The "restification" of a 98 6.5 TD...

[great white]

what about some sort of scoop that could be mounted in say a running board. You could take advantage of the low press area there and pull air completely thru the engine compartment instead of out just the top part.

I get what you're saying, but the low pressure area is formed by the shape of the scoop, or more accurately called the extractor. You have to look closely at the Trans am/z28 vent to get the idea.

It would most likely be more effective at the top of the engine compartment to remove the slightly higher temp air.

The area down by a running board is where the coolest air int he engine compartment would be. It is a very turbulent area, after the air tumbles over the turning tire, which would most likely negate any benefits of teh shape of the TA extractor. The TA extractors need relatively smooth air flow to function as intended.

As it is from GM, the air spills in over the rad, through the fan and has to tumbles back over the engine to exit under the floorboards. This just gives it a bit of extra surface area to escape (or be drawn out at speed). A small advantage can probably be realized while sitting still by allowing the hot under-hood air to escape.

The Extractors are also quite large, nearly a foot long. They'll need to be modified if they are going to even fit in the area I photoshopped.

This is very much an experiment at this time and I still haven't decided if it look too "racer boy" for me yet...

 

[great white]

Been giving dropping the intake charge temps some thought. I think I've got an initial plan.

First, the turbo system stays as is. It's one year old and workin' just fine (now). I can always change it later and a cooler will only make it better.

Second, exhaust work will come, but the current exhaust is in great shape and workin' fine. I'll replace it when it wears out (rusts).

Besides, I can't justify to the wife ripping off stuff that works just fine right now. And we all know, gotta keep the wife at least calm....

I looked at WMI, but it's not really that great of an option for year round use in Canada. The thought of a could snap and popping something doesn't sit to well with me. All it takes is one unexpected arctic air mass in some locations....

That leaves me with intercooling. But, the GMT400 chassis is pretty bound up behind the grill as it is. The thought of this gawd awful huge cooler hanging below the bumper does absolutely nothing for me either, not to mention the problems with oil "pooling", duct routing, duct length and road debris damage...

So I've decided on a "top mounted" intercooler. Keep in mind this is all just ground work and "scheming" right now. There has been no parts purchases or test fittings. There'll be lots of details to work out and this definitely isn't going to happen overnight.

The outline:

Cooler will be of this type and mounting:

Turbo will be clocked "up" 90 degrees and a couple elbows routed to the cooler.

Elbows out from the cooler will mate to the intake plenum.

The high "mounting" of the intercooler will take care of any oil accumulation issues. It will all drain out into the ducting, as it would anyways. Probably a good time to look at a coalescing filter type idea for the CDR.......:rolleyes5:

Cooler will be bracket mounted to the engine, minimizing flexible elbow necessities. Most of the ducting will be welded tube. I'd like to use AL tubing, but don't have access to a TIG anymore and I don't have a spool. Have to talk to a few buds of mine........

Unfortunately, since I plan for the cooler to be below the level of the hood skin, this means my nifty black "Turbo Power" cover has to go to make enough room for proper fitment.....



I've got a few other spiffy ideas for a replacement though, should look "killer".



The hood will get a scoop, most likely offset on the hood and sealed to the cooler inlet to ensure a good pressure differential at speed. Yes I've thought it through with engine heat, etc.

The scoop I'm leaning towards is a Nissan patrol or a Toyota Hilux scoop if it will fit the hood where I want it.

Personal choice, you can love it or hate it, doesn't matter to me. I'm not completely settled on it though, and they're not exactly easy to get in NA. I've got a couple contacts out overseas right now. need to do some "mock up"....

Should look OK with the fender extractors, if I put them on at all.

That's the plan in a nutshell. I still have to work out the mathematics of cooler size to engine capacity, cfm ratings, etc, as well as the rest of the niggling little details.

Still not settled on whether or not I'm going to like all the scoops and vents...."sleeper" is more my style. If I can't get it all to look like something the factory would of at least tried, it may all be a stillborn idea.

I'll have to see how it goes.....

