I'm putting this in the general forum since it's probably a generic question of interest to all.....

Can things "dry out" during a 2-4 week repair? What I mean is.... after letting a truck sit for 2 or even 4 weeks without a valve cover or intake manifold, can you just reassemble and crank it, or should we add a bit of extra fluids to any of the parts and ports before reassembly?

Side note... if anyone has an extra Helm 2003 workshop manual on CD I'm interested

 

You should be fine to plug and play, but one question, did you cover the open engine areas with rags or plastic?

Do you know nothing has fallen or "crawled" in?

Oil won't dry out that fast, but after any engine work it is best to pre-lube by disabling Spark(unplug coil pack) and then crank the engine a few times to get oil pump to fill up passages again.
Then plug coil back in a start her up

 

Thanks Ron. Anytime I closed the hood I first draped the engine with one of those heavy mil contractor trash bags (new from box). Not perfect or guanteed, but just eyeballing there's no dead rats in there or anything obvious. When I do fire up, the first drive is to the (flat and level) place where I will change all the fluids and maybe do a sea foam treatment. Hoping any small specks that fell get captured by the oil filter before doing any damage.