They sure can!

 

I wish I had a welder. Would be a bit hard to use in the apartment complex parking lot ; P

 

RR and O'Reilly order came in today.




Like y'all said the RR y-to-IC pipe boots have the bump for the stock IC pipe groove, while their IC-to-IC pipe boots don't for some reason. I guess for those boots I'll have to go with FTN's suggestion of a retaining ring.




Here's the setup of the exhaust reducer and clamps. The ID of the reducer is about 3.55"/4.05", so the exhaust pieces should slip fit inside, with the clamps sealing it all up. Will be a lot easier to disassemble vs a ring clamp if I ever need to take things apart.

 

That is the way I did mine, works great, and easy to deal with down the road.

I finally got time to ship the frx yesterday, it should be to you by end of week

 

Time to move!

Maybe set yourself up with one of the in bed mobile units. I joke, but would love to see the look on your neighbors faces when they see you welding in the parking lot.

 

Haha well got to save a bit before that happens; houses in the city that have either a big garage or a lot large enough for a workshop = $$$.



Got the L99 intercooler pipe, spider, and the 4" pipe I'll use for the intake all painted. Went with the Rustoleum BBQ paint as that's the people at the pipe bending shop said they use for all their mild steel... only 3 dollars for a quart! Applied the coats with a roller as rattle can coats are too thin to be worthwhile IMO. Going to do the same to the engine when I get it clean.



Fuel bowl stripped and rebuilt with new o-rings, poppet n seat, updated heater, and supply fittings for RR flex lines. Going to try and clean up the threads on the FRX ESwift so graciously sent me... might also use the hoses on it for a four-line feed if I can find the fittings locally.



IPR stripped and rebuilt with fresh o-rings. Solenoid has acceptable resistance so will be reusing it.

I sourced a L99 HPOP from a local part-out. Having been working on cleaning it up... lots of hard black stuff in the threads (assume that's either sealant or cooked oil). I've been putting a little oil in the inlet, rotating the shaft clockwise, putting more oil in, etc to try and make sure there's no crud in the pump. I am noticing this L99 pump's shaft turns a bit rougher than the E99 pump I took out of the truck; when rotating it there's an alternating "easier harder" resistance vs the early pump not having that.

Is this a sign that the pump is worn out/shouldn't be installed in the truck?

Irate said they should have the kit and turbo ready for pickup by Monday (Tuesday at latest). Given it's supposed to rain most of this week, I'm dubious that I'll be able to have the truck ready for the camping trip : \

 

The E99 pump you know may be better than the L99 pump you don’t. A strong 15* pump is adequate for stock injectors.

The BBQ paint is fine, except it’s BLACK... I’m just not a fan of black because you can’t see problems as easily. ‘High heat’ paint is not necessary on anything except exhaust parts and then you need 2000* coating like VHT Flameproof or similar (rustoleum makes a product for this). I do prefer black over rust, so I’m not critical of your choice!! Surface prep is the key to success. Specifically 100% free of oil/grease.

It’s a No.4 ORB fitting on the fuel bowl behind the factory outlets to heads. You’ll need something like this to adapt to FRx hoses.

https://www.dieselorings.com/pressur...-1-8-fnpt.html

https://www.dieselorings.com/fuel-bo...-1-8-fnpt.html

I would prefer the 4-line feed, but I fall out of favor with the average FTE’er when I profess I’m not a fan of FRx...

I hate that your deadline is in jeopardy. Are you able to use an easy-up canopy to work in mild rainy conditions?? I agree home ownership is a real challenge and major commitment these days - especially if you choose to live in metropolis and want a garage or workshop. My buddy in Philadelphia paid almost 2x what my house is worth for a GARAGE on a LOT in the ghetto because he lives in a row house and wanted a place to wrench on stuff. Even then, his mortgage for that property was less than he was paying in rent for much less space and he can lease PARKING SPACES at the new place as an income source....

Meanwhile at my place this can happen.

​​​​​​​

 

Wasn't able to take the 7.3 on the camping trip as the Irate kit was done being put together on Wed. Probably for the best though as I could spend the trip relaxing instead of worrying about the truck.

Some quick thoughts on the kit. Overall it looks okay and well thought out, though for the price I'm left a little underwhelmed. This seems to be a common theme with the T4 kits available, and I don't necessarily blame the makers of the kits (I don't doubt that margins are tight). Generally a feeling of "with parts that cost this much, I shouldn't have to put on the finishing touch".



Here's the up pipes/collector and associated l bracket. Pipes are 304 stainless, the collector they are welded to is evidently not per Irate and will have to be painted. L bracket isn't stainless either.



Lovely welds



Inside is machined for a smoother transition from the T4 housing to pipe.



