Sveins 1999 6.5 Suburban that´s getting "everything I ever wanted" eventually

[MrMarty51]

Got a picture of the lights installed @MrMarty51?

Here`s a close up, sorta.
NOTE: extension cord draped up over hood for the just in case I might forget to unplug it, maybe I might see it as it is being jerked frum its perch. LOL

 

[MrMarty51]

OH YEAH, those quad headlamp units has to be from a 1500 series as the 2500, 3500, crew cab and Suburbans of the 88 vintage were still the Square Body units.
At least thats the way I thinks they was configured, please someone, correct Me if I am wrong in that informaishun. LOL Dont Yuh just love the spelling. LOL

 

[svein]

Hello everybody! Its been a long time since I last posted any updates here- its been a rather busy autumn in every department. I have not been lazy, though! Since the last update on the burb, I've been away for work about four months, and I also spent a month redoing my basement floor tearing out 20 tonnes of clay, concrete and stones. 700kg of concrete in the back of the burb? No problem!

While I was away, I stumbled upon a guy who had just started a rubber spray shop. As I had already bought rubber spray a year ago, I called him to hear if maybe I could rent his place to finally paint the burb. He was up for a deal, and gave me good help, and at the end of the day did the spraying for me. He also added a layer of 2component clear coat to seal it off, so I can still use normal cleaning products to wash my car!

So happy about the outcome. I was determined to keep the chrome grille, but luckily I had a spare grille that I painted black...it´s been on ever since. Still thinking I might switch back to the chrome grille at some point. Or maybe not.

Over Christmas I've parked the burb and pulled it apart with various success..more updates to come imminently!

All soaped in and getting ready for rubber:


First coat of clear rubber on:


Still thinking of putting the chrome grille back on:


And finally this is how it drives around these days:

 

[MrMarty51]

Is that the same vehicle ?
Nice job.

 

[Will L.]

Looks nice!
the ‘rubber spray’ is that like Plasti-dip paint jobs?

 

[svein]

Its a similar product to plasti-dip, indeed! I am excited to see how long it will last. Its fun while it looks good, but if it can protect the original paint from salt and dirt for some years, thats my main goal. I do think the clear coat might help it live quite a bit longer.

 

[Will L.]

Idk how it will do in the cold weather. Turns out being a mistake in the Las Vegas heat. My wife’s 07 Toyota FJ Cruiser had it on there for 3 years according to the guy we bought it from. He had pics of it the day before getting done and he peeled most of it off when he listed it for sale expecting well protected paint. The hood a set of doors was the victim. Not sure the paint damage would have been any less if just in the sun, but either way it needs a repaint now. Can do pics if you want.

 

[DieselAmateur]

If I may add my 2 cents and experience with regards to WVO...

While in theory, yes, running straight veggie is possible, it is not ideal. The spray pattern of plain veggie oil doesn't atomize nearly as well as diesel fuel. I can't find the website, but there is a farmer out in the mid west USA who grows his own oil seed crops, presses the fresh oil and mixes with gasoline in a 4:1 ratio, veggie to gas. There were pictures on his website comparing the spray pattern of straight veggie vs. blended and the difference was quite noticeable.

I know it sounds crazy putting GASOLINE! in a DIESEL! engine, but in my personal experience, it does work.

I started running straight veggie back in 2015. Fine for running around, but not good for any kind of moving under load. An injector would skip here and there, and acceleration wasn't the same with the thicker fuel.

With the poor spray pattern & atomization, you risk more raw fuel (veggie) leaking past the rings and into the crankcase.

If you do a specific gravity test, 4:1 veggie to gasoline comes out really close to #2 diesel.

I just purchased farm diesel, and up here the "winter formula" is 70% diesel with 30% kerosene. The hydrocarbon experts can chime in here on the molecular side of things, but my understanding is that kerosene is more similar to gasoline than diesel, and veggie oil is way thicker than diesel, so blending veggie and diesel in the 80%/ 20% ratio is safe.

granted, you don't just blend and go either. Let the mix sit for 2 weeks- the gas acts as a solvent and a gallon or two of sludge forms on the bottom of the barrel as the oil gets thinned out. And of course, filter at every step of the process. I prefer to filter the veggie down to 5 microns, blend, then pump through a 15 micron fuel/water filter into 55 gallon drums or my 500 gallon storage tank, which has a water block filter and 10 micron fuel filter on the pump.

