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Great to hear man!!!!
Especially the "back on the trails" part!!!
Especially the "back on the trails" part!!!
Congrats!
- Thread starter
- #1,825
Update
There were a few pics from the head gasket job that didn't get loaded.
This is ARP's special thread lube I smeared all over the studs. Also a shot of the hardened washers that the shop gave me extra since the 4 longer studs were longer than planned. I didn't end up using these as I shortened the studs to accommodate.
Studs and bolt comparison.
This is how much the studs stuck out and these are suppose to fit under the valve covers. I took off about that much of the thread showing on the opposite end of the stud shown in the pic (the part that threads into the block). The hole in the block wasn't bottom tapped I think so when threading them in you could see thread above the surface of the block. I figured I wasn't loosing any thread contact by shortening those threads. Anyways, it's been retorqued and I think the most on any of them was a ~1/8 turn @ 125ft tq.
On to updates for this month:
I noticed some juiciness around my tranny to 203 connection; it was gear oil and not tranny fluid. I found several bolts barely hand tight so I got in there and gave them some arm torque but one of the bolts is inaccessible with the crossmember attached. I ended up taking out my crossmember to get to the last one. Good thing too since I was missing a nut on my left side rubber mount.
Right before the Dusy trip down in CA I'd simply welded the front part of the skid plate to the tranny crossmember at Cruiserdrew's place to get it up there. I've never done anything with it since but planned on something easier to remove. I separated the skid from the tranny crossmember and decided on some bolt locations that I hope are enough out of the way when the protection is used. Cut out two 1/2" thick squares and welded them onto the crossmember. Drilled and tapped holes.
Haven't gotten back to the skid so she's running commando right now. It'll give those hwy commuters something to look at.
Next random thing. I decided to try out some of this stuff to see if Dora likes it. It just came in this week so I haven't actually put any in the tank yet.
Been getting vibs from the rear at 70mph plus that was concerning so I did some elimination, had a friend do a minor balance on the rear shaft, and noticed some extra movement on my rear yoke, like it's not holding the u-joint good enough. I had tried to convert this strap yoke to a ubolt yoke and I don't think it was going so well so I picked up an actually ubolt yoke from advanced adapters. Researched about taking off the yoke and what to be careful about and decided I wanted to reuse my nut so I marked it and counted the threads to know where to aim for. Borrowed a friends snap-on impact gun and used my free, near-to-death compressor for power. Amen for the impact gun!! I don't think I could have got it off by hand. I did also need to use a puller to yank the yoke off the pinion shaft.
New ubolt yoke for my 14bolt from advanced adapters
Comparison of the goodness on the left to the hack job on the right.
You can also see that the shoulder on the strap yoke where the u-joint sits is taller than on the ubolt yoke. This is what I believe my problem was. I could not get good clamping pressure on the u-joint because the ubolts would bottom on their curved section on the old strap yoke. Lesson learned: trying to convert a strap yoke to a ubolt design isn't worth the trouble when ubolt yokes are available and not that much $.
Cleaned up the nut and washer. Out of curiosity does anyone know what the markings on the nut mean? The nut was a metal lock style.
Transferred over the dust shield, cleaned it and primed it.
Grabbed some new ubolts since the new ones I used weren't looking so good.
I ran into some difficulty getting the new yoke back on and at one point took it back off to make sure the spline depth was the same as the old yoke (different spline depth would mean getting back to my mark would not be right as that would change my preload). I confirmed they are the same but noticed I'd left the protective cardboard on the seal surface of the new yoke. It came with the packaging and I reused that piece when I painted the dust shield but forgot to take it off. I didn't see the seal on axle messed up so I'm hoping it conforms back to the new yoke. I figured I'd rebuild the diff when I do a locker in the rear but since I'm not ready for that now I wasn't planning on changing that seal. I'll have to watch it.
New ubolts on and they tighten/sit much better.
That's all the pics. I've picked up some 2x3" tube for the rear bumper mods. I'm also researching for some injectors. Different spray patterns, number of holes in the tip, pop pressures, etc. When I bought my engine rebuilt kit I was sent a gasket set for a 4bt but sent 6 piston kits. That got me questioning whether I actually have 4bt pistons in my engine. Since that makes a difference on what injectors I should run I'm going to need to figure that out first and my plan is to see if I can get any hits on the part numbers I have on the two extra piston kits as well as take one down to an injector shop to see if they can identify it and then recommend some performance injectors for it. If these are really 6bt pistons, my options go up quite a bit. Getting the right injectors will give me more power, give me better mileage, reduce my egts, and clean up the smoke.
