12HT Intercooler & GTurbo upgrade LHD 60 (1 Viewer)

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Holy Dooley, thanks so much for the very thorough breakdown, pics and information for what seems to be the most bang for back mods.
I've been looking at these mods and reading all forums to help make the call. I've settled on the PDI intercooler from Perth, specific for the HJ61 double rectangle headlights and potentially the Grunter GTurbo or getting the stock CT26 overhauled. Thoughts on the turbo options?
The other thing I keep reading is Alfin insert pistons, did you do any upgrades on yours before the power upgrades?
Thanks so much for all your posts to date!
 
Awesome, thanks for the advice. After seeing MTQ engine systems mentioned in the Roothy Milo 2 rebuilds i'll be calling them Monday :D
 
I've settled on the PDI intercooler from Perth, specific for the HJ61 double rectangle headlights and potentially the Grunter GTurbo
I have the Gturbo Green Wheel (Grunter I believe), +30 injectors, modified injector pump and PDI Front Mount intercooler (one of the first in Aus specific to the rectangular headlight Hj61 as far as I know)…
Just talking about the Intercooler - I wouldn’t have anything else, but mine certainly wasn’t without issues installing it.

I have an aircond, and with the condenser, I couldn’t get the Intercooler back far enough to save the grill ( and my grill already had the centre cut and moved forward similar to a 200 series)… I ended up cutting off the lower third of the grill - which I like the look of anyway!…
I had to install the Intercooler slightly lower than the included brackets would allow - so had to fabricate new top mounts, and bottom mounts (I welded the bottom ones on instead of using the nut-serts).
There is a silicone join on the LH side that needs to be cut as it is too long (may be in the new instructions).
You will have to fabricate a mount for a vacuum / pressure solenoid (unsure if this is what it is called) next to the cross-over pipe (I just used a off cut of galv angle, so was easy).
I called Brian from PDI and he was fantastic! He called in on his way home from holidays and had a look and offered suggestions, so may have changed things since??…
any photos needed of the install, just let me know!
 
Get your CT26 built to meet your desired outcome/target. Much better option and will perform better and cost less.
I’m curious, cause I get lots of questions why didn’t I stick with the CT26 etc. Bu here in Canada there are no
rebuild options. Let alone ‘built to meet your desired outcome/target’, who designs components for RPM
or power level upgrades for a CT26? I’m only aware of WINK in Europe who build a CT26 up to about 10 PSI.
Maybe there are guys here who build them, but for me hitting the outback with a solo experimental one off
turbo build can lead to issues in my opinion.
The GTurbo sure puts out the power, has negligible effect on fuel economy when cruising. It’s design is weak
in the bottom end power supply but I’m not enough of an officionado. I just know it’s not as simple as bolt in and go.
 
Yeah that's understandable for you over there with limited support but here in Aus most turbo shops have been rebuilding and improving CT26 turbos for decades and have lots of options including up to 40+ psi builds and some even have ball bearing upgrades. There's so many things you can do to them these days it's really quite amazing when you compare it to the original CT26 which often gives them a bad name when compared to others.
 
Local guys have said ‘CT26‘ are junk, not worth building. But again, local Canadian ignorance
without anything to back up. Just ‘opinion’. Not worth much.
 
@HemiAlex ya got me reading my own thread again. Hard to imagine this was three years ago.
Truck runs fantastic, I surprise so many people when I just pull out and pass. I tow two different trailers
with ease up and around hills and passes that used to just depress me. Put 3-4 trips to the arctic on it
total reliability and highway comfort. All the extra power, negligible effect on fuel economy.
 
This was a very informative lesson. I love when people turn technical writing into a forum post.

I document all my successes and mistakes with my 60 to benefit people on here. This is like historical record stuff for keeping up with these tractors.
 
@HemiAlex ya got me reading my own thread again. Hard to imagine this was three years ago.
Truck runs fantastic, I surprise so many people when I just pull out and pass. I tow two different trailers
with ease up and around hills and passes that used to just depress me. Put 3-4 trips to the arctic on it
total reliability and highway comfort. All the extra power, negligible effect on fuel economy.
you done the Dempster hwy yet? I'm hoping to do it this end of August beginning of September. I still don't think mine works as good as I think it should?
 
you done the Dempster hwy yet? I'm hoping to do it this end of August beginning of September. I still don't think mine works as good as I think it should?
I've been on every single inch of it a few times and if there is an offshoot road on there I haven't explored I'd be surprised.
 
