SSForce Injectors, Feed the Beast and HX-35 to ATT swap

[Paveltolz]

SSForce (Steve) came by to visit and play around. He’s had a set of injectors he wanted to swap in as well as try out my A-Team Turbo (the easiest bolt on upgrade you’re bound to come across) as well as install his self-sourced Feed the Beast mod.

He dropped the truck off the night before so we wouldn’t be working on a hot-hot-hot motor. I pulled it out into the sun for a couple of happy snaps. It was good to light off a 6.5 again and it was in good company with my VWs (TDI) and my truck on stilts in the next bay as a warning to behave.

 

[Paveltolz]

Feed the Beast went on first(ish). He’d picked up the parts locally. Hose; IP inlet fittings (90*) and the adapter to the IP; FFM outlet barb and brass T so he could hook up his fuel pressure gauge sender pre FFM. Didn’t drill out the internal IP inlet screen thingamabob as we were: 1. Chicken; 2. No Drill Press; 3. No Carbide Drill Bit and 4. Chicken (yeah, said that twice…there was two of us). Put it on the TTD list.

To get around drilling out the FFM by hand, we swapped in my FFM which is already modified with the 3/8” barb and I took his new barb and old FFM minus the WIF sensor. Mine had a cooked wire so we swapped that out instead.

Originally the plan was to pull the lines under the lower intake but Steve decided to ‘Remote’ the FFM to the DS of the Upper intake. The 10mm threaded rods I purchased were too short to work by simply elevating the FFM in the back but we found another bolt hole that was working was working until we discovered Leroy’s ATT adaptor was in the road so we made provision to use 8mm Stud off the back DS Upper Intake bolt hole. That failed too but more on that later (cliff note: Strike Two to the ATT Adapter).
Here's Steve checking for fitment on the alternate side.



You can see the old and new line reading to be pulled under the lower intake.

FTB pieces parts.
We also ran the T Valve drain line around the front of the intake using some of my old Air Dog install kit’s ¼” return line (another lovely parting gift).

 

[Paveltolz]

Injectors. I had a spare set from 635 (Ted) when he swapped in a new set while having #6 issues on the road. Turns out it was a busted rocker arm retaining pin so I bought the old set which only had on a couple of thousand miles on them. I knew someone would want / need them and I have a new set on the shelf. Force proved to be ‘That Guy’ and he got ‘em along with an injector Socket as just one of a few ‘lovely parting gifts.’ Getting the old return lines off with the retaining clips in place was almost as hard as pulling the HX-35 off but SSForce got them out by the time I had 6 & 8 injectors in (IP lines and Return lines push ons]. By the time I had 2 & 4 completed, he’d gotten 1,3,5 & 7 in and was replacing return lines and IP lines.

Sorry, no pictures...its just a bunch of injectors and if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

 

[Paveltolz]

HX-35 / A Team Turbo swap. Why? Because we can. Steve loves the HX-35 though he’s concerned about the boost as his motor isn’t studded and has a few miles on it. All the ATT talk has given him an unhealthy case of ‘Forum-itis’ so he wanted to give it a run. Easy do, HX came off for the injector swap anyway and the Heath Tune should prove to be a fair match to it. I’d pre-installed 3/8 16p studs and one of my cut back oil return line fitting to make it an easier install.

Steve pulled the fender well and flare to make access to things easier. We needed the room to get at the bolts holding the HX=35 to the exhaust manifold. He said he couldn’t remember how he got the HX on there was so little clearance for the inner and front and back bolts. (I got an HX-35 12cm on the shelf for the hell of it and it’s going to F’n stay there I can tell you after trying to get this one out.)
Orange thing is a shop light.

