Budget H diesel turbo buildup

[BinaryDude]

are you going to weld the turbo on, or weld a t3 flange to bolt to?

I wish Oswald had not just torn up something in the drive train... i would have you make me the same setup...

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I have a stainless T3 flange.

 

[dingbatt]

Nice work mate, looking good!

 

[RufusTheDufus]

A little more progress

Been real busy with work stuff lately. Finally had a chance to do some welding and fitting. I'm a little bummed with the quality of my welds. I'm finally figuring out the TIG unit now that I'm done with the hard stuff. (I am going to TIG up a 2.5" stainless exhaust which will be fun.)

I also spent some time cleaning up the frame and an giving it the Rust Bullet treatment.

Next I'll re-clock the turbo center section and work on the oil lines.

 

[herbs]

Any luck with those oil filter adaptors?

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Not yet.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Finally getting back to work on the HJ45

I've been busy with real life distractions for quite a while. It's getting cold up this way so I made some room in the garage for the Troopy and will be getting to work on it a bunch more soon.

Here's a few photos of the intercooler setup.

I've also spent a little time thinking about how I'm going to add an oil cooler to the H. I've settled on modifying a stock filter mount to handle a common sandwich adapter. This way I'll get rid of the PITA stock canister I can switch to a common PH8A compatible oil filter. I'll be able to use the same filters on my 3B and the H. (BTW, I'll have a batch of stock H oil filters to sell soon.)

I posted photos of the oil filter adapter idea in this thread.

 

[OinkOinker]

Ill be watching...

 

[rchalmers3]

C'mon and light that thing! I wanna hear it run, hear the turbo spool, see it boost and smell the rubber burn.....

Welcome back and thanks for sharing.

Rick

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Yeah, me too. Life has just been getting in the way lately. It's hard to free up any Cruiser time. I'll fire it up soon and post a video.

I've gotten mentally derailed on the HJ45 recently. I've been working on planning the wiring for installing a set of Cadillac CTS heated seats. I want the electric seat motors to work in addition to the seat heaters.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

It runs.

It's alive. (YouTube video link)

I started it up for the first time today. It was nice to hear it run after being out of commission for so long.

Before putting the glow plugs back in it I disconnected the EDIC actuator arm and put a bungee cord on the injection pump to keep it in the "off" position. Then I cranked the engine in five second intervals (5 on, 5 off) until I showed oil pressure on the mechanical gauge.

After I was sure I had oil pressure I put the glow plugs in it, hooked the EDIC up and started cranking. (I had previously bled the fuel filter and injection pump.) I was very surprised how long it took for the injection lines to pressurize to the point that the engine would fire. It took about two minutes of cranking time in brief intervals so I didn't overheat the starter.

When it finally fired up the smoke was insane. It smoked like a coal-fired locomotive until I bled the air from each injection line. After doing that it cleared right up and idled nicely.

So far no leaks and no problems other than a slightly loose v-band clamp on the turbo downpipe. I don't want to run it too long without a good load on it so the piston rings can seat properly. (That's why I'm revving it up so much in the video.)

There's still a lot of little stuff to do before I can get it on the road. I'm waiting on the 3/4" 16tpi tap to arrive so I can finish my oil cooler adapter. Hopefully it arrives soon. When that's done I'll get the whole front end back together. In the mean time I'll get all of the gauges installed and work on mounting and wiring the heated Cadillac CTS seats.

 

[rchalmers3]

ATA-WAY-BOYEEEE!

Rick

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I installed the boost gauge and pyrometer today and took it for a spin down our dirt road to the unmaintained logging roads. What an amazing difference in power a turbo and good compression makes.

I haven't adjusted the fuel yet to match the turbo. I'm going to wait a little while to give the rings a little longer to break in. At the moment the turbo only hits a max of 5 psi @ 850 degrees F (pre-turbo). It's getting colder outside (42 degrees F) so I assume the intercooler must be helping a bit with the low exhaust temps.

