped a buddy swap motors on his f150, I was surprised at the number of times we had to use a 10mm socket -- and that was almost 20 years ago.


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## bczoom

Looking good Dave!!

I too use ziploc bags.  When tearing something apart like this when I don't have a manual, in addition to a log book, I also use the camcorder (or more often now, the video option on my camera).
I take 30 second (or so) videos and sometimes a couple still photos of what I'm about to take apart.  Like the log book, I can refer back to these if there's any questions on reassembly.  I find my log book entries are often weak and I can say, and point to things _in detail_ what I want much faster on a video.


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## sleeper

I thought you had to remove the body to get the motor out of those trucks.


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## DaveNay

sleeper said:


> I thought you had to remove the body to get the motor out of those trucks.


Nope.

Had about an hour to work on it tonight.  Got the alternator out, and almost have the intake manifold out, but there is a bolt, an electrical connector and a vacuum hose at the back and bottom of the intake manifold, and I can't figure out how the hell to reach them.  What's really nice is having an identical engine sitting 10 ft away that I can use to locate connection locations and socket sizes for the difficult to reach things.

Now all I need to do is find a double jointed two year old that can reach those damn connections against the firewall and I'll be doing great.

No pictures tonight, not much to see.


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## DaveNay

Good progress today!

That intake manifold came off without too much additional struggling.  A fresh start at something pretty much always clears things up for me, so when I start having difficulty and getting frustrated, I just close up shop for the night.

Hardest part so far has been the freaking starter!  That thing probably took me two hours to remove!  The last bolt, I had to remove the right wheel, and use a 24" extension and swivel to get to it. 

I've had to improvise a little, the power steering pump was supposed to be unbolted, and stay behind, but the last bolt was starting to round the corners, so I decided to leave it on.  Unfortunately, that meant removing the hoses and reservoir and draining them.

I'm also trying to leave the A/C compressor in place, when the manual says to recover the coolant and remove the compressor.  I'd rather not have to recharge it after I'm done though.

I think I have all the accessories removed, so tomorrow morning I'll unbolt the transmission, and hopefully yank the engine.


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## urednecku

Sounds like you got a good start. Good luck! When doing something like that in the past, I would take _several_  instant photo's (now would use the digital camera), from different angles, to get the wiring and hoses right. Good luck!


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## dgl24087

sleeper said:


> I thought you had to remove the body to get the motor out of those trucks.


That would be the 2008 Superduties.


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## Doc

How'd it go Dave ... Is the engine out?


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## DaveNay

Doc said:


> How'd it go Dave ... Is the engine out?


No, our farm helper was sick yesterday so I had to clean stalls instead.


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## DaveNay

OK...I'm officially stuck.

Everything is ready to go to yank the engine.....almost.

I can't get the ******* ****ing manifold->catalytic flange nuts off!

Hell, I can't even figure out the correct socket size to use, they are so corroded.  One of the is so rusty that it looks like it has been welded on!

I think I'm going to have to cut the flange bolts, and that's going to be a major PITA. 

You guys in areas where they don't use road salt sure must have it easy.


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## mbsieg

PB blaster and heat!!!!


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## Dargo

Plasma cutter


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## DaveNay

mbsieg said:


> PB blaster and heat!!!!


I've been squirting them with PB every night for the last week.  I don't have a good source if heat, just a plumbers torch, and It won't reach the top two nuts anyway.


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## DaveNay

Dargo said:


> Plasma cutter


If only....I'm thinking more like a hack saw.

If you head out in the next couple hours, you can be here with yours by morning and you can help me.


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## Dargo

Dang Dave, I was just thinking that.  I was going to ask you if you had 220 volt 60 amp service with a 20cfm compressor to run the plasma cutter and I just recalled that the stitches haven't even been out of my side for a week yet and I have to go in for further surgery on Wednesday.  So, unfortunately, my wife told me "no".  Sorry.  She said that if all is well after this next surgery I can help you in a month or so.


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Dave, winch all that crap onto a trailer and haul it down to Dargo's.  I bet you'd get it all done in a weekend with his tools and experience.  Just keep him plied with booze and let him bark orders at you!