The hardest parts about installing the A-Team was figuring out what to do with all the room we had to work with around the thing; wiping the smiles off our faces; and getting the upper intake aligned and that had to do with fitment issues with the Adapter Spacer (the ONLY hard part truthfully). I’ve seen them installed on three trucks now and none of the owners were happy with the CDR oil blowing out of upper and lower mating surfaces despite adding RTV. Mine was the third and 635 put it on his truck and had the same issue even though he let it sit for a few days to le the RTV setup (Strike 3) I understand it has been upgraded so ‘Your Results May Vary.” Anyway, for a “try it and see” for the ATT test, it was worth the usage. When we went to install the Upper, it was then that we discovered that on SSForce’s truck, his A/C lines made the whole thing moot as there wasn’t clearance. We needed another half inch before the OEM upper was going to mount to the adapter. Not willing to flex the A/C lines, we made do with what supplies we had on hand. Steve had already cut his intake back a couple of inches to make it work with the HX-35 so his longer silicon hose we ‘made it work’ but that will have to be addressed as I’m not confident it won’t blow off. But, he’s venting CDR to atmosphere so there won’t be any oil working between the boot and the Turbo outlet/Intake inlet.


A/C clearance was from the bulbous / canister thing on the front.

 

[Paveltolz]

Next challenge of sorts was an air cleaner. He’s running a modified AFE set up to mate to the 4” or whatever inlet ring on the HX but the ATT is the typical 3”. So, the last ‘lovely parting gift (lone really as the ATT is only a trial [for now]) was a Heath Gen 1 air box.

Bolt the fender well back in, prime the FFM, give it a 10 second crank, stop, 3 second crank and “Big Red” came back to life with a couple of chugs and then purred away. We let it idle for a while and his down dump exhaust put a happy soot spot on the garage floor. He backed it out and commenced to happily cleaning up.

We only made one trip to the parts store and that was to pick up a Fuel Filter they didn’t have in stock. Didn’t need to go as it turns out because they tried to sell him the same @!#$%^ ‘One Piece’ filter they had that morning.

Here's a Morning Start picture of the engine bay.

And the obligatory Post Project Pic.


Steve is a joy to wrench with. He knows what he’s doing and is intuitive to figure out stuff. He’s also young and agile enough to get up and into that engine bay which is pretty much on the second floor what with that lift and tires. Me, I’m hobbling around like I’d sprained my ankles, knees etc. again. Too many years and miles with a ruck-suck er, sack as well as jumping out of planes catching up to me. All my tools fit his hands and he cleans up after himself too. All the tools were wiped down and put away before got the spilled diesel and the ‘Soot Print’ wiped up. No tool gnomes either like 635 and I experienced swapping in my motor.

Technically, this is his thread so I’ll let him comment on the results of the “Upgrades” (he can also explain the hidgeous yellow-green on the wheels, lugs and wheel centers). I know what the FTB and new injectors do for these things as well as the ‘differences’ one experiences when swapping turbochargers. In short, it ain’t my truck and it ain’t my fight. Play nice!

 

[btfarm]

Hahahaha... Everything is awesooooome. ...


Well except for the center hubs

 

[NVW]

Hahahaha... Everything is awesooooome. ...


Well except for the center hubs

Agreed Mike
[/QUOTE="Paveltolz,]Next challenge of sorts was an air cleaner. He’s running a modified AFE set up to mate to the 4” or whatever inlet ring on the HX but the ATT is the typical 3”. So, the last ‘lovely parting gift (loan really as the ATT is only a trial [for now]) was a Heath Gen 1 air box.[/QUOTE]

Not being a spelling nazi Paul, just pointing out the error. People have gotten away with murder due to a "typo". You did say you wanted these back.

 

[Paveltolz]

Hahahaha... Everything is awesooooome. ...


Well except for the center hubs

Could be purple....

[/QUOTE="Paveltolz,]Next challenge of sorts was an air cleaner. He’s running a modified AFE set up to mate to the 4” or whatever inlet ring on the HX but the ATT is the typical 3”. So, the last ‘lovely parting gift (loan really as the ATT is only a trial [for now]) was a Heath Gen 1 air box.[/QUOTE]

Not being a spelling nazi Paul, just pointing out the error. People have gotten away with murder due to a "typo". You did say you wanted these back.[/QUOTE]

Doesn't hurt my feeloIngs if that's it for the length of all these long winded posts I generate.

 

[SS FORCE]

Hahahaha... Everything is awesooooome. ...


Well except for the center hubs

Haha yeah I get a lot of love it or hate it comments about them. I did the neon green plastidip for winter to help protect the chrome from road salt and chemicals. Only reason I went with green was because it was free. At the least its a head turner haha.