 

[ak diesel driver]

so are you going to duct the intercooler air out the side vents? If not the scoop will have a tendency to pressurize the engine compartment and lessen the airflow thru our already challenged cooling systems.

 

[ak diesel driver]

I actually considered one that used a hood scoop (shaker style) that didn't pass any air into the engine bay.

 

[great white]

so are you going to duct the intercooler air out the side vents? If not the scoop will have a tendency to pressurize the engine compartment and lessen the airflow thru our already challenged cooling systems.

Nope.

I did think about using the extractors to pull intercooler pass through air out of the engine bay, but more or less have dismissed it based on the area available in the extractors (too small).

I have considered a "deflector" of sorts to duct the waste air from the cooler to the rear of the engine (the intercooler is pretty much there already in my planned config) and out under the truck like the rest of the air in the bay. The plan is part of my substitution for the planned deletion of the engine cover.

Trust me, I understand the dynamics of "airflow"...



My main considerations right now is to get a cooler big enough (and tube sized correctly) to feed a turbo charged 397 in the space available, a scoop that can feed the cooler without "gagging" it and minimizing the 90 degree bends that appear to be necessary to fit it.....

 

[JiFaire]

It's been done, BJ. Guy named Scrufdog, a few years back, build his own top-mount with scoop.. He liked his, too.

Personally, I like the hanging ATA just ifne - too many of us have run them, with no issues, to get worried about having them hanging a bit. (sort of like having to explain, over and over, that having your pmd mounted up under your bumper isn't going to make it vulnerable to damage in head-on-crashes, as if that matters)

If you aren't 4-wheeling, no issues. Oil pooling hasn't been a big issue, either. For what it's worth, we've had guys build WTA intercoolers, too - those didn't work so good.

Anyway, build what you like, as always... you do good work. Just sayin' the others work, also.

 

[great white]

It's been done, BJ. Guy named Scrufdog, a few years back, build his own top-mount with scoop.. He liked his, too.

Personally, I like the hanging ATA just ifne - too many of us have run them, with no issues, to get worried about having them hanging a bit. (sort of like having to explain, over and over, that having your pmd mounted up under your bumper isn't going to make it vulnerable to damage in head-on-crashes, as if that matters)

If you aren't 4-wheeling, no issues. Oil pooling hasn't been a big issue, either. For what it's worth, we've had guys build WTA intercoolers, too - those didn't work so good.

Anyway, build what you like, as always... you do good work. Just sayin' the others work, also.

Yessir, I've seen scrufdog's pictures. Not a fan of his scoop choice though.

I do occasionally light wheel my truck. An exposed cooler isn't such a great idea for me. I've been known to drag across the skid plates when needed (and it's needed more often than not on an IFS truck...) and sink it in mud up to the rockers....

I'm also looking for a more "integrated" look than a big cooler hanging below my front bumper.

I just haven't decided if I want to go with all the scoops and vents yet.

I like a clean, stock looking vehicle. If I can't make it look like something GM would have at least considered or subdued in appearance I probably won't do it at all....

 

[great white]

So, it seems my choice of IC location is going to be a problem.

In order to fit it, I'm looking at around a 12"x12"x3" core.

Not much area to flow the 700-odd cfm a turbo charged 397 is going to be looking for.....

On a plus note:

Heard back form westers and they do sell just the VDF files. 99 bucks a piece. Lyndon recommended I buy both the 98 and 99 files to cover my 98. That 200 clams. And it works with tuner cats II, which I am close to acquiring. Only issue will be a passthrough cable. I'm pretty sure JET stuff won't work. I'll have to shoot Lyndon another email I guess....

 

[JiFaire]

Lyndon is a good guy to deal with... tell him I said Hi.

Better yet, make sure you give him the address to TheTruckStop and tell him we could use another Alberta Boy around here.

 

[HighSierra86]

Yessir, I've seen scrufdog's pictures. Not a fan of his scoop choice though.

I do occasionally light wheel my truck. An exposed cooler isn't such a great idea for me. I've been known to drag across the skid plates when needed (and it's needed more often than not on an IFS truck...) and sink it in mud up to the rockers....