There were a few pics from the head gasket job that didn't get loaded.
This is ARP's special thread lube I smeared all over the studs. Also a shot of the hardened washers that the shop gave me extra since the 4 longer studs were longer than planned. I didn't end up using these as I shortened the studs to accommodate.
Studs and bolt comparison.
This is how much the studs stuck out and these are suppose to fit under the valve covers. I took off about that much of the thread showing on the opposite end of the stud shown in the pic (the part that threads into the block). The hole in the block wasn't bottom tapped I think so when threading them in you could see thread above the surface of the block. I figured I wasn't loosing any thread contact by shortening those threads. Anyways, it's been retorqued and I think the most on any of them was a ~1/8 turn @ 125ft tq.
On to updates for this month:
I noticed some juiciness around my tranny to 203 connection; it was gear oil and not tranny fluid. I found several bolts barely hand tight so I got in there and gave them some arm torque but one of the bolts is inaccessible with the crossmember attached. I ended up taking out my crossmember to get to the last one. Good thing too since I was missing a nut on my left side rubber mount.
Right before the Dusy trip down in CA I'd simply welded the front part of the skid plate to the tranny crossmember at Cruiserdrew's place to get it up there. I've never done anything with it since but planned on something easier to remove. I separated the skid from the tranny crossmember and decided on some bolt locations that I hope are enough out of the way when the protection is used. Cut out two 1/2" thick squares and welded them onto the crossmember. Drilled and tapped holes.
Haven't gotten back to the skid so she's running commando right now. It'll give those hwy commuters something to look at.
Next random thing. I decided to try out some of this stuff to see if Dora likes it. It just came in this week so I haven't actually put any in the tank yet.
Been getting vibs from the rear at 70mph plus that was concerning so I did some elimination, had a friend do a minor balance on the rear shaft, and noticed some extra movement on my rear yoke, like it's not holding the u-joint good enough. I had tried to convert this strap yoke to a ubolt yoke and I don't think it was going so well so I picked up an actually ubolt yoke from advanced adapters. Researched about taking off the yoke and what to be careful about and decided I wanted to reuse my nut so I marked it and counted the threads to know where to aim for. Borrowed a friends snap-on impact gun and used my free, near-to-death compressor for power. Amen for the impact gun!! I don't think I could have got it off by hand. I did also need to use a puller to yank the yoke off the pinion shaft.
New ubolt yoke for my 14bolt from advanced adapters
Comparison of the goodness on the left to the hack job on the right.
You can also see that the shoulder on the strap yoke where the u-joint sits is taller than on the ubolt yoke. This is what I believe my problem was. I could not get good clamping pressure on the u-joint because the ubolts would bottom on their curved section on the old strap yoke. Lesson learned: trying to convert a strap yoke to a ubolt design isn't worth the trouble when ubolt yokes are available and not that much $.
Cleaned up the nut and washer. Out of curiosity does anyone know what the markings on the nut mean? The nut was a metal lock style.
Transferred over the dust shield, cleaned it and primed it.
Grabbed some new ubolts since the new ones I used weren't looking so good.
I ran into some difficulty getting the new yoke back on and at one point took it back off to make sure the spline depth was the same as the old yoke (different spline depth would mean getting back to my mark would not be right as that would change my preload). I confirmed they are the same but noticed I'd left the protective cardboard on the seal surface of the new yoke. It came with the packaging and I reused that piece when I painted the dust shield but forgot to take it off. I didn't see the seal on axle messed up so I'm hoping it conforms back to the new yoke. I figured I'd rebuild the diff when I do a locker in the rear but since I'm not ready for that now I wasn't planning on changing that seal. I'll have to watch it.
New ubolts on and they tighten/sit much better.
That's all the pics. I've picked up some 2x3" tube for the rear bumper mods. I'm also researching for some injectors. Different spray patterns, number of holes in the tip, pop pressures, etc. When I bought my engine rebuilt kit I was sent a gasket set for a 4bt but sent 6 piston kits. That got me questioning whether I actually have 4bt pistons in my engine. Since that makes a difference on what injectors I should run I'm going to need to figure that out first and my plan is to see if I can get any hits on the part numbers I have on the two extra piston kits as well as take one down to an injector shop to see if they can identify it and then recommend some performance injectors for it. If these are really 6bt pistons, my options go up quite a bit. Getting the right injectors will give me more power, give me better mileage, reduce my egts, and clean up the smoke.
Last edited:
Cruiserdrew
On the way there
Nice work Mike.
