Installed my charge pipes tonight, They will have to come out again so I can install the Air cleaner tubes when they get here later in the week. Got my Idler pully for the alt/hydraulic belts so I can build the tensioner for the alt tomorrow. One thing at a time...

 

Got the Belts on and filled the Hydraulic oil and fired the beast off....The engine is a bit harder to start than it was when it was warmer out....But that's to be expected... The power steering works, and the hydraulic fan works, as dose the trans cooler fans. now that I have the Air system up to pressure I can set up the Air throttle. Getting closer to test drive time. I should have all the air cleaner parts here by Friday so I should be driving it by Sunday.

 

sweet keep it going those last few steps seem to take the longest

 

Sounds good racer30. If you can take some video of it running now and how it drives. Report back when you drive it for a while also and let us know how it handles on the highway and threw the mountains.

 

YA,,, I going to keep updating as I get some miles on it. Right now My wife and I have plans to take it out Friday after Thanksgiving for the weekend. I just need to make sure my sat dish is set up so I can watch TV...LOL Got three weeks to getterdone.....

 

I second the request..

 

I got my throttle modified and installed. I was able to put the MH into gear and ease into the throttle against the Torque converter and get 10psi boost pretty easy. It was dark so I didn't get any pics. I got a late start today my back is all tight from a goofball maneuver I did yesterday afternoon. I have a few more things to finish up with the throttle servo mount and the trans cooler fan relay. I need to pull the intercooler back out to finish up a few things like the Air cleaner, turbo blanket and some P clamps on the air compressor lines. If it's not raining to hard I should get most of that done and can go for a test drive.

 

Wow, that is a serious project!

Why a 7.3L IDI instead of a DT466 or another wet sleeve medium duty CAT motor? Will the IDI have enough grunt to push that motorhome? I suppose if the IDI can move a school bus, it can move a motorhome.

 

Well I thought about a dt466...and almost went with one...I found one with a 6 speed Allison for 2500.00 but I just couldn't swing that much money...To change to a 6 cylinder like a 6bt I would need to change the rear gear ratio or trans and shifter system, So I researched 9.0L International, Cat 3208, Both of them are harder to find any performance info or parts than the IDI so I just built a mild performance 7.3 that will out perform the feeble 8.2 Detroit and be cheep to keep running. I didn't need to change any trans or gear ratios, I just needed to modify the Accessories to fit and build a turbo system to work with the Engine. No problem..... It only took me 7 months once I got started building the Engine.....Not to forget the 3 years of looking for parts and stuff and the year or so of thinking about it....LOL...

 

Well, you can't say it wasn't well planned.

Curious, what kind of mpg do you expect in that monster? Friends of ours had a gas motorhome and it got 4-7mpg depending on terrain and conditions. LOL.

They finally sold it because it cost more to drive it than fly and rent.

 

Well the PO said he got 12 with the 8.2 going over Stevens pass here in WA. So I hope to get 12mpg out of this 7.3 Its got smaller displacement and less rotating mass compared to the 8.2 . If I get less than that I will be a little disappointed. If I get better than 12mpg I will be happy. Most of the time I will be towing two horse's when we get to AZ. Today I got another late start and it was raining all day. didn't get as much done as I had planed. I also ran into a problem with the Hydraulic fan bypass valve. I was rewiring it to a relay with fused power and the wires at the solenoid coil broke off all corroded flush with the coil. So now I am going to try a coil off a hydraulic slide out pump from a MH and see if it has the right size center hole to fit my bypass valve. I have a trip planed on Thanksgiving weekend so I got to find something to work or It will be running with full time Hydraulic fan on that trip.

 

12 mpg would be excellent. you could home brew some biodiesel and mix it up.

 

I have some coils for those valves, if needed get me accurate measurements.
Spool diameter and length are the critical ones.

 

I tried one tonight and it didn't seem to work correctly....I will get the measurements and get back to you in a pm.

 

Thanks to your photo-documentation of the 7.3 build I realized I put in the push rods upside down and left out greasing the the valve ends...thanks Racer!!