I use the high octane ethanol-free gas to blend, as you want the extra octane oomph. I also use an additive that is a cetane boost and anti-gel.

I used to do the two tank system, but quite frankly don't like them and when blending they aren't necessary. Install a 10-plate flat plate heat exchanger with 1/2" NPT ports, tap into the heater core return going to the top of the thermostat crossover to preheat the fuel, and run fuel lines into other ports on heat exchanger pre-fuel filter. I did away with the stock FFM and use NAPA filter #1746. It's a very large hydraulic oil filter, which also filters out water, and is rated for 5 microns. On the 96+ models it's easy to mount on the fan shroud with a simple angle iron bracket, drivers side.

I've run the blended system for several years with no known issues on my two older 6.5 motors (now both since deceased) and a 2003 VW Jetta with the ALH TDI. I also run it in a 50/50 blend in my tractor in the summer months only with no modifications done to the tractor fuel system. Now that I'm running a heavily modded P400 I'm erring on the side of paranoia and protecting my investment running only diesel. I may run a tank or two in the summer months if taking a long unloaded drive, as it is fun smelling like a deep fryer at a cost of only $1/ gallon

 

[FellowTraveler]

Idk how it will do in the cold weather. Turns out being a mistake in the Las Vegas heat. My wife’s 07 Toyota FJ Cruiser had it on there for 3 years according to the guy we bought it from. He had pics of it the day before getting done and he peeled most of it off when he listed it for sale expecting well protected paint. The hood a set of doors was the victim. Not sure the paint damage would have been any less if just in the sun, but either way it needs a repaint now. Can do pics if you want.

We did white plastic dip on my daughters Miata looked good for say 1 year here in the heat of Florida after that mold took over now needs to be stripped and painted.

 

[svein]

If I may add my 2 cents and experience with regards to WVO...

Very interesting to hear about your experiences with running on WVO. So far, I've been very happy with my 2-tank system. I don't notice much of a power loss when running on WVO either, but I do see a slight decrease in miles per gallon. I've been doing some mods to the burb over Christmas that I'm hoping to finish when I get home to increase the efficiency. Excited to see what results that will give me both on diesel and veg oil.

I also notice that I am having trouble keeping the veg oil temp at 70C when its cold (below 0C) outside. I am planning on re-routing the coolant flow so instead of being T-ed into the heater core return I will route all the coolant from the heater core return thru the veg oil system and return it to the water pump rather than to the radiator, to allow for faster warm-ups.

This is the port where I'm planning on rerturning the coolant to. Hoping its 1/2" NPT, as that's what I've ordered parts for, haha!

 

[svein]

The last thing I did this autumn before my xmas escapades started was to change the alternator. I have been struggling with low voltages for quite a while, and I wanted to upgrade my alternator to accommodate the veg oil heater and all my aux lights and other electronics I've ruthlessly added.

At the end, the choice ended on a 230A Tuff Stuff 8237D Alternator from Quadstar tuning. It was a direct swap on my 99 model, and even though it was a miserable hour in the rain before a longhair, it was well worth it. My voltage is now stable at 14,5V with all my extras running!

New alt in, old one in the back:

 

[MrMarty51]

That's nice. I guess I`ll know where to look if I ever need to replace the alternator on My 2000.