Howdy all,
Quick update from me, crazy how time flies! I had my injectors done at MTQ Brisbane, all compression results were great, from memory, 370, 370, 380, 400, 410, 370 or something like that, so all witihin 10% or so of each other so went ahead and did the GTurbo and PDI intercooler upgrade. Fitted them myself and all was going really well with around 15lbs boost. Unfortunately after a few months i inspected the comp wheel and the bearing had completely flogged out! Had to ship back to Perth (I'm in Brisbane) and a really inconvenient time, and they said under inspection they couldn't verify what was wrong other than suspecting install error on my behalf. I'm very meticulous with how i do things but was snookered so had to pay another $950 for the rebuild (unit was $2400 new) and they processed quickly for me as well as bringing price down from $1200 for rebuild. Having already put the original CT26 back in for the week as i needed a vehicle, I then stripped this out to put the rebuilt GTurbo in and found the turbine and exhaust housing weren't clocked correctly! I could adjust anything so they just apologised and paid for return post, and clocked correctly another week later having put the CT26. back in again! It was a huge pain to go through and I then doubted they're service and reliability of the intial flogged out bearing but alas i was in at $3500 so fitted it and hoped for the best. Thankfully 18 months later its running fine and just had it out for another issue i've mentioned in another thread with tapping noise on valves etc.

Anyway hope that wasn't too stressful to read and i never wish that struggle on anyone else.

As for my recent tapping noise if anyone cares to check this thread and my update, please offer any help or experience that may be useful 😛

Thanks everyone and happing cruising!



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Howdy anyone that may still be in tune with this thread!
1988, 12HT, been running well the past 4 years i've had it, had the injectors overhauled 18 months ago with a reputable firm, never an out of touch noise until 2 months ago, randomly started tapping on top end around cylinder one, not noticeable on idle but under power and revs it was crazy loud. I immediately parked it up till i could sort it out. Did an oil change, nothing out of normal using Penrite 15-50 semi synthetic extra ten, full zinc oil. No change.
Since then I checked and set valve clearances, no change. Lifting push rods, i found the C1 exhaust rod and lifter (call this lifter L2) made a catching/flicking sound on lifting and depressing where all others were smooth. So I stripped that side of the motor, push rod panels off, and upon simply removing L2, inspecting and reinserting it wasn't catching anymore! Nevertheless i checked all lifters, inspected the cam shaft and rotated to see if i could notice any wear or scoring etc, nothing obvious. Cleaned everything up, some light emery paper on a few stickier lifters and the main question mark L2, reinserted with moly paste etc etc.
Fitted valve train, adjusted everything, fired up, little to no noise but not much revving and warmed it up. Fired up again today to build to temp and similar noise came back. Once warm, checked and adjusted all valves again with very snug feeler gauge fit. Ran up and still getting the same noise. Not as bad as when it first started but not gone and i suspect under driving will be back!

I do have a snapped exhaust stud on the bottom side of the front of the manifold but this happened 18months ago which i never replaced, wondering if this could be the source of an exhaust knock or is that only from a valve? Can an exhaust knock literally come from an unsealed part of exhaust manifold?

I don't know the condition of the pistons but suspect no rebuild and original pistons.

Any other ideas??

Thanks for anyone who may be listening! :D

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I've heard some accounts of faulty GTurbos. Having it shipped overseas to Canada is another bit of angst. Mine has run perfect from
day one. What I find interesting, and would be well within their financial ability is the concept of just replacing the unit with new. As a
customer paying absolute top dollar for a market percieved top dollar product accepting the failed unit as a core and replacing it with
proper unit makes sense. Certainly if the unit has a record of 2 issues. I've only been burned by one dealer of alternators in Australia
who basically ghosted me on payback of returned unit. ( It was completely wrong order, Nissan alternator sent ) Wouldn't send the
proper unit until I emailed postal receipt. I got the proper alternator in the end, but not my $145 shipping for returning the wrong one.
Australia shipping costs $97 AUS Canadian shipping costs identical box returned $145 CAD,

I only have valve ticks on my engine on cold starts. It goes away after a few minutes. My engine is 450,000 kms now, thinking of rebuild to
ensure longevity.
I have a question for the informed masses: Am I right in thinking that installing Alphin pistons and rings would be a saving venture? I run
max 20 psi now under load. The information I've gathered over the years is that factory pistons and rings could fail due to extra heat and
pressures. My thoughts are metallurgically Alphin rings and pistons have to be better than anything from early 80's when original equipment
was manufactured, tolerances are tighter and process is far superior. Thoughts and opinions?
 
Cheers for the reply. Yeah it was a huge pain and they only considered rebuilding it as it was with the repairable damaged parts, new bearings, no scoring on other sections etc. Anyway, i've moved on and glad it's going okay now.

True, i'm glad it goes away and I guess would only be a valve clearance that when warmed takes up the tolerance. I have the opposite issue so unsure as to what it is given i've inspected everything from lifters to valves. I've seen a forum suggest piston ring issues so perhaps i'll be heading that way as a next step to rebuild.
From what i've researched, if you want to guarantee longevity then line up a rebuild with the Alfin pistons if you have the time and money. I looked into this 18 months ago but. as my injector overhaul proved good compression results across the engine, i decided the health was fine and i'll continue to drive it.
 

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