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Rebuilding A 6.5 Diesel First Time Need Help

Chad - make sure you keep the washers and nuts for the tops of the headstuds....they are specific to that kit from what I was told by ARP...
 
I must say, I have been doing six and a halfs for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time and never seen one torn up that bad :eek:


Now as far as repairing your block with the broken starter bolt "Corner"
I did a repair as I explained earlier in this thread.

A friend came over with a VEEEEEEERRRRY low mile 6.5 (less than 1000 miles) from a 98 Burb he bought.

The mechanic who did the work installed a fresh Optimizer engine and put back used starter bolts and NO tail hook.

Snapped off the whole corner right down the center of the bolt hole.:eek:

He had the block down to BARE.

We put it in my Bridgeport mill, took a 1/4 inch cut across the starter platform area then inset a piece of cold rolled steel.

We used the original holes to locate the new holes in the plate.
Next we drilled and countersunk two holes inn the plate between the originals and tapped the block for 3/8-16 thread.

The new holes allow the plate to be anchored onto the block securely with flat head allen bolts.

After the plate was drilled and that work done we machined off the corner to allow for a square steel block to sit in and become the anchor point for the outer bolt.

Once the block was Notched out, we notched the steel block, located it, transfered the hole from the new plate, then drilled and tapped the steel piece.

Next with the little steel block bolted up to the plate we drilled and tapped a hole in the upper end of the new steel piece to allow it to be bolted up high above the area that the starter bolt screws into

With the holes all done and the new "Corner" piece firmly bolted to the 1/4" plate we removed the whole assembly from the bl;ock, undercut the joint of the plate and the corner block and welded those together.

We cleaned the assembly and bolted it back onto the block.

After we had this done we removed the engine from the mill and cleaned it all up.

**** His engine was very clean and free of dirt so we carefully covered and taped it up to keep machinings out ******


We sat the crank back in with the two end bearings along with a flex plate, installed the starter with new bolts and then tried the assembly to make sure the gear teeth meshed properly.

We simply unhooked the starter power lead to the motor itself and energized the solenoid.

The finished piece worked perfect with the ring and starter engaging properly.

We then hooked the motor up and spun the assembly with the starter.

I should have taken pix but we got started late (8 pm) and finished about (1 am) and he headed back home (100 miles)

Now that I have done one of these for real, it could be done a lot faster.

We had to "wing it" all the way and scrounge my steel scraps and such for what we needed.

This is an absolute great fix that will LAST and is likely far more durable than the original.

If I can scrape up an old block thats junk I will try and do one of these and get the whole thing on video and Publish a How to DISC.

Any good machinist with a fairly good sized bridgeport mill can do this manuever.

My mill is just barely big enough to get the block on the table and have room to work on it.

Here is a sketch of how we did it.

Things are not chiseled in stone and "some" deviation could be made.

You will need to fit the plate so it follows the contour of the front block surface and is flush with the rear surface.

This can be done in a band saw and then ground smooth.

Hope this offers hope.
 

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Missy Good Wench said:
I must say, I have been doing six and a halfs for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time and never seen one torn up that bad
Click to expand...

How many "Flatland furball" racers out there grunting a 6.5 down the 1/4 mile I'm thinking I won't be calling the Belzona folks , stick a fork in it, this one is done. Keep taking photos, I'll put together a thread for posting such things, I've got some others I've been collecting.
 
Turbine Doc said:
How many "Flatland furball" racers out there grunting a 6.5 down the 1/4 mile I'm thinking I won't be calling the Belzona folks , stick a fork in it, this one is done. Keep taking photos, I'll put together a thread for posting such things, I've got some others I've been collecting.
Click to expand...

Umm...

That truck has only hit the track once.....and that was last year - didn't get to the track this year with it.

Also, that truck did not do any heavy pulling - my old truck did (94).

That was a truck with bolt ons readily available through many vendors and it was running empty about 99% of its lifetime with me. It gave no real warning signs...

So let's not be so quick to judge....eh Tim? Imagine if it would have had an ATT on it....I'm sure rumors would be running rampant....
 
chrisk1500 said:
Umm...

That truck has only hit the track once.....and that was last year - didn't get to the track this year with it.

Also, that truck did not do any heavy pulling - my old truck did (94).

That was a truck with bolt ons readily available through many vendors and it was running empty about 99% of its lifetime with me. It gave no real warning signs...