 

[svein]

So, finally I've sorted the pics, and I'm ready to write about my Christmas projects. My cunning plan was to set up a tent in my parents driveway, so I could celebrate xmas at their place while doing several projects on the burb. I thought it was a good plan. My goals were as following

-install fluid damper and new crank pulley
-delete vacuum pump
-service the turbo and upgrade it with wicked wheel
-Change the injectors

It turned out quite differently, as you will read through the story. It all started very well with setting up the tent and going for the harmonic balancer:


I removed the upper fan housing and the fan. I kept the belt on, so it was easy to get the crank pulley off by putting tension on the belt so it didn't turn. When removing the HB I found that the easiest way to stop the crank from turning was jamming it in a crowbar that I stuck down in the hole below:


I had bought a brand new HB remover and installer tool locally. Luckily I had also bought some spare parts, so I figured a way to get the HB back on after the tool broke:


The old HB came off easily. When I inspected it it looked quite fine, but I am happy I'm swapping it for a Fluidampr anyway. I prefer planned downtime doing preventive maintenance when I can. ) Then it was time for the crank seal. I had bought a seal remover from Amazon.com - but it didn't really do the job, the seal was stuck way to good:


Violence turned out to be the winner, and with this nifty thing and a hammer, I got the old seal out:


Story continues in the next post. A great thanks to @Hink who has made a brilliant walk-trough of replacing the HB at 65turbogarage.com!

 

[svein]

Continuation of the HB install.

The old crank seal finally came out:


Then I made a "custom tool" with a piece of wood and used a mallet to get the new seal in. Again, thanks to @Hink for the great tip in his guide!


New front seal in place:


The new fluid damper was much easier to slide on than I thought. I didn't need much leverage to get it far enough on to get the crank bolt in place so I could torque it down:


At the end of the evening, the crank pulley was on, and I still had time to eliminate the vacuum pump and get the fan and fan cover back in place. A flying start on the xmas projects!

 

[svein]

I was interrupted for a couple of days on my projects by something that's called "Christmas". Entire Norway shuts down. This is from 3am on Christmas Eve - which is the big day in Norway. Nobody does anything on 1st day of Christmas, so I had to wait an entire day to continue. Haha!


Then I got started on the turbo and injector project. I jacked the car up on stands, removed the air intake, passenger side battery, and the inner fender. The inder fender was all 13mm, except one weird one that was a inch-based socket and not a metric one, of course, attaching some plastic in the front.

I have tried to be organized this time, so I bought a roll of ziplock bags at a grocery store. I put bolts and nuts and pieces to them, and marked them, so its easy to find, and I could keep it out of the engine compartment. I also used them to block off the different ports.


When I had gotten the turbo out, I hit my first big bummer in my series of projects. I had the new injectors. I had the new injector socket. I had just about almost everything tucked away and ready to do the work. Had cleaned all the surfaces. I had no injector return lines. They were supposed to be in a box, but they weren't. And it was Christmas and everything is closed. I decided to try to re-use the old lines, but I quickly realized that I needed new ones, and at least new hose clamps. As I had already started removing the old lines, I decided to try to at least loosen the injectors on the turbo side. They were stuck. Proper stuck. - temps outside, and the battery was out - so I couldn't start the truck and run it warm. I let it stay plugged in over night. Three days later when I tried to use the block heater the earth protection tripped in the garage, so I'm afraid I might have left it in for too long. I hope I haven't burned something, cause I really like to know that I have the block heater should I need it.

Anyway, the injectors was stuck, so I went to the warehouse of a company I work for where my welder guy who helps me a lot hangs in the evenings. I brought Kaktus along with me to the shop. He was very happy to get his own shiny bolt! He rides on my shoulder in the car. We like to drive the burb together!


Came back from the shop with an extension for my breaker bar. MAN, those injectors came loose, but it needed work!


Got the new injectors torqued down, and connected the fuel lines. I made sure to clean the end of the fuel lines before I connected them.

 

[svein]

I managed to source some fuel return line and hose clamps on the 26th. I found ONE open shop that had what I needed - but the hose was to big for the hose clamps to come all the way down to secure the hose. So that's a wait until I can get something that fits over fro, the US.


Since the burb would be down for quite a while anyway, I decided cider to have a go at the turbo. It decided to try a wicked wheel 2, and ordered a turbo rebuild kit, thinking I´d service everything possible while I was fiddling with it in the firsts place.
Got everything I needed and got the turbo in on the work bench:


Separating the exhaust housing from the center cartridge was not an easy task My saving angel ended up welding new nuts on the bolt, and we finally got it opened!


