weekly update
DMV experience for the Portland OR metro area:
I showed up thursday morning and was at the counter within 5 minutes! I told the guy that I now have a diesel engine in my landcruiser and that I need to change the fuel type on my title. He wasn't sure how to do that so he disappeared for a couple of minutes to find out. He came back and then asked an older lady who probably had been working there for a while and she told him to fill out a "Title correction" form. He wrote on that to change the fuel type on my title from gasoline to diesel. I asked if he needed to see or hear the diesel and he said no. After that I needed to re-register to get tags. We filled out the normal form except he checked the diesel box instead of gas. I then had to go to the DEQ (portland's emission testing division) because I was not GVW8500 which are exempt. I drove to the facility and waited in line. I showed the guy the form I had that said to check for diesel emissions. There was a attendant there that was interested in my conversion and asked a few questions and ended up taking over the testing. They checked the VIN and then stuck a sniffer up the tailpipe. The attendant also asked what year the engine was. I told him it was a '92 and that I could open the hood if he wanted to see the EPA tag. He told me that all they care about in the conversion is that it's the same year or newer than the chassis. There seemed to be no problem with it going from gas to diesel. For the sniffer test he had me bump the rpm to ~900 and then to ~2000. I have no working tach yet so I guessed by sound. For the sniffer I was in the green the whole time, whatever they were testing for (I think it was for CO emissions). I was warmed up before I went so no visual smoke either and was running B5 that I got at a shell station so pretty much regular diesel. Then he said that it was kind of loud and that he was going to test for dBs. This is what I failed.
He tested right behind the front driver side tire and then behind the tailpipe. Permissible dB allowance is 93dB. I was running at 101dB. The test was done reving the engine and the bay did seem to amplify the sound some. So the part that I was worried about (changing gas to diesel) was not what I need to worry about now. I went back to the DMV and was told to hang on to the paper work for when I get it taken care of. I got a trip permit that lasts for 21 days so I could drive it to and from work.
I did some quick searching but will do more this week to find products that absorb sound inside the engine bay. A product called MotorMat looks promising. Then I'll need to find a muffler that is quiter. I used the stepvan's muffler and really don't think it quiets much. I had planned to do more soundproofing and run a different muffler anyways so this just moves those to the priority list.
I did not have skirts between the fender well and the frame so I made some. The old ones had fallen apart. About 2 years ago on a trail I came acoss what looked like a truckers mud flap that had been ripped off a trail rig. I picked it up for two reasons: 1 to clean up the trail and 2 because I thought I could use it for something later. This was the perfect use so I cut out some cardboard to get the shape, traced that shape and cut out a rubber piece.
Passenger side piece.
Passenger side skirt installed.
The driver side is in two pieces due to the steering box. Here's the front piece.
Here is the back piece.
Doing that probably dropped 2 dBs. If whatever product I use doesn't get me all the way I'll end up making a skirt to go around the bottom of the engine for dB testing.
I was thinking that my injection pump may have been turned up some but at the cruiser meeting last thursday night the other 4bt FJ60 was there and we parked side by side to do a sound comparison test and they sounded the same so I don't think my pump has been tweeked (I know his hadn't).
I did get my parts last week for the tranny. This is the vacuum regulator from a GM diesel that will vary the vacuum depending on the throttle position. Nothing has been hooked up yet so these are just product pics.
For vacuum I'll be using a 99-2000 ford powerstroke electric vacuum pump. It's just a positive and a negative wire to hook up.
To give me some kind of bumper since I am driving it around to find out what I need to address I slapped on the old one. Not pretty but I won't get to my front bumper built for a little bit so this will give cops one less reason to pull me over.
The brackets are super simple.