So let's not be so quick to judge....eh Tim? Imagine if it would have had an ATT on it....I'm sure rumors would be running rampant....
Click to expand...

My bad Chris thought it was one & same my apologies offered I hope you'll accept, I expect when mine goes it will look similar that is not the run of the mill 6.5 failure
 
Chris, was it you that blocked off your oil cooler lines? I remember someone 'high profile' that plugged the ports instead of fixing the weaping lines.
 
No problem Tim....this forum is about the truth - might as well put it out there, and it might as well come from the owner....no sense in confusing people....

Remember - this engine blew up at highway speeds with a small trailer in tow...

Matt - I never blocked off my oil cooler lines - I wouldn't do that...
 
Also FWIW I wasn't flying any negative barbs, at the flatland furball racer, just commenting that with boosted launches in 1/4 mile time trails and high boost I'd sort have expected to see that, odd that a daily driver basically would be twisted up like that, since it was yours when it blew, was there anything significant when it quit going on, I'd like to learn from it, were you on a hard pull when it let got.

I see many twisted cranks these days in Diesel locomotives, but those are 4000 Hp failures so it struck me as odd to see this much carniage in a 6.5, apparently caught MGWs eye as odd also.
 
I was pulling a 16 foot travel trailer down the highway....pulled out to pass someone and the engine got really loud and then just quit....coasted to the side of the road and pulled out my checkbook to buy my LMM....
 
Hey Chad... welcome aboard and thanks for bringing up pics of Chris' little train wreck :D That lad knows how to blow things up!

I think Missy's method probably offers you your best chance to fix that block ear... there is a huge amount of torque on the starter at that location, and any slop at all will just break things again (deeper this time).

Jim
 
Davo

Did one the other night. We were up till the weee hours.

Engine is now back together and the guys tell me the fix is great.

It really does take all the stress off the casting to a great degree and the steel pieces allow the stress to be distributed over a wider area.

The biggy though is that folks need to remember to install that TAIL HOOK on the starter.

Factory knurled shank bolts are a must too as these pilot the bolt and keep it from working in the hole.

These starters really get the crap reefed out of them.

The engine block we did the other night was an Optimizer 6500 with only 1000 miles on it.

That would have been a real sad deal had we not been able to fix it.

I am going to try and dig up a crap block and do another one of these and make a video of the process.

Missy
 
chrisk1500 said:
I was pulling a 16 foot travel trailer down the highway....pulled out to pass someone and the engine got really loud and then just quit....coasted to the side of the road and pulled out my checkbook to buy my LMM....
Click to expand...

What gear were you in, and approximate RPMS? Did it downshift then blow? Bogging?

I fear bogging in OD for this to happen........... FOrum Paranoia. I'll take the MPG suffrange and put it in 3rd and spin 2100 before bog.


Howz the condition of the Harmonic Balancer?
 
Matt Bachand said:
What gear were you in, and approximate RPMS? Did it downshift then blow? Bogging?

I fear bogging in OD for this to happen........... FOrum Paranoia. I'll take the MPG suffrange and put it in 3rd and spin 2100 before bog.


Howz the condition of the Harmonic Balancer?
Click to expand...



Gear? I wasn't paying that much attention...put it in gear and drive...

If I knew it was going to blow, I would have taken notes....
 
People laughed when I said that I would 'boost my crankshaft into the ground'.....I came damn close didn't I?
 
Chris, you never do anything half-way. I'm just proud of ya, man :D You're the King of KaBoom!
 
Hey guys sorry i dident get the rest of the pictures up. I have been working crazy hours and getting my truck ready for the job im goin on next week and today i had to drive to edmonton to retest all my SMAW positions. What a waste of $600 oh well, But i have been e-mailing lock n stich back and forth, im not exactly sure what i need for inserts? Do i need the 10mm or 12mm? Here is part of one e-mail. I will try get the rest of that block apart tonight.

From: Shalendra Maderr
Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:21 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Robert Todd
Subject: Thread repair insert for GM 6.2-6.5



Chad,



We have two thread repair kit which are 10 mm and 12mm. below are the two kits and extra insert price



FFT4SP004K (10mm x 1.50) $297.74

FFT4SP004-10 (extra insert) $88.89

FFT5SP001K (12mm x 1.75) $309.66

FFT5SP001-10 (extra insert) $98.45



Extra inserts comes in pack of 10.



Please send the order to [email protected]. I will be out of office and returning Monday 10/05/09



Thanks



Best Regards,

Shalen Maderr
 
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