I'm also looking for a more "integrated" look than a big cooler hanging below my front bumper.

I just haven't decided if I want to go with all the scoops and vents yet.

I like a clean, stock looking vehicle. If I can't make it look like something GM would have at least considered or subdued in appearance I probably won't do it at all....

As you said ealier...love it or hate it.....But I would have to say that in my opinion the exposed cooler under the bumper has much more of a factory look than an off centered or centered hood scoop. And with the under bumper mounts that I have seen, they are not all that visable to the point of being an eyesore. I like for all my trucks to maintain a factory look, and by the work I have seen in this thread im sure whichever route you go will look just that. Just my opinion on this topic.

I can deff see why you would be concerned with mounting the cooler in such a location. For myself as well, the occasional off road trips could cause some serious damage. I find myself running through hayfields at times which I am sure would easily plug up all the fins also. Not sure I would want to chance desroying one

 

[great white]

Well, the truck has officially become the "dog hauler".

I dropped on my bed cap, strapped down the kennels and strapped int he water cooler.

I'm doing a little body work on the cap and will have it color matched in the next couple weeks.

While I'm not a big fan of truck caps, it's a necessary evil with border collies and a Great Dane/German Sheppard cross.

I'm also starting to pull back from the intercooler and fender extractor ideas. The intercooler is proving troublesome to work out and I'm not sure if all those scoops are my style...

On the bright side, now that the vacuum turbo system is properly sorted, the truck doesn't even notice the extra weight and I swear to gawd that the gas mileage has shot through the roof!

I've got 500 kms on the current half tank of diesel, which is pretty good for a big ol 3/4 ton 4x4 with 4:11's. Used to be I'd get around 600kms to the tank.

I may not even mess with the tune (well, not much) if the old truck keeps performing as is....

 

[great white]

Little idea I've been tossing around for warning indicators:

Since my gauges are a little bit "down and to the right", I'd thought I'd throw in a couple LED indicators to draw attention to them (and other items) when they hit critical values.

EGT and boost are self explanatory. LPP will be lift pump pressure hooked to a vacuum switch in the fuel line, WIF is for my pre-filter, WMI wil let me know when the system is active (if I install WMI) and WMIL is water level in the WMI tank.

I'll still have an assortment of gauges, but they will be mounted even lower in either an abbreviated console or a full console that will incorporate a touchscreen for datalogging and "tune on the fly" capability (well, run, log, stop, tweak, run, log, stop, tweak, etc)...

 

[great white]

Been doin' a little work on the old truck cap I've put on the truck.

Seeing how I paid 50 bucks for it a couple years ago, I don't feel bad about sinking a few more dollars into it.

The rear hatch was cracked and broken from some previous owner, probably from slamming it down on something sticking out past the bed. They had tried to fix it with the biggest "glob" of body fill I've ever seen. To make it worse, it was the flexible bumper repair stuff. Great stuff, but absolutely the wrong application for it. So I ground it out, roughed it up and re-glassed the pieces back together. I slipped the broken pieces back into alignment and the piece that had been punched right out into it's old home. I then "V-d" out the cracks, re-flowed some resin into the fissures and added a little insurance by working some glass mat fibers into the resin to give it strength and tie it all together. Next, a few layers of mat for reinforcement, a bit of filler to smooth it all out and it's stronger than the day it popped out of the mold:

A "spritz" of 3M Super 77 glue on the dangling and cut weather seal, a good soaking with silicone "rubber rejuvenating" spray and it's all fixed up and ready for another 20 years of service.

Wanting a bit newer look (it's an old Leer cap that was imported in the 80's and re-branded by Action Truck Caps in Moncton), I fitted a CHMSL from a Pontiac Trans Sport. You can see it in the pic above. I picked it up for 20 bucks from a local yard that had a trans sport with a crushed rear hatch. Problem was, my cap is flat and the light was curved. A bit of heating and reforming fixed 'er right up. Little bit of work with a cut off wheel, die grinder and a rasp fitted it right in:

My cap was only "factory wired" for a dome light, so I needed more circuits. I also didn't want to have it wired so the cap couldn't be easily removed. So, out comes the split loom and a quick rummage through my electrical "box o' bits" turned up a couple weather pac connectors (I always clip them off wrecked vehicles or ones I'm having hauled away, they're like gold!). Run the wiring down the cap and to a stake pocket, heat shrink, make a couple brackets and it's all neat, tidy and disconnects with one simple connector:

The cap's dome light is wired into the cargo lamp control in the cab. It isn't powered unless the cargo light is on. Some might wonder; "Why bother with all that extra hassle, just wire it to 12V and use the dome light switch".