As for the ATT swap I love it. Granted I gave up a little on the low end and on spool time going from the HX to the ATT but once its spooled its off just like the HX was. I ran a 0-90 ish time and will post that shortly on my youtube channel and will be doing a boosted 0-60 to see how it measures up against the HX. So far boost pressures are down a lot more than I expected. cruising at 70 I'm seeing 3 1/2 psi boost with the ATT vs around 10 with the HX and towing a trailer is the same. The truck is also running cooler engine temp by about 10 degrees. I need to plumb in the Pyro to get some exhaust readings with the ATT but so far I am very impressed.

 

[SS FORCE]

Here is a 0-95 ish run I did with the ATT yesterday. I will try to get a boosted 0-60 with the ATT soon to measure up against my HX video. What impresses me the most about this turbo is the top end especially from 60 on.

 

[Burning oil]

Not bad, 0-60 in 10 seconds with those big meats on the corners!

Paul, sorry you had trouble with the adapter, first I've heard of it. That one was one of the originals and I've changed some things since then. It will be a month or so at least before I build another one. Would you like to exchange it?

 

[Burning oil]

Forgot to add, would be nice to have a MPG comparison too.

 

[SS FORCE]

Forgot to add, would be nice to have a MPG comparison too.

That is what I am currently working on. Plan to fill up on the way home from work and run a full tank. With the HX on the truck I was seeing 13.8-15 around town. ( i have a somewhat heavy foot). Only freeway run I documented was hauling 2500 pounds of sod in the bed from salt lake to price UT, hills, canyon, flats, everything in between, about 120 miles and got 16. Beat out my buddy's powerstroke that got 14 .

One thing to note, beings as I did install new injectors I can't credit everything gained, if any, to the turbo. But with boost being down so much I can easy see an improvement, just waiting on a few miles.

 

[Paveltolz]

Paul, sorry you had trouble with the adapter, first I've heard of it. That one was one of the originals and I've changed some things since then. It will be a month or so at least before I build another one. Would you like to exchange it?

I'd be happy too. I'll need the correct address to send this one back to though. It came back when I sent it to you a few months ago as incorrect address? PM me please.
I used the same one I have in the past so I made an cranial-pen error writing it down, the post office got lazy or you've changed contact info.

Do you still the ATT boot kit that's an upgrade to the first generation Orange boot? SSForce will need it or a longer one than is on there now.

 

[Burning oil]

OK will do. If you had a really old business card you may have had the old address?

I can get the blue boots and clamps separately.

 

[SS FORCE]

I finished connecting up my long ago present from Paul, a 0-15 PSI auto meter fuel pressure gauge. It has a multi-color display for low-normal-high fuel pressure warning. When I turn the key to prime I receive 6 1/2 PSI to the IP. (plumbed sender unit between FFM and IP). once the LP stops priming I see pressure recede, not sure if normal or not?

Fire up the truck and pressure slowly drops to about 3 1/2 to 4 PSI. The pressure stays steady between those two numbers until I push anything over half throttle. From there its 2 1/2 to 3 PSI and anything above 3/4 throttle its below 2 to 0, with pressure quickly returning to 3 1/2 to 4 PSI once I get off the throttle.

 

[Burning oil]

Thats good for a stock pump, if thats what you have? IMO you want 9-13psi at idle and never drop to 0/neg.

 

[SS FORCE]

Thats good for a stock pump, if thats what you have? IMO you want 9-13psi at idle and never drop to 0/neg.

From my knowledge it is the stock LP, or stock replacement. I will be looking at other options when funds become available, as it was with my old hx I had a slight haze at WOT so I am assuming my tune is supplying adequate fuel, I just need better pressure to ensure IP life.

 

[JayTheCPA]

Next challenge of sorts was . . . a modified AFE set up to . . . a Heath Gen 1 air box.

Did not notice any commentary on the effects of this swap. At a minimum, it should have dropped the in-cab drone a bit.

 

[SS FORCE]

Did not notice any commentary on the effects of this swap. At a minimum, it should have dropped the in-cab drone a bit.

More than I ever expected. There is hardly any drone now, Driving it is such a joy. My girlfriend and toughest critic actually likes to ride in it now. The new injectors cut out a lot of cold start clatter as well. I wasn't expecting such a difference with this swap.