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## Doc

Dave, is there enough to work with where you could use a dremel tool and grind down the head getting the rust out of the way to where you could hammer a small socket onto the bolt?


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## DaveNay

Doc said:


> Dave, is there enough to work with where you could use a dremel tool and grind down the head getting the rust out of the way to where you could hammer a small socket onto the bolt?



Just tried that....can't get to the nut because of how the flange is shaped.  Can't reach the other nut at all....only have about 3/4" clearance to fit an 18" extension and swivel socket through.

Worked on them for a couple more hours, and all I did was round off two of the nuts.

I think tomorrow I am just going to cut the manifold itself, and that will give me plenty of room to cut the studs after the engine is gone.  The new engine has complete exhaust manifolds, so all I have to do is make sure I don't damage the cat side of the connection.


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## urednecku

Sure, do it the easy way. Cut all that stuff ya don't need anyhow out of the way!!

Good luck!!


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## fogtender

DaveNay said:


> Just tried that....can't get to the nut because of how the flange is shaped. Can't reach the other nut at all....only have about 3/4" clearance to fit an 18" extension and swivel socket through.


 
Just cut the exhaust pipe and take out the affected area with the engine removal. You can get a pipe sleeve to reinstall the pipe (or weld) when you put it back together. Once out, you can cut the affected bolts/nuts and address them on the bench. Way easier than beating your head against the wall.

Good Luck


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## DaveNay

fogtender said:


> Just cut the exhaust pipe and take out the affected area with the engine removal. You can get a pipe sleeve to reinstall the pipe (or weld) when you put it back together. Once out, you can cut the affected bolts/nuts and address them on the bench. Way easier than beating your head against the wall.


That's pretty much the same conclusion I've come to.  Snce I have a set of replacement manifolds already on the new engine, I'm thinking it's best to cut the old manifolds just above the flange clamp.


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## fogtender

DaveNay said:


> That's pretty much the same conclusion I've come to. Snce I have a set of replacement manifolds already on the new engine, I'm thinking it's best to cut the old manifolds just above the flange clamp.


 

Well that would have been even an easier way out, as long as the manifolds are the same, you don't even have to change the gaskets.  Although I don't know how much room you have, the other option is to unbolt the manifold from the head and go from there.  That way you can address the affected bolts with the engine out of the way.

But a sawsall does wonders....


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## Dargo

If you need to save some studs to which the nuts are stuck, I have had some success tacking an old socket to the rounded nut and then was able to remove the offending nut.  I would then grind the nut off the old socket and repeat.  It's time consuming and sort of sucks, but it was nothing compared to getting that 8", 22 pound grade 8 nut off that was frozen to a stud.  I used a similar process there but also included a 6' long 3" solid rod as a cheater bar and a 10k fork lift to raise up on the cheater bar.  I attached a picture of one of the offending 8" nuts in case you've never seen one that size.  The torque setting was 3500 ft. lbs. and it was jambed and corroded.  I had so much fun I just had to clean one up and keep it as a souvenir.

As you can see, I generally was never given the easy tasks...


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## fogtender

Dargo said:


> If you need to save some studs to which the nuts are stuck, I have had some success tacking an old socket to the rounded nut and then was able to remove the offending nut. I would then grind the nut off the old socket and repeat. It's time consuming and sort of sucks, but it was nothing compared to getting that 8", 22 pound grade 8 nut off that was frozen to a stud. I used a similar process there but also included a 6' long 3" solid rod as a cheater bar and a 10k fork lift to raise up on the cheater bar. I attached a picture of one of the offending 8" nuts in case you've never seen one that size. The torque setting was 3500 ft. lbs. and it was jambed and corroded. I had so much fun I just had to clean one up and keep it as a souvenir.
> 
> As you can see, I generally was never given the easy tasks...


 
I found that no matter how hard the torque is and how big the nut is (On some ship engines, they are even bigger than the one you showed), using a "Rosebud" torch and cherry red one side of the nut and you can pretty much take them off with a set of pliers... ok, really big pliers...

