Heheheh... And so the scope creep starts


Unless I am missing something, the truck has a Holset which is not known to need any mods (unlike the OE turbo).

And while on the topic of turbo, if there was any thought about replacing the downpipe, might want to reconsider. Here are some photos of the one I recently got from HyperMax for my SD. I am waiting on a response from them as to whether to install it (or not). At a minimum, those weld joints and transition from the turbo flange to pipe look a little curious to my untrained eye.









For the plenums, I looked into this last month. If the current ones are trash, going billet is probably the only real path as I am having a tough time finding a pair of OE's (IIRC the driver's side is unobtanium). So without a pair of OE options, billet is all that is left.

 

My plenums looked to be in good shape. I sae the 99+ SD ones for sale on rogfraffs site i thought. But I just got new boots and crush sleeves.

My down pipe is crazy since it goes from 5" down to 3 for the pipe. Its ugly but i can't get it out currently to clean it up.

I got some fresh saw blades for the lower up pipe bolts. I got 3 of the 4 top bolts out so far.

 

When I bought the kit from Hypermax, I tried to get a stainless downpipe as I wanted to avoid it getting to the way yours looks now. Was quoted an rather hefty price for the upgrade (nearly doubled the kit's cost) so I passed. Based on what I am seeing of what comes with the kit, am even more glad that I passed on the stainless upgrade.

For the plenums, I'll check to see if the SD ones will work with the OBS and get back in a few days. Given notations about 8 versus 10 bolt patterns, I do not have high expectations that this exchange will work.

Let me know how those Dieselsite uppipes fit as I am thinking about going that way if it turns out that my SD kit is still using the doughnut style.

 

I think 94-95 have 8 bolts and 96+ are 10 bolts. The SD will fit if you have 10 bolts, but they'll require different boots as they have larger openings.

I got the upper bolts all out of the up pipes so i was able to pull the pedestal and the turbo mount. The top of the hypermax uppipes are smooth, they just slid right out!


I still need to get one bolt on each side from the bottom to get the pipe off. Then I'll have to clean up the manifolds to prepare for the new up pipes.

I had to pull the drivers side accessory bracket off to get the old fuel line replaced. What a pain. Gonna leave it off till I can pressure check the new fuel system.

 

One step forward and two steps back. Thats the theme song for this thread.

I got the drivers side up pipe bolts cut finally. But now the pipe can't come out. Looks like the cab is gonna have to be raised a bit. My truck has brand new poly body mounts, too. So sagging isn't an issue.

Spent some of the morning cleaning the rear of the block/trans area as best I can. Everytime you reach up to do anything your hand gets covered in what looks like crude oil.

Has anyone looked into painting the pedestal and turbo flange? I looked at the VHT stuff, not super enthusiastic about having to bake it in an oven.

 

I have both up pipes loose now, the passenger side was able to come out. The drivers side looks to certainly require the cab to be tilted. Ill look again today. If it does require the cab tilt, then I'll wait until I have the new pipes so 8 can swap them out and only lift the cab once.

I did get some vht paint and primer. It looks nice, but as for durability, well see. Id love to do the turbine housing like this as well. Just need to get it loose from rest if turbo.

Here's the pedestal as it came off the engine and was wiped off


I then sandblasted it clean


Here it is all done, primed, painted, and baked.


Ill clean out the mounting hole and bolts before final assembly.

Need to track down some o-rings. Mine are solid like plastic. Hate to use just rubber, but well see what I can get.

 

Looks a lot nicer painted. Well done. Keep posted on how that stuff holds up I’ve been wanting to do hat when I get up pipes also

 

I cleaned the threads on the pedestal and picked up a gasket kit for the turbo. I can use the pedestal orings and the turbo gasket out of it.

I got the filter and pump assembly mounted. Didnt even have to cut any of the lines, just removed the extension they added in.




I plan to make the mount for the regulator tomorrow and get that side plumbed in. Just need to cut and flare the stock hardlines on the topside.

 

I had everything plumbed up. I plan to pressurr test it tomorrow and hopefully start putting everything back together.

I made a simple flat plate to moubt the regulator off the fuel bowl bolts.


Im not crazy about how many fittings my current setup is using, but I guess if it doesn't leak, who cares! I had a buddy who had a bunch of fittings laying around. Also found some super fancy braided lines that weren't being used for anything. I was able to reconfigure the stock hardlines up top to fit without trimming them. Well see how that works tomorrow!

The fuel comes up through the stock hardline and loops back under the regulator mount wheres it splits and goes into the braided lines to the rear of each head. Then i have the Riffraff lines up front going to the regulator and the return going to the rebent factory hardline.



I also got the turbine housing to seperate from the turbo. Took the use of a torch and some strategic smacking of a hammer and brass punch.

Here it is all beautified


Theres still alot to do after pressure testing. I need to clean up the factory harness and rewrap it. Wire in the fuel pump. Then after all that on Friday the new up pipes should be here. Of course there's some cleaning up to do still.

 

Enjoying watching someone do all of this right. Nice work!!

 

This all looks great! I wouldn't be worried about the fittings either, as long as they don't leak lol

 

Cleaning up the harness and re wrapping is a good idea. You're down this far, won't take more than an hour and a half to remove it and do the work. I did mine when I installed my injectors and half of the loom disintegrated and fell off due to age and 25 years of heat cycling.

 

Did a pressure test today, only 2 small leaks which were easy to fix. Set the regultor to 65 psi. Now I can assemble the front brackets back together.

I started looking at how I wanted to wire this in. I want a clean, secure solution. I found the empty #5 relay spot in the power distribution box under the hood, thats where the new relay will go. Adding in a new 20 amp maxi fuse for the relay in slot #14 which was also previously empty.

The signal wire is the tricky one but I think I've found it. I am going to double check, but the old fuel heater wire (red/light green) isn't going to be used, but it has power in both run and start. Makes sense on paper to move that wire from the engine harness and reroute it to act as my relay trigger wire in the power distribution box.

Does this sound right so far?

I've modified some femal spade terminals so they should work in the factory power distribution box same as the fancy ones. I got a new soldering gun ive been waiting to use too.

The ipr wire is getting a new 2 wire weatherpack connector to replace the old 6 wire one since the rest are no longer needed there.

 

I use the fuel heater wire for the trigger. Stated in post 20 I think.

 

Awesome! I knew I read somewhere that was a good wire to use. That should be the last piece of the efuel swap.

I've thought about the safety switches and such, but I can't locate one locally. I'll probably order one down the road. Never had one on my other vehicles, I realize its a safety measure for "just in case".

Still waiting on my up pipes, supposed to be in tomorrow. I won't be able to install them until Monday. I'm gonna need a helper to either lift the engine or cab on the one side. Might be able to "massage" that pinch weld enough to get the old one out, too. Just need to take a closer look.