Want to go to Death Valley next week?
Want to go to Death Valley next week?
the consummate tinkerer hard at work... idle hands... not around that home. 
Clint
Clint
hi boots...don't see you over at 4btswaps much anymore.just a comment on your thread engagment with the studs.on my 6bt build i took some pics of the holes in the block...you can see that they are recessed below the block surface.my guess is abot .200"below deck surface...if you had thtreads showing above block surface ,your giving up close to .250" thread engagement.
for your build it likely won't make much differance,but if anyone here is going for big boost on a diesel build...bottom tap the cummins block.if you want you can still get that done if you grab an extended bottoming tap (not a pully tap).you can remove,tap,clean and re-install the studs one at a time...very common with those who want studs on the cummins but don't want to remove the head...cheers
mike.
for your build it likely won't make much differance,but if anyone here is going for big boost on a diesel build...bottom tap the cummins block.if you want you can still get that done if you grab an extended bottoming tap (not a pully tap).you can remove,tap,clean and re-install the studs one at a time...very common with those who want studs on the cummins but don't want to remove the head...cheers
mike.
- Thread starter
- #1,830
Thanks for the added tech Mike and great pics for reference. Bottom tapping is the better way to get all the possible thread engagement available. I did read up on that but on the day I decided to shorten the studs since I'm not going to be pushing monster boost as you've noticed. If I get to 40psi that'll be plenty. I'd really need to swap in stiffer valve springs if I get there anyways. I've been following your engine build thread and you're doing a really nice job. I've been more of a lurker over on 4btswaps lately.
- Thread starter
- #1,831
End of an era
I bring you sad news. I recently lost a good friend. He's been with me this whole project. Working right along side me in the cold rainy weather, in the hot humid sun, always outside, and through the thick and thin. His switch stopped staying locked on a while ago but he kept working. Finally, chewing on some of the thickest plate he sputtered and gave up the ghost. I'll miss him, he's been a good tool and my primary metal cutting and sculpting device.
I might have one last attempt at resurrection with a set of new brushes but the brunt of the work has been taken over by a younger, stronger Dewalt. Dewalt has stepped up to the game and seems to be settling in rather nicely. In fact Dewalt finished off cutting those plates for the revised bumper I working on now.
I separated the quarter sliders from the main bumper and started measurements and mock up.
The whole drive to revise is that I wanted to set up a tire swing out and with my last bumper having a bow in it I felt it would be too noticeable with a straight swing out arm above it. Plus I wanted a little more toe room to step on if I need to access the roof.
Another issue that came up was no charge from the alternator. After investigation it turned out being a broken wire. The signal wire causing the alternator to excite had broken at the resistor I soldering inline. I replaced the resistor and double layered the heat shrink for more backbone.
While I was there I also found that one of the power wires coming from the alternator had been rubbing on the pulley and worn the sheathing off. I fixed that too and zip tied them away, don't want any shorts! I don't think I've ever noted the actual wiring for connecting the CS144 to the toyota system. Here it is. For my FJ60 coloring the larger white, the yellow wire, the red signal going to the plug, and a large red wire (not shown but it's in the background) coming from the terminal on the back of the alternator all get hooked together. The small black/yellow wire is hooked into the "L" terminal on the plug and this one got the resistor.
It's been charging fine ever since. Other things in the pipeline now are a set of 5x.014 injectors from southern diesel extreme being built. They are big but that'll give me growth for that turbo I want to power.
I've also been getting more and more vibs coming from the back. Finally put the rear up on jacks and started the truck to spin the rear drive shaft. Let's just say it wasn't very smooth. The joints are all still good so I yanked it and took it to a shop to re-tube; didn't want to deal with it. Hoping to get it back by the end of the week.
I bring you sad news. I recently lost a good friend. He's been with me this whole project. Working right along side me in the cold rainy weather, in the hot humid sun, always outside, and through the thick and thin. His switch stopped staying locked on a while ago but he kept working. Finally, chewing on some of the thickest plate he sputtered and gave up the ghost. I'll miss him, he's been a good tool and my primary metal cutting and sculpting device.
I might have one last attempt at resurrection with a set of new brushes but the brunt of the work has been taken over by a younger, stronger Dewalt. Dewalt has stepped up to the game and seems to be settling in rather nicely. In fact Dewalt finished off cutting those plates for the revised bumper I working on now.
I separated the quarter sliders from the main bumper and started measurements and mock up.
The whole drive to revise is that I wanted to set up a tire swing out and with my last bumper having a bow in it I felt it would be too noticeable with a straight swing out arm above it. Plus I wanted a little more toe room to step on if I need to access the roof.
