Suburban Conversion

[RyanB]

Has yours been running yet. Mine may be a screwed fan clutch. I am going to trim as much as possible off the radiator support and pull mine forward as far as possible. I am also going to trim down my transmission mount and hope to get some more clearance. Now how the h@)( do I get this fan clutch off. Mine doesn't want to come off. Oh I don't know if I mentioned it before but when I bought my autoworld mounts they sent me the ones for the fan hub like the one you have. I bought a fan hub like yours to make up the difference and added length in the process. Anyway, I'm certain if I would have gotten the right kit I would not have problems I am having now. If you haven't run yet you may want to run a fan hub off a first gen intercooled motor. If you are running, good news I will replace my fan hub, pull the radiator forward as far as possible and hope for the best.

I had the exact same problems you are experiancing with your conversion. I have 7/8"-1" clearance from the rad to the fan hub... maybe less than that! I did have the fan hit the rad once but that was my own fault... I only had the rad being held against the support with plastic tie straps. I have now made a custom shroud that works great and I have had no issues. My engine really likes to torque now with the big injectors and fuel lines almost twice the size of stock and I am not seeing any issues with the fan comming close to the rad. And what I am talking about is twisting... . at idle it lopes almost 200rpm and the truck body raises and lowers over an inch on the drivers side... (don't even have to be inside the truck to get it rockin :--) )



One thing that you could do is get a spacer made to space the fan on the hub. I had one made that moved the fan 5/8" further back than the hub. What that did was give the blades them selves more clearance because the hub its self isn't going to move into the rad... its the blades. I was unable to run this spacer though because I went with an SFI Fluidamper (harmonic dampner) that is over twice the thickness of the stock one and the fan was then hitting the balancer. With the stock balancer on the engine the fan was 5/8" from the ballancer and 1-5/8" from the rad.



I could probably take some pics and give you some specs if you want or even sell it to you seeing I am not going to be using it anytime soon.



RyanB

 

[JStokes]

How Much?

Do you know it will work?

 

[wicked6]

Has yours been running yet. Mine may be a screwed fan clutch. I am going to trim as much as possible off the radiator support and pull mine forward as far as possible. If you are running, good news I will replace my fan hub, pull the radiator forward as far as possible and hope for the best.

negative ghostrider. . I have been doing electrical shake-down, and still need to cobble the 5" exhaust before I try to put fuel to the injectors. . (currently have fuel at the pump, but air in the lines... ) Now it looks like I may elect for a pair of electrics to keep the air flowing. . !!!! dammit!!!

 

[RyanB]

Do you know it will work?

Yeah it will work. I had it mated up to mine before I put the HUGE fluidamper on it. I will take some pics for you. You could either make your own or I could sell you mine for what I have into it. Machining and steel were over $80 but $50 and helping out a fellow Cummins Conversion guy would be a discounted price!



Send me a pm, in the mean time I will get some pics

 

[JStokes]

What did you do with the piston style pump? Are you sure they are from later 12 valves? I thought they were from 8. 3s or something like that and that they required some sort of bleed off return because they move too much fluid? Or at least this is what I have heard from somoene on the 4BT email list... ? Can you possibly post more/better pics of the piston pump, including model/year/part number or anything like that?

Let me give you an answere to this question. The 1st gen 12 valve lift pump is weak and can have a hard time providing fuel under high horsepower situations, and with super viscous veggie oil there could be some starvation problems. The piston pump mod is a very common mod for 1st gen VE pump trucks. The piston pump comes with any truck that has a P7100 injection pump and would be found on models from 94 to 98. 5. They increase the fuel pressure as well as the amount of fuel available. The VE injection pump has an overflow and you will not damage this IP with the piston pump upgrade. On your 4BT I don't think there is a need to upgrade the lift pump unless you are running pump mods, injectors, and an oversized turbo. I have heard that people can get 300+ HP out of that little 4 cylinder and if that is what you have is mind you may consider the piston pump.

 

[NYCEGUY01]

I made the drive up see the suburban today. Except for the wobbly fan clutch, its done. He may still make a few changes here and there but Im sure it will be on the road in no time at all. Looking this thing over Ive realized this may be a little more work than anticipated. LOL Ive offically passed the point of no return and started the dissassembly of my 96. I pulled the radiator and took it up to replace the one that " self-clearanced" in J's sub and scored a part for my project .

You guys running the d-max i/c have way too much free time for cuttiin welding. lol

Anyway this post is getting long so Ill quit typing now. Looks good J and Im sure we'll keep in touch. Maybe next time youll have to drive the sub down here.

 

[JStokes]

A few questions for the gurus

#1 My power steering is sick. It doesn't want to work when I start the vehicle. If I rev it up I can get it to start to function. With a little time it is loud but I can turn my wheels. Then when I shut off the truck it throws up and I have to add more fluid. I know it has air but how do I get it out? I am looking for suggestions on my power steering.



#2 I am getting ready to wire overdrive and lockup. I read on another thread that the signal should be 5 volts, and I have been told I can just power it with 12. What is the correct answer? Explanations are appreciated.

