Cummins swap/frame question
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
My son was off work today, so he went to pick up the roll of aluminum tubing I ordered for the return fuel line.
This weekend is supposed to be quite a bit cooler than the last few have been, so I hope to move the truck into the shop and get some progress back underway.
Shouldn't be too much of a task to drop the tank, drain out the rest of the gas, and clean it out. Then mod the sender to accept a return line, and open up the filler neck to accept a diesel nozzle. Dunno if I will get the return line ran down the frame and clamped into place, but I hope to get that far so the fuel system will be done.
I also want to start on the cab mods. Flop the carpet over onto the pass side floorboard, cut out the trans tunnel, and get started on the column/pedals swap by getting most of it loose. Won't be able to put the new stuff in, till I get the firewall reinforcement plate. Those should be available again soon, so I really ought to get an order placed for it.
Would be nice to have this stuff done before setting the engine/trans into place. That way, I could leave them there......
This weekend is supposed to be quite a bit cooler than the last few have been, so I hope to move the truck into the shop and get some progress back underway.
Shouldn't be too much of a task to drop the tank, drain out the rest of the gas, and clean it out. Then mod the sender to accept a return line, and open up the filler neck to accept a diesel nozzle. Dunno if I will get the return line ran down the frame and clamped into place, but I hope to get that far so the fuel system will be done.
I also want to start on the cab mods. Flop the carpet over onto the pass side floorboard, cut out the trans tunnel, and get started on the column/pedals swap by getting most of it loose. Won't be able to put the new stuff in, till I get the firewall reinforcement plate. Those should be available again soon, so I really ought to get an order placed for it.
Would be nice to have this stuff done before setting the engine/trans into place. That way, I could leave them there......
Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 5,006
Likes: 72
From: Roseville, MN
The higher vibration in the 4BT comes from 180 degree crank rotation between cyls firing, as opposed to 120 degrees in the 6BT. Same reason a gas 4 cyl has more vibration than an inline 6 gasser, so many I4's use a balance shaft, as do some V6 engines (Chevy 4.3, for example). It's just the nature of the beast. 4 crank throws are just harder to keep stable than 6 are. As RPM goes up, the vibration becomes a bit less noticeable.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
It's been quite a while since I was in college, regularly doing the calculus needed to figure all this stuff out, but there are primary and secondary imbalances in all engines. With most common designs (including in-line 4s) they can easily get the primary imbalances to cancel each other out. But an in-line 6 is the smallest engine where the secondary imbalances also cancel out. If all of the parts in a 6 cyl weight the same it's perfectly smooth. V8s need harmonic balancers on the crank to run as smooth as an in-line 6. And 4s need balance shafts.
Even GM brought back an inline 6 for their TrailBlazer/Arcadia SUV's.
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
The only reason the pin has a tendancy to come out, is the vibration of the engine (even in the inline 6 variety), and nothing to prevent it from simply slipping forward. It isn't a press-fit in the block, and the aluminum housing is a slip-fit over the pin. It is used just to line up the housing to the block. The vacuum pump/power steering pump assembly and injection pump are the only items that are bolted to the housing itself, as the oil pump and camshaft retainer plate both bolt directly into the block.
If the housing had used a blind hole, rather than an open hole, it would have never been an issue........
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Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 8,521
Likes: 16
From: Lost
Anyone with a clue about how an engine *actually* works. Vibration and heat/cooling cycles can do many things, so it shouldn't be a surprise that this pin can work it's way out of the hole........