Another issue that came up was no charge from the alternator. After investigation it turned out being a broken wire. The signal wire causing the alternator to excite had broken at the resistor I soldering inline. I replaced the resistor and double layered the heat shrink for more backbone.
While I was there I also found that one of the power wires coming from the alternator had been rubbing on the pulley and worn the sheathing off. I fixed that too and zip tied them away, don't want any shorts! I don't think I've ever noted the actual wiring for connecting the CS144 to the toyota system. Here it is. For my FJ60 coloring the larger white, the yellow wire, the red signal going to the plug, and a large red wire (not shown but it's in the background) coming from the terminal on the back of the alternator all get hooked together. The small black/yellow wire is hooked into the "L" terminal on the plug and this one got the resistor.
It's been charging fine ever since. Other things in the pipeline now are a set of 5x.014 injectors from southern diesel extreme being built. They are big but that'll give me growth for that turbo I want to power.
I've also been getting more and more vibs coming from the back. Finally put the rear up on jacks and started the truck to spin the rear drive shaft. Let's just say it wasn't very smooth. The joints are all still good so I yanked it and took it to a shop to re-tube; didn't want to deal with it. Hoping to get it back by the end of the week.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2006
- Threads
- 162
- Messages
- 4,044
- Location
- Hillsboro, OR
- Website
- www.cascadecruisers.com
I was fortunate enough to meet your grinder... What a sweet one she was.
Rip ol'trusty grinder. You will be missed.
Rip ol'trusty grinder. You will be missed.
- Thread starter
- #1,834
Update
There was a little mix up with the driveshaft and I got it back a day or two later completed. I put it on and my morning commute was the smoothest it's ever been. I took it up to 80-85 just to test and it was pretty good. I don't cruise at that speed but if I had to kind of thing I wanted to know. Unfortunately these tires have seen more road miles than dirt however they've done really well. The nicest tires I've run so far (of course they were also new tires too).
I've been watching my driver side rear hub seal getting more juicy. I decided to pull it off with plans to replace the seal (it was replaced when I put the 14bolt under) and see what was going on. I found the surface was pitted which I think wore out the rubber on the seal. I hoped smoothing out the surface would help so I sanded and even tired filling in the pits with some JB weld and then sand that down but in the end it's leaking again.
I tried spacing the seal a little differently in the hub but that didn't help either. I'll have to hunt for some kind of speedy sleeve to fix it.
While in there I found my caliper brackets forming some stress cracks. Pics aren't the greatest but hopefully enough to see the cracks.
This is on the driver side. I took it off and welded up the cracks. Picked up some specific caliper pin grease and cleaned that up since the caliper's started to stick. In fact I cleaned up all caliper pins on both sides and greased them up. I think I may have been getting some minor pulling from them so this was good maintenance to take care of. It drove better afterwards.
Continuing more random maintenance it was finally time to throw in the towel on my duct tape enhanced hood bumpers.
Found some at a good price from Cruiser Corps and put those in.
Did some more tuning on my tranny controller. I'll continue to fiddle with this to get it just right. It works fine, I'm just a little more picky.
Then I've been waiting for my injectors and Southern Diesel Extreme is not easy to get a hold of and just when I decided to fire off an email to inquire about my order a box was waiting for me after work. I do know they are a busy pair of guys as their injectors are in demand. I had to open it right away and show the
and kids even though they really didn't care.
It was nicely packed. The stats are 5x.014 hole and are able to support up to a 140hp gain (website listed for 6bts, so 2/3rd's the power rule could mean ~90hp on a 4bt). When I talked to the guy and told him what I had planned for my 4bt this is what he suggested plus reading on other sites the comments about just buy the bigger injector so you don't end up replacing them down the road anyways I decided to go for it. The last mod I'd like to get is a fuel pin and I believe I'll have enough fuel to support the HE351vgt turbo sitting in my shop. I also believe 200hp won't be a challenge to achieve. Anyways I was able to swap in those big boys that day.
Here a comparison between the two. About the only external difference you can see is the nozzle tip.
