1994 K3500 extended cab dually

[n8in8or]

Nate are you doing any prefilter?

That filter on the plate is the prefilter for the pump. I'm going to be running the same filter I ran before on the Tahoe between the lift pump and the IP. That one is going to be mounted in the engine compartment. I don't remember what filter off the top of my head.

 

[ak diesel driver]

Ahh guess I wasn't paying attention.

 

[n8in8or]

Ahh guess I wasn't paying attention.

No worries, we all miss stuff and I may not have been clear. I'm only running -16AN (1") to the lift pump inlet. After the lift pump I'll be running -8AN (1/2") all the way to the IP inlet. I hope to have a lot of the rest of the system in place by the end of the weekend because I should have most of my parts today or tomorrow.

 

[n8in8or]

Since I was waiting on fuel stuff I switched back to electrical. I made a stainless steel bracket to carry the circuit breakers for power distribution on the driver’s side of the firewall. No more fusible links. I’m going to have a nicer label made, I just whipped this up with my Brother label maker for now. I was thinking I would contact a decal maker I used for another project, but does anyone have ideas for making nice labels for a panel like this?

 

[Will L.]

An engraved label is about the only thing better than what you did. It looks good

 

[ak diesel driver]

I think what you have looks great

 

[smokymtn65]

Do you know anyone with a laser engraver? Can be done direct on the SS

 

[Will L.]

Here in the major shopping malls there are stores that do engraving like a picture frame can have a name or date added to it. Find a store like that near you and take it in there and they could do it. Or have them do a plate that you add onto it.

If you just dont like to see the white part with the black lettering you can get the clear tape so it looks like only the letters are there.

 

[n8in8or]

Thanks for the thoughts and ideas. I ended up messing around in Microsoft Publisher and coming up with a simple design I was happy with. I sent a PDF of it to the custom decal maker and he’s making me 4 clear vinyl laminated decals so I’ll have some extras either if I screw up or if I want to tweak or change. Also I’ll probably make the same bracket for the other trucks and I can just use the same label.

 

[smokymtn65]

Are you starting out with a piece of angle or sheet stock you are braking?

 

[n8in8or]

Are you starting out with a piece of angle or sheet stock you are braking?

I started with a piece of 1.5" square stainless tubing and cut 2 sides off, then I welded the plate on the front end and a tab on the back. A sheet metal brake is on my list of things to get, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

[smokymtn65]

Just thinking out loud... here. LOL I will check the bed on our laser engraver... Not sure it will drop 2 inches.

 

[n8in8or]

Got a few good things done. I finalized the plumbing under the intake. I added a 45 degree elbow to the oil pressure tap so I could route a hose out of the valley. I will be running the OPS and a tap for the mechanical oil pressure gauge from a tee at the end of that hose. You can also see the -8 hose from the fuel pressure regulator to the IP in this shot.



Between that -8 hose and the IP I have a fitting with a 1/8 NPT tap in it, this is where my mechanical fuel pressure gauge taps in - as close to the IP inlet as I could get it without actually tapping the housing.



Last night I got the intake cleaned and painted so once that plumbing was done I installed the intake for the last time.



Back to the Fuel Sender. I got some more consumables and filler rod so I started playing around on scraps until I could make some welds I didn’t hate. Then it was time to start making parts. Overall it turned out ok. I would have liked better, but considering I probably only have 6 hours of TIG time under my belt and that was like 15 years ago (with some dabbles in between) I can’t reallly complain. The biggest thing is I didn’t destroy any of the parts, which considering the small return tubes are only .028” wall and the accessibility in some spots is challenging, was something I was very concerned about.



With the welding on this done I should be able to get a lot completed on the rest of the fuel system tomorrow.

 

[ak diesel driver]

are you going to do anything to seal up the joints on the top side of the plate? Seems like a place to collect stuff to start the oxidation process

 

[n8in8or]

Yeah I was thinking I’d slap some paint on it around the tubes. I was also thinking while I was taking a shower (where I do my best thinking) that I should put a reinforcing support under the 3/8” tube to take stress off of where the tube and plate intersect. The 5/16” tube is shorter so it won’t have the stress the other tube does, but I may also put a support under that one.

 

[Husker6.5]

I thought you were going to also TIG a bead around each tube from the top side of the plate to further strengthen/seal the tube to plate joint and help prevent vibration/stress failure of the piece.

Just my two cents.

 

[n8in8or]

I thought you were going to also TIG a bead around each tube from the top side of the plate to further strengthen/seal the tube to plate joint and help prevent vibration/stress failure of the piece.

Just my two cents.

I chose to TIG from the bottom side because it easier to access the joint without the tube bends in the way. Yeah, ideally I would have welded it from the top, but I’m afraid I’m not that good yet.

 

[Husker6.5]

How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice! I bet you wind up either TIGing around the topside or laying a bead of JB Weld around them. I would be concerned with vibrational cracking of the underside welds over time, as I've seen it happen with stainless (larger diameter pipe like 1" and 2") in an industrial setting when I was working maintenance at an organic cereal (Kashi, Uncle Sam, etc) plant. All equipment surfaces had to be stainless steel to meet food standards (same at the custom meat processing plant I worked maintenance at prior to that, too). It was the pump pulsing of the lines vibrating from the cane sugar slurry passing through them to spray the corn and wheat flakes. I could see road vibration doing the same thing to those welds over time, either the tank to frame into the cover assembly or fuel lines to fittings causing it.

 

[n8in8or]

How do I get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice! I bet you wind up either TIGing around the topside or laying a bead of JB Weld around them. I would be concerned with vibrational cracking of the underside welds over time, as I've seen it happen with stainless (larger diameter pipe like 1" and 2") in an industrial setting when I was working maintenance at an organic cereal (Kashi, Uncle Sam, etc) plant. All equipment surfaces had to be stainless steel to meet food standards (same at the custom meat processing plant I worked maintenance at prior to that, too). It was the pump pulsing of the lines vibrating from the cane sugar slurry passing through them to spray the corn and

Hmm, I’m still not sure I want to attempt adding another bead on the top side. Access is going to be very difficult in some spots and I’m afraid I might accidentally undercut on the tube which would make things worse. You have inspired me though to not only add supports to the tubes on the top side as I was thinking, but also make some supports for the return tubes on the bottom side to take the stress off of the joints down there.

 

[Husker6.5]

Supports definitely don't hurt for holding weight/tension and eliminating vibration stresses. And there's always outting a bead of JB Weld around the tubes on the top side. None of the possible 'ah, shits' of trying to TIG them, either and just an added X factor of added joint strength.