I did forget to tighten the lug nuts on one of the rear wheels. Thankfully I caught it before the wheel fell off. Completely trashed a brand new stock steel rim. It's not even usable as spare. I get so frustrated when I do stupid crap like this.

I'm really looking forward to installing the 5 speed now. It should cruise down the road nicely running on 33s. Time to start reading through all those threads.

I've got another set of stainless flanges I won't need if you're looking to do your own manifold for the H. You can have six them for $30+ shipping. If you would rather do steel I can give you the contact info for the laser cutting service in Portland, OR that made them for me and you can order a set directly from them. I'm quite happy with this manifold and turbo setup. Hopefully I'm still happy with it six months down the road.

 

[prado t]

Sweet, I am happy that she is back on track. Very nice exhaust manifold. How has it been doing during the HEAT CYCLES?

 

[RufusTheDufus]

It's been cold here and I'm driving around without a hood or fender aprons so it's not a real world test for heat under the hood. I'm also only driving for 25 to 45 minutes at a shot.

I haven't turned the fuel up yet either. I haven't gotten past 850 F on the pyrometer, pre-turbo so that's not much of a heat cycle test either.

I'm waiting for a tap to arrive so I can finish my oil filter adapter project. When that's done I'll button everything back up and get her on the road for some sustained highway driving and tune the fuel screw. I don't seem much need to turn it up though if the thing can cruise comfortably at 65 MPH. I don't need to go faster than that.

Thus far I have only been testing on the logging roads and our dirt road here at the house. I can hit 50 MPH for brief periods but it's not really a good idea to drive that fast. The frost is starting to setup in the road so it alternates between mud and firm ground in the sunny/shady spots.

I am liking the Cadillac CTS seat. It sits up a little higher than the stock seat giving a much better view out over the front of the truck.

I'm starting to plan the 5 speed swap now. I'm going do some rust repairs under the cab so I might as well pull the tranny at the same time. A friend can do the driveshaft work for me. The rest should be pretty straightforward.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

Air Cleaner

The stock 45 air cleaner wouldn't fit with the turbo over there so I flippedit to the other side of the engine. I didn't even have to modify the air cleaner assembly. Just a 2" spacer under one side and drilled a few holes in the fender. It almost looks like it belongs there.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

How has it been doing during the HEAT CYCLES?

I've put about 150 miles on the engine driving around town on our rural roads, much of it at 55 - 60 MPH. Max pyromter reading to date has been 950 degrees pre-turbo on a 4 mile uphill grade that takes goes from 1200 ft. elevation to 3500 ft. This hill used to require a downshift to 3rd on this engine (and requires a downshift on my 3B turbo with the same gearing and tires.) The turbo H engine doesn't lose power. There's no black smoke.

Heat cycling does not appear to be an issue yet. I'm sure it will take many more miles and summer ambient temps to show any heat related issues. The manifold looks exactly the same as when I first mounted it. It hasn't discolored at all. The turbo housing has blackened from the heat.

The thing cruises very nicely at 60 MPH showing about 5 psi boost and 750 - 800 on the pyro. I don't think I'll turn the fuel up beyond this point. No need to stress the engine out if it's doing everything I need it to do.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

I put a Hallman boost controller on it. Nice piece of equipment. I turned the boost up to 10 psi at the turbo figuring that there would be a 1 - 2 psi drop across the intercooler. Now I think I have a blown head gasket.

 

[Dougal]

I put a Hallman boost controller on it. Nice piece of equipment. I turned the boost up to 10 psi at the turbo figuring that there would be a 1 - 2 psi drop across the intercooler. Now I think I have a blown head gasket.

Sorry to hear that.
BTW, boost controllers aren't much point on a diesel, if you want to change the boost then threading the wastegate arm is a better option.

 

[RufusTheDufus]

The nice thing about the boost controller is that it prevents the wastegate from starting to open too early. Does the threaded actuator rod accomplish the same thing? I adjusted mine a bit to shorten the rod but I felt like I was putting a lot of strain on the spring in the diaphragm.