One of the mounting holes had some burrs on it. Perhaps harmless but I never want to see burrs on a mating surface that holds a gasket. Took care of it with a file.



Love the machining. All the edges have a slight chamfer, so no sharp edges digging in your hands while handling.



L bracket. This piece required the most work as all the edges/corners had burrs or were rather sharp with no chamfer. It's also just carbon steel so if you don't paint it you'll have rust very soon. Smoothed over every edge and corner with a die grinder to prevent it from cutting up my hands, and to help the paint get better purchase on the corners.



Ouch!



I really like the shape of the pedestal. More interested than something rectangular, and gives more options when routing fuel lines. Unfortunately also had somewhat sharp edges with a few burrs. And again if you don't paint it you'll have a rust magnet under your hood.



Like the l bracket, I took a die grinder to the edges and got it smoothed out.

The 4" down pipe is a two piece design so allows some flexibility with installation. It's not stainless but aluminized, with aluminum colored spray paint over the welds to prevent rust (I'm dubious about the efficacy as it came off from rubbing brake cleaner on the pipe, and had a little rust beneath already). I wish it was stainless, but I get that would cost a lot.

I went ahead and painted the DP, pedestal, and L bracket with the high temp BBQ paint to prevent rust.



So overall, while I wish the kit had a proper finish (no burrs/ unchamfered edges, no rust concerns), I'm overall satisfied with what I've got.

Also broke down and ordered riffraff plenums. The used L99 stock plenums I got had some nicks in the thin steel that give me pause, and I after wire-wheeling the silicone off the bottom of one... I never want to deal with with the stuff again in this context. Plus I've heard they'll offer more support to the Y pipe.

In non-turbo stuff, I finished cleaning/resealing/re-serviceable plugging the L99 Hpop. If it doesn't seem to up to snuff, I'll transfer the o-rings and plug to my E99 pump and put that in for the time being. Also ordered stainless JIC fittings to make a four line feed out of the FRX hoses (evidently galvanized doesn't play nice with diesel).

Inching closer!

 

Nice update!

Enjoying watching this come together.

Where’s the photo of the shiny new turbo?

 

Rather amused that I forgot!

 

 

@PriusLover ,you might want to consider sanding the paint off the plate where it interfaces with the block and oil supply o-ring so the o-ring has a smooth surface to seal against and so the plate isn't held up higher off the block thus leading to less compression on the o-ring.

 

FTN that's definitely on the to do list. Once I clean the top of the engine, I'll get the pedestal positioned to find the mating surfaces, and remove the paint from those areas.

I did a little comparison of the stock downpipe and the one from Irate. The Irate pipe, even with the 4" to 3.5" reducing adapter, is much shorter and consequently lacks a small upward turn at the end that's present in the stock pipe. I won't know for sure until I get the thing attached to the turbo, but I've a feeling it won't align with the rest of the exhaust. If It doesn't I'll likely use a braided flex pipe to make it work.

Also finally ordered a Racor PS120 and fuel line hose for the Hutch mod.

 

Thanks to a bunch of simple green and naphtha, nearing the end of the cleaning portion of this project



The passenger side plenum--the one that was leaking badly when I did the pressure test--came off very easily compared to the drivers side. I wonder if the caked on oil degraded the RTV used to adhere it?

Once the cleaning is finished I'll put a coat of black bbq paint on the visible engine surfaces. I know black isn't too interesting, but it will blend well with the black paint that's still on the engine. I'll paint the valve covers royal blue for flavor.



Popped the passenger side valve cover off to look at the injectors. Don't see any obvious replacements... they're a lot dirtier than the driver side (I wiped the tops off to read the numbers).
Rocker arm torque looked good with all but one being within spec. The injector bolts were all loose at 6-7 ft lb. Tightened them all to 10 ft lb.



All glow plugs read ~0.4 ohms! Finally something that doesn't need to be replaced.

For those of you with T4 kits and braided up-pipes: how are they holding up? Asking because a local exhaust pipe supplier says those sort, with the inner flex pipe and braiding over the top, has poor long term durability and could destroy a turbo if it ever came apart. He recommends bellowed flex connections--has an outer bellowed portion that seals two solid sections of pipe that slide over eachother--for all pre-turbo applications.

 

Nice work cleaning the engine. It looks like you are making good progress. I wonder why it's dirtier under the VC on the passenger side though.

Your exhaust pipe supplier appears to be telling you good information. This article says the same thing. The product description for these bellows even state to not use them in up pipes. Now I wonder if anyone with fresh uninstalled CSD, Irate and all other brands of T4 kits can stick an endoscope down inside to see what kind of bellows those have.