Well, here's the thing:

My wife also uses the truck. By wiring it in to the cargo light switch, it's in the "auto off" battery protection for the interior lights. Plus, it only comes on when I want it (cargo lamp switch instead of interior lighting). No dead battery for me, no matter how hard she tries to screw it up......:hihi:

Plus, I can turn it on and off with my key-less remote if I need to check in the bed after I've gotten out of the truck. Hit "unlock" and the light comes on with the trucks lights. Nice feature if you ask me......

The cap also had a couple flat struts. I'd had enough of using vice grips to hold it open, so I went looking for some replacements. Grab the yellow pages and start calling around.

Yeow!

The nearest truck cap seller is an hour away by highway and they wanted 100 bucks a piece for my specific struts!

Jebus! That's twice the price of what I paid for the whole damned cap!

So, on a hunch, I head off to the local RV place. They use struts for all kinds of doors and covers on trailers and RV's. Turns out they had some 40lb and 60lb struts on the shelf for about 25 bucks a piece.

Great!

Only problem is, they're more of a universal fit deal-e-o and waaaay too long to fit as is. A bit of quick work with the drill and wrenches moves the lower mounting point and everything is workin' fine:

I mounted them so the door sits slightly up instead of level like the stock mounting:

Level has me banging my head getting in and out and it never fails that when I'm trying to maneuver something big into the bed it always needs just that little bit of extra "upwards" rotation to clear. I bought the 60lb struts and they're a little bit "strong", but not unobjectionably so. But, they're also brand new right now and they'll only get weaker with time and couple winters....

I ran dedicated wiring from the front to the back rather than trying to tap into pre-existing wiring. The stock wiring is usually barely adequate for factory purposes and this was just easier all around. To save a few bucks, I just bought a 25 foot trailer 4 wire kit and snipped the flat 4 connectors off. It was cheaper over all (less than 20 bucks) than purchasing 100 feet of wiring, it's the right gauge and it's a lot easier to thread through the frame since it's all bonded together. It follows the factory loom and is split loomed from front to back for protection and neatness. A side bonus is the split loom is mostly empty and has lots of room left for running the power and control wires for my Raptor and prefilter WIF detector. I also slipped my trailer wiring into the split loom as the PO just had it all hanging. (sorry, no pics).

Moving up to the engine bay, I needed a way to pass the trailer wiring, cap wiring and a few other items (boost gauge sensor, etc) through the firewall. Hmmm....yup, there's the nicest, cleanest way right there:

I popped out a "blank" in the firewall blanket and there were several pre-indexed hole points for me. I just drilled a couple, slipped in some grommets and passed the wiring through. A couple weather pacs and some split loom clean it all up and make it easily removable. Next time I'm in the scrap yard, I think I'll look for a wiring bulkhead connector and swap that in to make it even easier to remove. All my connections are soldered and double wall "weather sealed" heat shrinked.

Well, now I'm inside the cab. Crawl up under the dash, a couple quick simple connections to go and we're done.

Wait! what?

Christ!

ARGHHHH!!!!

Fffffff...............

Freakin' PO used a plethora of those damned "scotch locks" everywhere under the dash!

:mad5:

Another hour and a half of tracing down wiring mistakes and solder/heat shrink has things electrically sound, secure and clean again.

There's only one way to do automotive/aerospace wiring gents, the right way......

While I was at it, I made the trailer brake controller removable by using the recently discarded flat four trailer connectors:

I don't tow, but like the idea of having the controller in the truck for quick and easy use. I've been known to help out a couple friends on occasion hauling cars and we're probably going to need it next summer with a rented trailer. The rest of the time it can sit in the glove box, keeping my interior "clean" and out of sight.