The harm was already done, though, so even though we eventually got the turbo teared down in pieces, I had somehow managed to bend the shaft. A self-inflicted disaster. And the big question was - could I possibly get a new shaft in Norway in the middle of the xmas week? The answer was no.

 

[Will L.]

This is the hose and hose clamps for the injectors.

another option is if you are near a Mercedes dealership, go buy the injectors return hoses for the early 80’s diesel cars. I learned to only buy it at the dealership to avoid the cheap knock off hoses, it pushes on and needs no clamps.

sucks about the turbo shaft. A good excuse for a turbo upgrade though...

 

[FellowTraveler]

I was interrupted for a couple of days on my projects by something that's called "Christmas". Entire Norway shuts down. This is from 3am on Christmas Eve - which is the big day in Norway. Nobody does anything on 1st day of Christmas, so I had to wait an entire day to continue. Haha!
View attachment 59150

Then I got started on the turbo and injector project. I jacked the car up on stands, removed the air intake, passenger side battery, and the inner fender. The inder fender was all 13mm, except one weird one that was a inch-based socket and not a metric one, of course, attaching some plastic in the front.

I have tried to be organized this time, so I bought a roll of ziplock bags at a grocery store. I put bolts and nuts and pieces to them, and marked them, so its easy to find, and I could keep it out of the engine compartment. I also used them to block off the different ports.
View attachment 59142

When I had gotten the turbo out, I hit my first big bummer in my series of projects. I had the new injectors. I had the new injector socket. I had just about almost everything tucked away and ready to do the work. Had cleaned all the surfaces. I had no injector return lines. They were supposed to be in a box, but they weren't. And it was Christmas and everything is closed. I decided to try to re-use the old lines, but I quickly realized that I needed new ones, and at least new hose clamps. As I had already started removing the old lines, I decided to try to at least loosen the injectors on the turbo side. They were stuck. Proper stuck. - temps outside, and the battery was out - so I couldn't start the truck and run it warm. I let it stay plugged in over night. Three days later when I tried to use the block heater the earth protection tripped in the garage, so I'm afraid I might have left it in for too long. I hope I haven't burned something, cause I really like to know that I have the block heater should I need it.

Anyway, the injectors was stuck, so I went to the warehouse of a company I work for where my welder guy who helps me a lot hangs in the evenings. I brought Kaktus along with me to the shop. He was very happy to get his own shiny bolt! He rides on my shoulder in the car. We like to drive the burb together!
View attachment 59151

Came back from the shop with an extension for my breaker bar. MAN, those injectors came loose, but it needed work!
View attachment 59145

Got the new injectors torqued down, and connected the fuel lines. I made sure to clean the end of the fuel lines before I connected them.
View attachment 59143

I like your helper way coooooool.

 

[svein]

This is the hose and hose clamps for the injectors.

another option is if you are near a Mercedes dealership, go buy the injectors return hoses for the early 80’s diesel cars. I learned to only buy it at the dealership to avoid the cheap knock off hoses, it pushes on and needs no clamps.

sucks about the turbo shaft. A good excuse for a turbo upgrade though...

Yeah, the turbo shaft was a bit of a bummer! It could of course be a good excuse for a turbo upgrade, but as I've already invested in the wicked wheel and the service kit, I'm already a lot of money into my gm8. And I do like the thought of it looking as stock as possible when you open the hood. I'm gonna have enough trouble with my veg oil system on the MOT!

I have ordered a new shaft though, and have a kit with Delphi return lines from rock auto coming. Hoping they will make me happy eventually!

I like your helper way coooooool.

He is a cool little fellow when he wants to! But if you look away, you can bet your ass he is shredding something he shouldn't!!

 

[MrMarty51]

I pray that You smeared, the spring side of the front crank shaft seal, liberally with some good grease. It is not uncommon for the spring to pop out of the seal when driving it into position onto the front cover.
A light and a mirror will tell the story, the spring will be dangling around the cranking shaft.