CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

1986 K30 6.2 Diesel Truggy Build - "The Mule"

Here is a terrible pic of the turbo and the damaged impeller due to bearing failure.



I hope to start tearing into that motor later this week after I get it mounted on an engine stand. Enough of that.

No pictures of the new front end?:dunno:

On a lighter note I did overhaul the front end of the truck. The factory GMC Grille was pretty busted up with only like two of the tabs holding it on. I decided to take my chances on a $62 Ebay billet grille.



Morgan approves!! Fit was ok with a little massaging. Can't complain for $62 and free shipping. I also painted the headlight buckets flat black while I had them out. I like the new look makes it meaner looking.

Truck went for it's first ride on the new trailer today. Headed out to get more tubing on the front exo. Truck fits great and is easy to load.





Probably going to add some D rings to the front to allow for better strap angle in the front. More updates on the tube work as we work on it.
 
Looking good buddy! You going out to Rausch with us in September?

Thanks guys! Hopefully I can catch a ride with Nick in September.

Last night I had a chance to remove the destroyed turbo from the 6.5 motor. I thought everyone would enjoy the Don Carnage (Tailspin) pics. I forgot to take a pic of the turbo before I disassembled. Everything came apart pretty easily since this was a "new" turbo 3 months ago.

Starting on the intake housing I believe this is why the turbo failed. It is two pieces an internal piece and the external housing.



Pic of the external housing showing the wear around the area the internal piece mounts.



This is the internal piece of the intake side. This was loose and rattling around inside the external housing. It appears that this should be a press fit and should have a set screw to hold it in place. Well these two pieces had no set screw and are loose fitting.



Compressor wheel side of the internal piece. You can see where the impeller shaved away the aluminum.



Now the carnage the intake compressor wheel. As you can see lots of wear and material missing. I took off the intake into the motor and I found lots of small metal chips inside :dunno: not good.



The exhaust side looked pretty good only small rub marks on the wheel and exhaust housing. You can also see the wear on the bearing. Now here is
what I believe happened. They did not install a full up new turbo they only installed a new turbo cartridge (center piece with new compressor wheels). They re-used the intake and exhaust housings but the intake housing is worn out and has play in it. Because of the play in between the inner and outer housings this allowed the impeller to contact the housing an wear it and the bearings out. This turbo seems to be beyond rebuildable.
 
Swaybar from Kickass Offroad showed up today. Nice kit all that is needed is the 1" DOM to make the links.



Lots of welding to finish the boxed arms. Little mix up on the arms but the right arms are on their way.

I didn't get any pictures but we have been working on front exo designs and have finally settled on a design. Also the existing A pillar bars (that I hated) and did not flow with the lines of the truck are now gone and we have been testing with some scrap to get the right bends for the new version. Say tuned for more tube updates.

Oh yeah and I bought this:



Another turbo. So turbo build is back on! Has lots of oil from a leaky oil line but very minimal play. This is the less desirable GM3 turbo which flows a bit less than the GM8 but will be plenty of flow for my application. Also got this with the turbo:



Full serpentine system and intake manifold off the same truck the turbo came from. This truck was a 1993 6.5 with the mechanical injection pump. This means this setup will bolt directly to my 6.2 with no mods. The price was right and I could not pass them up. So the serp / Turbo swap is a go and will probably happen this winter.
 
Progress has been slow but the exo is coming along. The drivers side A pillar has been re-done and follows the lines of the truck much better and is one piece of tube.







There will be a lower bar on the fender just above the top of the fender opening. We will also adding a windshield bar and a spreader bar across the front of the hood to support the exo from being pushed into the body.

Before anyone asks the 90 degree bend on the front of the exo is made from a weldable 1 1/4" schedule 40 cast 90. I wanted to get a tight radius bend just like on bboy's exo I showed in post 141. I actually got in touch with bboy and asked him how he got that bend. He revealed his secret of using the weldable pipe elbow. He pointed out that the schedule 40 weldable elbows are just slightly smaller in diameter than the 1.75 DOM and is thicker wall. I would not use these for a cage but they will work great for the exo. They will get welded in and then ground smooth.

Going to be awhile for the exo to get finished but making some progress.
 
Little more exo progress. Almost done with one side.





The welded in pipe 90 almost blends in seamlessly.



Not sure about that lower bar when looking from the front. It is tucked in as tight as it can be on the fender but it is the widest point of the cab. It is just sitting there for now. I may try two slighter bends instead of the one larger one. Planning to tie the upper and lower bars together with two diagonal bars something like this:



Also on a side note I picked up a matching spare tire off Pirate for less than half the price of a new one. Brand new never ran or mounted just sat in his garage. Date code is late 2008 and it has a weird almost dryrot crack on the one side of the tire but for the price it holds air and will make a great spare.



So I got that mounted on the matching spare wheel that I have had sitting around. Needs a little trimming to fit on my tow rig.

 
Looks good Dan :waytogo:

Memorial day weekend is coming. ....:whistle:
 
Well Truck is back home in my shop. Front exo is done with the exception of some smaller bracing tubes. Very happy with how it came out. Sway bar is complete too just not installed in the pics. I will get some more pics tomorrow didn't have much time today.







It is hard to see in these pics but we revised the lower fender bar by changing the location of the bend and making a slighter bend. Also added the windshield bar that clears the wipers by a fraction of an inch and allows the hood to fully open too.



More tomorrow night.
 
That thing looks so freaking cool!!


Lets see some wheeling pics!!! :thumb:
 
Thanks for the complements guys !!

Very happy how the exo turned out. Could not have pulled it off without Mike's expertise from Appalachian Offroad here in Westminster. He does great work!

Wife and kids have been sick all week so no garage time. Now it seems I am getting sick. Ah the joys of small children in school. Anyhow got a chance this afternoon to try out the new sway bar.



All mounted up in the truck.



It is much more stable on side hills. This used to be scary because the truck would lean way over.



Look the front does flex!!

Before sway bar:



After sway bar:



More pics with the sway bar in:







So the sway bar does definitely help distribute the flex to the front springs. It also makes the truck much more stable overall and on side hills. It was a good addition. I would say the swaybar is about the correct stiffness or maybe a bit on the stiff side (the diameter can be easily turned down if I deem it too stiff) but time will tell once I actually start wheeling it. Some quick measurements I took on the front I estimate 6 inches of droop and 5 inches of bump probably more after some more trimming.

About that fender trimming . . . I need to trim some more fender but that was already on my to do list. Also going to need bumpstops in the front.



 
Top Bottom