Except, I was so burnt at this time, I put the wrong connector on the controller.

at:

I should have put the exposed ground connector on the "live" truck side of the wiring. Oh well, I'm out of heat shrink and that will have to wait for another day.

I made a quick pass and sanded it all smooth and worked out a few imperfections. There's one or two spots that still need a little filler and smoothing.

I have to make a couple bit's and pieces inside the cap for hanging dogs leashes and other "sundries" (dog food, water cooler, etc). I'm thinking about making ('glassing) a locking overhead bin, nets and hangers like the newer models have:

I'm thinking of mounting a rear wiper to the cap door for those miserable days when rear vis sucks. I've had a couple already and really don't like the loss of rear viability in crappy weather. Wiring that up is a snap. Most likely use a minivan setup or something similar. They're certainly plentiful at wreching yards...

Probably throw in a couple 12v power points as well. Heck, I've got a 3 port 12v adapter with a 5v ports built in sitting int he drawer somewhere, I'll probably cut that up and use that...

After that some carpeting/insulation on the interior walls

Last thing to do is tear it all apart and sink a couple hundred into color matching it to the truck to finish it off. I've got an HVLP, but for something this big an visible I'll pay a bit more and have a pro do it.

Should look pretty good and be very functional for our uses.

I only have about 150 bucks into the whole deal right now, and another 2-300 will finish everything I want in it. So for 350-400 bucks total (maybe 500 at the worst), the cap will be done to our specs. No too shabby!



I still prefer a truck without a cap though......

 

[Matt Bachand]

Looks really nice GW. As always clean work. My truck needs someone like you!

 

[great white]

Little bit of work today.

Used the roof rack mounting points to make a small "rack" inside to hang up the dog leashes. We spend a lot of time on the beach with the pups, so things get pretty wet and salty. This lets them drip out on the ride home. Then it's asimple rinse in fresh water and back on to the hanger for the next use.

 

[great white]

Extractors showed up today. Did a quick mock up with some tape:

Not too bad. Little bit of clean up with PS to get the shape and position a bit closer:

Little bit better.

Starting to warm up to the idea. They're not too shabby.....

 

[HighSierra86]

Painted to match those would look nice. They arent too flashy. Looks like you have the same door cancer as my 96. Looks like another upcoming project in this thread too

 

[great white]

Painted to match those would look nice. They arent too flashy. Looks like you have the same door cancer as my 96. Looks like another upcoming project in this thread too

Yup, they'll be color matched. They're also standing proud of the surface right now. If I do go ahead, they wil be recessed into the panel like the TA they came off of. I'm still struggling with whether or not I want to put scoops on the truck and if it will fit my "style".

The rusty doors aren't as bad as they look. It was hidden by the stainless trim that was on there, but it's stil only surface rust. It'll clean off with a wire wheel and a touch of media blasting. Quick skin of filler and a smack of paint and it'l be as good as new (well, no e-coat but you can only do so much at home).

 

[great white]

picked up a WIF sensor with built in amp for my prefilter today.

I was bidding on an auction for one and almost got one for 20 bucks, but some SOB snipped me in teh last 5 seconds. I checked his transactions and 89% of his activity was with the seller in question. I'm sensing a "shill" here...

Anyways, I went with a different seller on a buy it now auction and only paid 10 bucks more overall since the shipping was cheaper.

I'll be spooling up to plumb the raptor, FTB ver 2.0 and prefilter in soon.....

 

[great white]

You may or may not have seen my other thread for the new trailer we bought:

http://www.thetruckstop.us/forum/showthread.php?24947-Bought-a-new-travel-trailer....

Well, the "stick on" towing mirrors we bought suck. Pretty much every other option out there sucks.

I'm probably going to go with the dodge flip out mirrors. Here's a "borrowed" pic of them installed and folded out:

Looks like ebay wil lbe getting a bit more of my business......gawd, my visa is getting soooooo heavy..............


*edit*

Hmm, seems photbucket is having fits today...