Old vs new:



Harness is 99% done. Finishing touches will wait till it's in the truck. Got a thorough toothbrushing in a simple green bath to get rid of caked on oil. Used air compressor to blow all the dirt out of the connectors (there was a lot). All connectors/wires pass continuity check.



Used Techflex F6 for the sleeving, self-fusing silicone tape for large branches and connectors, and Tesa tape for bundling the wire under the sleeving and wrapping the small branches.

 

Very nice!!!!!!

 

If the paint doesn’t work out, you still have a higher priced option for the valve covers.

https://www.riffraffdiesel.com/riffr...qoGO0BK6LDw8to

 

Powder coating works well too.

 

Even if I could afford them, that's just too hard to read. Felt bad enough getting the machined plenums!



Waiting for the first coat to cure. Will put on a second coat tomorrow, and then finally start throwing parts on.

 

As long as Clay recycles his aluminum there is no waste, and the aluminum will be back on the shelves in 60 days or so.

 

Oh I don't doubt it's recycled. Still a lot of energy used in the process, not to mention tooling.

Idk the plenums offer a tangible benefit in terms of the o ring and lack of flexion for un supportedy-pipe. These valve covers don't offer much advantage in terms of utility, except for not rusting I guess.

 

Engine paint is 99% done. Just have to go around the plenums with a small brush and get the gaps.

Also ordered the fancy pedestal o-rings:


Easy to see how these could potentially offer a much better seal than the standard o-rings.

Also wrapped the up pipes and most of the DP with the ARTR wrap. I highly highly recommend doing this outside while wearing solid gloves, full body clothing, respirator, and goggles. This stuff sheds a *ton* of small fiberglass fibers that aren't readily visible, even if you're being gentle with it. And change your clothes right after you apply it or else you'll track it in to your house/furniture.

Removed the freeze plug with the tap-one-side method. Basically tap one side of it with a flat heat and hammer until it starts to roll:



Then get some small vice grips and clamp on to the exposed edge:


Simply roll it out:



As anxiety inducing as this process is, I can see why Irate might prefer using this to drain as offers the turbo oil a straighter/less resistive path to the engine vs flex hose taking a sigmoidal path.

Out of curiosity, what part am I looking at in here?

 

I’ve removed several of those plugs that way and it’s still a little nerve racking.

That is the engine camshaft. The OBS trucks had a mechanical fuel pump in this location and the cam had a lobe on it here to drive it.

 

Irate told me that even if it gets knocked in to the engine the plug will likely fall in to the bottom of the oil pan. Wouldn't be willing to chance that myself personally.

Ah I see. I'm assuming it's supposed to have that discoloration?

Do you have a method for cleaning the sealant n stuff out of the freeze plug hole? Or just stick the oil drain fitting in there as is?

 

I have not had to do this since I'm using the CSD kit but my first thought is to use a wire brush in a Dremel with the nozzle of a shop vac in close proximity sucking up the dust.

 

My memory sucks and I don’t remember doing anything with this. I would be inclined to believe I would have wiped it out with brake cleaner on a rag. I would definitely avoid any kind of abrasive or wire brush for fear of contaminating the engine oil, etc. I’ve read about people drilling a hole in this freeze plug to remove it and that is 1000% a non-starter/not an option at all for me......

 

Has anyone ever cranked the engine with the HPOP not connected to the head?

I want to be extra sure this used L99 HPOP isn't going to send a bunch of crap in to my injectors, and I've seen mention once on a different forum that if you crank the engine a little with the HPOP lines disconnected from the head oil you can essentially flush the HPOP.

Also: valve covers finally done!

 

Not wanting to offend and kind of a genuine question , but after spending all this time and money, as well as attention to detail you have put in painting and tidying the engine up. Why would you want to chance an unknown condition used HPOP and not get a new/reman one?
Cheap insurance IMO

 

Like most things, it comes down to money unfortunately.

Right after purchasing this truck earlier this year, I had to rebuild the entire front end, steering, front brake calipers, and replaced the broken air intake with the AIS, which cost a decent chunk of change. I knew the turbo and up pipes would need attention at some point... ideally a year or two off. But I had no idea how bad it was until I saw that I could only get 10 PSI of boost at WOT. I didn't want to drive the truck like that so I started this build which since expanded to include a new fuel pump and hutch mod/Racor pre-filter.

As of now, in the short term I'm looking down the barrel of a radiator/trans cooler replacement, degas bottle, gauges, alarm system. Farther off the transmission will likely need to be beefed up, and injectors replaced, the bed has rust issues... this is a lot of money to put in to a 20+ year old vehicle.

This used stock HPOP came out of a 200K mile L99 and seller said the truck was running fine when it came out (was going build up the engine for his Excursion). Cost 125 or so. The stock pumps rarely grenade from what I can tell... odds are it'd probably last fine until the injectors give up the ghost? My idea for flushing it is mostly to help avoid the off chance that it's actually junk/ready to blow.

Even so, there's definitely something to be said for the peace of mind to be gained from a new Bosch pump like you say. This won't be an easy decision.