 

[ezcurra]

#1 My power steering is sick. It doesn't want to work when I start the vehicle. If I rev it up I can get it to start to function. With a little time it is loud but I can turn my wheels. Then when I shut off the truck it throws up and I have to add more fluid. I know it has air but how do I get it out? I am looking for suggestions on my power steering.

I put a saginaw power steering box in my ´63 Jeep J300. It took me FOREVER to purge the system. I would start the engine, and the P/S would work, but the fluid in the pump´s reservoir would floam up furiously and start oozing out very quickly. I tried everything, moving the steering wheel lock to lock with the engine on, and off. Many, many times.



In my case this is how it ended - I suspected the pump´s shaft seal was leaking and letting air in, so I tied a rubber glove to the pump´s fill hole, to see if air was being pumped out. When I started the engine, much to my surprise, instead of inflating, the glove was sucked into the pump. After I retrieved the glove, no more foaming, and the P/S has worked flawlessly. I don´t know if the glove did anything, but this is what happened to me.

Good luck and congratulations on a very cool project.

Mikel

 

[JStokes]

Links

http://turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168118&highlight=power+steering



http://turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163815&highlight=power+steering

 

[JStokes]

Lock up and Overdrive

On my 47RH can I lock up overdrive and switch on lockup with 12 volts, or do I need to take it down to 5 volts.

 

[Joe G.]

I replied to your post in the 2nd gen 12 valve forum.

 

[JStokes]

Update

I changed out my fan clutch and it looked like everything would be ok with my new radiator. I've been driving all over having buttoned up most of the conversion. The drive is nice and I have about 100 miles on the the new radiator and fan clutch. I was feeling good about things so I decided I would get on the throttle hard and see what it had. Well now I'm feeling like the stupidest guy ever. My fan and new radiator kissed again. Ryan please email me I need that part. There is no more room for the radiator to slide any farther forward, and it appears that I am getting more flex than I should be under full throttle and it is forcing the fan into the radiator. I suppose I could play with my transmission mount until the fan was perfectly even but I think the part from Ryan will end this problem and save me money. Currently everything appears to be working. I installed the AcC condensor and the grill is back on. All my gauges work, and I have ordered pressure swithes from http://www.transmissioncenter.net/dodge.htm and should have lockup and overdrive soon all automated. I am learning from the school of hard knocks and will be glad to wrap this up. I still haven't figured out power steering.

 

[PKirby]

#1 My power steering is sick. It doesn't want to work when I start the vehicle. If I rev it up I can get it to start to function. With a little time it is loud but I can turn my wheels. Then when I shut off the truck it throws up and I have to add more fluid. I know it has air but how do I get it out? I am looking for suggestions on my power steering.

I have had this problem on several vehicles after having the PS system apart. I was able to bleed the systems by overfilling the tank with the engine running and turning the wheels back and fourth. This did not correct my Cummins conversion. My conversion has a remote tank but the principle is the same. I finally had to install a larger remote tank. Many of the Dodge Cummins have a vacuum booster and I think the Chevy PS and Hydroboost brakes may require more flow than the tank can support.



https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134285

 

[TBowles]

I'm running the stock chevrolet p/s and hydroboost with the saginaw pump that came on the cummins from dodge and it is working perfectly, has been for about ten years now.

 

[JStokes]

Can you send me a pic

Do you have the return lines T'd or how did you work in the brake booster.

 

[TBowles]

Yes, they are just tee'd together. I'll add a picture although not a good one i believe you can see the tee just in behind the battery cable attached to the fender well.

 

[JStokes]

I had a fan spacer made

I gave up on you Ryan, and had a spacer made on a water jet here locally. I had them cut it out of 1/2 teflon. They have it in the computer and can cut another for anyone who wants one for $25. It still leaves some room to get to the nut and looks like it will work slick. I am also planning on dropping my transmission mount just a tiff for a little extra clearance. Then I am going to add some bracing to the frame. I think cutting the torsion bar support and supporting it the way I did is allowing it to twist under heavy load. I JB welded my radiator and when I don't have any trouble, I will put in the new radiator. I'll put up some picture tonight.

 

[JStokes]

Spacer pics

I made two spacers. I thought I could get one on without removing the fan clutch by having two pieces. That proved to be wrong, so I used the single piece. This picture is the two piece setup on an old fan clutch.

 

[RyanB]

John, here is the drawing... it sucks but you will get the idea. Looking at your pic there of your spacer you should be able to use what you have... I think but you may have to get a new one made.



Here is the pic



RyanB

 

[JStokes]

Thanks Ryan

I appreciate you getting back to me. I suppose I should have complained more to Autoworld to get me the right parts so I could run the shorter fan hub. Oh well, I'll see how this works, I actually believe it will be fine. I am now planning lockup and overdrive. I bought parts from http://www.transmissioncenter.net/SwapInformation.htm to control lockup and overdrive. I bought the pigtail and the center wire is hot, the front is OD ground and the back is the lockup ground. I bought a 44 psi oil switch for OD and a 50 for lockup. I plan on two switches so I can manually control both as well as two led lights that light up when they come on. This should work great and automate the transmission completely, unless I choose to shut it off manually for some reason such as heavy towing. All of this information has been sitting in front of me, it just took a while to sink in, and really it is amazing that 2 years ago is when I started changing my own oil.