I turned my power screw down a 1/4 turn before I ran it. With my first test drive I was surprised at how much fuel these suckers put out. I could smoke out intersections putting my foot into it but when I did the seat-o-meter registered a grinning gain in power. There was an increase in turbo response and a faster build in EGT's too. I turned the power screw down a full turn after that and it's still smokey. I'll be doing some more balanced tuning this week to see if I can get these under control with hazing instead of smoking but it definitely demonstrates to me that I'll have the fuel needed to run a bigger turbo. My current turbo really is my limiting factor right now so I plan to tune to it so I'm not smoking out the road. I mean it's not anything like a diesel truck at a tractor pull but a cloud can be left behind that I've never done before. There are 5 primary adjustments that can be made for tuning a VE pump: Power screw, timing, Star wheel, AFC/fuel pin position, and the smoke screw. I believe I'll be returning to stock or below stock settings. If I cannot get it cleaned up my turbo project may have been accelerated up the priority list.
I also continue to work on my rear bumper. Had a few snags and do-overs that is taking me longer for my simple design.
There was a little mix up with the driveshaft and I got it back a day or two later completed. I put it on and my morning commute was the smoothest it's ever been. I took it up to 80-85 just to test and it was pretty good. I don't cruise at that speed but if I had to kind of thing I wanted to know. Unfortunately these tires have seen more road miles than dirt however they've done really well. The nicest tires I've run so far (of course they were also new tires too).
I've been watching my driver side rear hub seal getting more juicy. I decided to pull it off with plans to replace the seal (it was replaced when I put the 14bolt under) and see what was going on. I found the surface was pitted which I think wore out the rubber on the seal. I hoped smoothing out the surface would help so I sanded and even tired filling in the pits with some JB weld and then sand that down but in the end it's leaking again.
I tried spacing the seal a little differently in the hub but that didn't help either. I'll have to hunt for some kind of speedy sleeve to fix it.
While in there I found my caliper brackets forming some stress cracks. Pics aren't the greatest but hopefully enough to see the cracks.
This is on the driver side. I took it off and welded up the cracks. Picked up some specific caliper pin grease and cleaned that up since the caliper's started to stick. In fact I cleaned up all caliper pins on both sides and greased them up. I think I may have been getting some minor pulling from them so this was good maintenance to take care of. It drove better afterwards.
Continuing more random maintenance it was finally time to throw in the towel on my duct tape enhanced hood bumpers.
Found some at a good price from Cruiser Corps and put those in.
Did some more tuning on my tranny controller. I'll continue to fiddle with this to get it just right. It works fine, I'm just a little more picky.
Then I've been waiting for my injectors and Southern Diesel Extreme is not easy to get a hold of and just when I decided to fire off an email to inquire about my order a box was waiting for me after work. I do know they are a busy pair of guys as their injectors are in demand. I had to open it right away and show the
and kids even though they really didn't care.
It was nicely packed. The stats are 5x.014 hole and are able to support up to a 140hp gain (website listed for 6bts, so 2/3rd's the power rule could mean ~90hp on a 4bt). When I talked to the guy and told him what I had planned for my 4bt this is what he suggested plus reading on other sites the comments about just buy the bigger injector so you don't end up replacing them down the road anyways I decided to go for it. The last mod I'd like to get is a fuel pin and I believe I'll have enough fuel to support the HE351vgt turbo sitting in my shop. I also believe 200hp won't be a challenge to achieve. Anyways I was able to swap in those big boys that day.
Here a comparison between the two. About the only external difference you can see is the nozzle tip.
I turned my power screw down a 1/4 turn before I ran it. With my first test drive I was surprised at how much fuel these suckers put out. I could smoke out intersections putting my foot into it but when I did the seat-o-meter registered a grinning gain in power. There was an increase in turbo response and a faster build in EGT's too. I turned the power screw down a full turn after that and it's still smokey. I'll be doing some more balanced tuning this week to see if I can get these under control with hazing instead of smoking but it definitely demonstrates to me that I'll have the fuel needed to run a bigger turbo. My current turbo really is my limiting factor right now so I plan to tune to it so I'm not smoking out the road. I mean it's not anything like a diesel truck at a tractor pull but a cloud can be left behind that I've never done before. There are 5 primary adjustments that can be made for tuning a VE pump: Power screw, timing, Star wheel, AFC/fuel pin position, and the smoke screw. I believe I'll be returning to stock or below stock settings. If I cannot get it cleaned up my turbo project may have been accelerated up the priority list.
I also continue to work on my rear bumper. Had a few snags and do-overs that is taking me longer for my simple design.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2006
- Threads
- 162
- Messages
- 4,044
- Location
- Hillsboro, OR
- Website
- www.cascadecruisers.com
Nice update. Let's try to get together again soon.
those are drop dead sexy! I know the feeling when mine came in from the rebuilders but modded ones must be that much better!
How was the run this last weekend?
Clint
How was the run this last weekend?
Clint