Trick is that you need to do it before the stud is cherry red too.... 

The nut is pretty much toast after that though...


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## Dargo

fogtender said:


> Trick is that you need to do it before the stud is cherry red too....
> 
> The nut is pretty much toast after that though...



My one nutty neighbor had heard that but didn't quite get it.  He called me after he'd heated the stud (not the nut) and couldn't get it off.  

On that one, since he was short on time, I had to use the universal sized O/A setup...


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## DaveNay

Looks like I'll be side tracked again today....the clothes dryer just made an awful racket, and smells like the motor burned out.

I'm never going to get this damn truck fixed.


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## urednecku

DaveNay said:


> Looks like I'll be side tracked again today....the clothes dryer just made an awful racket, and smells like the motor burned out.
> 
> I'm never going to get this damn truck fixed.


Dave, it looks like ya also have some of the same diversions I have. Can't seem to get anything done because of this d@mn computer, and FF in particular!!


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## Dargo

DaveNay said:


> OK...I'm officially stuck.
> 
> Everything is ready to go to yank the engine.....almost.
> 
> I can't get the ******* ****ing manifold->catalytic flange nuts off!



Twist too hard on rusty stud and...


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## DaveNay

Success!

I had to remove the fender liners to get access with the saw, but they are free! 

It took 5 brand new blades to do it though.  I never would have thought that metal was so hard.


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## DaveNay

Finally!  The old engine is out!  For anyone keeping track, it _only_ took me four weekends to do.   I don't think it was all that bad, it only totalled about 20 hours or so. 

Here's my next question.....what should I do while I have all this room to work?  I'm thinking the O2 sensors will be easy with the engine out, so I will probably do them (all four of them ).

Obviously, oil, filter, coolant, thermostat and serpentine belt will be all new, but what else?


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## OhioTC18 RIP

Might be a good opportunity to change the trans fluid.


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## DaveNay

OhioTC18 said:


> Might be a good opportunity to change the trans fluid.


I thought about that, but from what I have been reading, a drain and fill on the trans is not as good as a flush, so I am thinking to get it flushed after I put it all back together.


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## TOMLESCOEQUIP

A new seal on the torque converter would be cheap insurance against having to do an expensive split later.


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## Doc

Probably ought to take a good look at the freeze plugs.  If they show any sign at all of ever leaking you probably ought to change em before you put the motor in.


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## fogtender

DaveNay said:


> I thought about that, but from what I have been reading, a drain and fill on the trans is not as good as a flush, so I am thinking to get it flushed after I put it all back together.


 
For all the trouble you are going though with the engine, it is very easy to do the flush yourself and change out the converter seal while the engine is out.

Change out your trans. filter and gasket after you have your engine back in place and running.  Then pull the two transmission cooling lines going to your radiator, put them into a five gallon bucket, with the transmission full of fluid, start the engine and when it starts to spit air, shut it off and refill it with three quarts, then start it again, and shut off when it spits air.

You do that with about a case of oil (24 quarts) when it turns bright red, do it one more time then attach the two hoses and fill the transmission to the full level, then check the level when the engine is running in park.

You will have flushed out the converter and all the systems and saved well over a hundred dollars at a shop, plus the oil costs.


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## DaveNay

It's all down hill from here!

I finally get the last remnants of the exhaust manifold cut away and the studs and nuts ground away.  The new engine is in and aligned with the transmission, man what a bitch that was!  Getting the angle right on the engine so that the two bell housing dowels, the four studs on the torque converter and both engine mounts all line up at the same time was damn near impossible.

Frome here on it's just a matter of putting all the parts back on.

No work tomorrow, I have a baby shower to attend.  Open bar!


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## Doc

Good job Dave.  I'm sure that would be hard to line all that up.  Everything would have to be perfect.  
I helped my boy put the engine and tranny back in a ford ranger.  A little V6.  What a tight fit.  There for awhile I had to wonder if it was possible to do from the front.  Now I know why I sometimes see bangs and knocks on the cross bar by the radiator.  Until then I didn't realize it means the engine has been out at least once.


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## Erik

DaveNay said:


> It's all down hill from here!
> 
> I finally get the last remnants of the exhaust manifold cut away and the studs and nuts ground away. The new engine is in and aligned with the transmission, man what a bitch that was! Getting the angle right on the engine so that the two bell housing dowels, the four studs on the torque converter and both engine mounts all line up at the same time was damn near impossible.
> 
> Frome here on it's just a matter of putting all the parts back on.


 
congrats!  good job!   



daveNay said:


> No work tomorrow, I have a baby shower to attend. Open bar!


now *that's* a way to get attendance at one of those!


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## DaveNay

ARGLE FARBLE GARBLE WARBLE!!!

I have everything about 98% put back together, just the starter and air cleaner assembly left to do.  Unfortunately, I have to undo about three hours of work from this morning because when I went to plug in the fuel rail sensor, it doesn't fit!  I'm using the electrical harness from the 2005 engine and the intake manifold from my 2004 engine.  They changed the sensor from a three wire to a four wire, and a different connector.  I can't even swap the sensor from the 2005 engine because they physically changed the mounting also.

So now I have to take the intake manifold off again and switch the entire harness from the 2005 style to the old 2004 style.


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## urednecku

DaveNay said:


> ARGLE FARBLE GARBLE WARBLE!!!
> 
> I have everything about 98% put back together, just the starter and air cleaner assembly left to do. Unfortunately, I have to undo about three hours of work from this morning because when I went to plug in the fuel rail sensor, it doesn't fit! I'm using the electrical harness from the 2005 engine and the intake manifold from my 2004 engine. They changed the sensor from a three wire to a four wire, and a different connector. I can't even swap the sensor from the 2005 engine because they physically changed the mounting also.
> 
> So now I have to take the intake manifold off again and switch the entire harness from the 2005 style to the old 2004 style.


 
I've had simular 'fun', & know first-hand how it really pisses one off!!!


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## DaveNay

It's alive.
It's alive.
It's alive.
It's alive.
It's alive.
*IT'S ALIIIIIVVVEEEEE!!!!*


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## Doc

Congrats Dave!!!  

Good job!!!!!!


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## fogtender

Well done!  Now you can sell it and buy a Dodge or GMC....


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## DaveNay

fogtender said:


> Well done!  Now you can sell it and buy a Dodge or GMC....


My plan is to have a crew cab Sierra Denali by the end of the year.


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Just in time - congrats!  Sounds like you have a new project coming soon that is going to suck all your free time up!


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## DaveNay

PBinWA said:


> Just in time - congrats!  Sounds like you have a new project coming soon that is going to suck all your free time up!


Yup.  I have two months to remodel two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

DaveNay said:


> Yup. I have two months to remodel two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.


 
Good luck with that!  I'm still 5 years overdue on the bathroom.


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## thcri RIP

DaveNay said:


> Yup.  I have two months to remodel two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs.




How is mom doing and everything else going?


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## DaveNay

thcri said:


> How is mom doing and everything else going?


Great!  Tomorrow is 29 weeks.  Last ultrasound estimated three pounds.


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## thcri RIP

DaveNay said:


> Great!  Tomorrow is 29 weeks.  Last ultrasound estimated three pounds.



Dave,
That is great to hear.


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## OSUfan

Dave that's great news. My dad (doc) was telling me about your experience with this engine and the rusted exhaust bolts. Glad to see you got it going.


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## DaveNay

OSUfan said:


> Dave that's great news. My dad (doc) was telling me about your experience with this engine and the rusted exhaust bolts. Glad to see you got it going.



Yeah, those damn rusted studs damn near killed me.


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## DaveNay

Bump.

171,908 miles and counting.


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## Doc

Damn.  Congrats.  You sure got your moneys worth out of that one ....and your still going.


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## DaveNay

PBinWA said:


> Good luck with that!  I'm still 5 years overdue on the bathroom.



The bathroom still isn't done.


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## XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

DaveNay said:


> The bathroom still isn't done.



You'll get there - I got mine done a year or two ago.


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