2insane’s Random 6.2/6.5 Diesel Projects

[Truckman4life]

Those elbows are not made anymore. You want to keep the the CDR system original as much as you can. Find some good ones from a junkyard or join some 6.2 diesel groups on Facebook and post that you are looking for some. FB groups is the fastest and best way to get used 6.2 parts, especially the hard to find ones. I should have some available in the future after I’m done doing 2 current builds. Send me a pm and I will let you know when they become available.

Edit:
I just googled this for you. Your welcome . He just posted this not long ago… you better jump on this asap because $30 for good elbows is a steal!

Cucv 6.2 diesel CDR valves with tubing

For sale is 2 CDR valves and all brackets and tubing from a military k30 Chevy truck or cucv The cleaner valve is a couple years old and only has like 2k miles on it 30 bucks plus shipping

www.gmsquarebody.com

Waiting on my registration to be approved for that site. Thank you sir!

 

[2INSANE]

This weekend I took a clean sample off of the 81 Cast 6.2 Diesel Redblock. Gonna get more samples from other blocks and send them off to the lab for Nickel content. The lab requires 1-5grams of metal to do the tests. 5 grams is not a lot. Equivalent to a Nickel. Weight of a nickel for nickel testing, Hehe

 

[ZooMad75]

Science!!!

 

[2INSANE]

Science!!!

Yes! Fun fun! I wonder if some welding Rod will fill in this hole. Gonna try it this weekend.

 

[Big Ray]

Cool beans

 

[2INSANE]

Customer #43 brought over a 2003 NAVSTAR Optimizer he just bought off of eBay for a good deal. It was remanufactured by Melton in 2010 and only had 20 miles put on it in 12 years.

I spent the whole day today, my day off of work, cleaning all the 12 years worth of dust and desert sand all over it and fixing a bunch of external issues it had.

I also got it set up for a 10 second dry test run. I wanted to do a wet test run but there was too much sand in the mouth of the water pump and I did not want to risk sand going into the coolant system. I converted the 24v injection pump to a 12v by simply replacing the top cover of the IP. I primed the fuel system, primed fresh oil, refurbished the old bottom mechanical fuel pump plate, installed a new block off plate, installed G60 plugs, replaced missing nuts and bolts, temporary plugged a hole in the oil pan with a screw/rubber O ring, new return lines, routed oil cooler ports for the test and did a bunch of other odds and ends…

She runs great so far! I will do a compression test tomorrow, check harmonic balancer and check for blowby. If compression is good, I will do what I like to call a refresher on it and turn it into a partial (Customer budget) modern day 6.5 turbo.

 

[2INSANE]

Customer #43

There is no blow by, harmonic balancer has some wobble and will need to be replaced and compression numbers are freaking amazing with all above 420 except cylinder #2… at 265 psi.

I got the thumbs up to investigate the cause of low compression of #2 and found that there is a deep scratch in the cylinder wall. The cause is from 1 of 6 glow plugs that melted into the cylinder. The plugs were installed by Milton and I think it is safe to assume that the reason why this motor was taken out with only 20 miles on it since it got rebuilt is because of the overheating of the plugs and low compression.

Since the motor was rebuilt already by Milton in 2010, the cylinders might already be at their bore/hone limitations. I will check the measurements to see if I can hone this scratch out.

 

[Truckman4life]

I'd totally build an entire air system just to keep the air fan clutch that thing has.

 

[Big Ray]

Shame. Looks like an otherwise good motor

 

[2INSANE]

I'd totally build an entire air system just to keep the air fan clutch that thing has.

That would be cool for a future build. Modifications would have to be made so the fan would not hit the radiator.

Shame. Looks like an otherwise good motor

Yeah we were hoping it was going to be an easy plug n play but I am in the works to do some major work on it to try and save this Optimizer.

 

[2INSANE]

I got #2 out last weekend. Second ring has some bad gouges, the piston has a lot of scuffing, found a ton of sand and RTV in the bottom of the oil pan.

This weekend I am going to start a 95% rebuild. All pistons will be removed, cylinders honed, new rings, the works. Only thing staying in is the cam.

 

[2INSANE]

Lifters out, cleaned with brakekleen and now soaking in fresh oil.

Oil pan area mostly cleaned up. Will clean more after honing.

All pistons out, disassembled, sanded with 400 grit lightly with diesel fuel, cleaned in parts cleaner and kitchen sink with soap and water. Assembled and lubed. WD-40 on the rod to prevent rust while waiting for parts and tools.

Piston 5 had glow plug material jammed in piston. It’s out and looks good now.

Piston 8 had glow plug material jammed in the piston pin grove preventing it from coming out smooth. It’s out and installed smoothly.

I’ll get the crank out tomorrow and clean the timing cover deck on the motor.

 

[Big Ray]

Hope you can save it...

 

[2INSANE]

Hope you can save it...

Me too! To see a Optimizer in this bad of shape makes me feel bad. Especially with no cracks anywhere.

So today, was spent removing the timing chain, flexplate, crank, clean timing cover deck, inspections and a lot more cleaning of the outside of the motor. Crank bearing look great! Cam looks great with the exception of very minor wear that prob could not be measured. It’s ready to be honed! Waiting on the hone, rings and other parts to arrive.

Also got a phone call from a previous 6.2 1983 GMC customer. He said the last shop he took his truck too forgot to put loctite on the 3 torque converter/flexplate bolts and it got loose. I took a quick look at it and found 2 bolts are broken inside the torque converter and 1 bolt hole threads were stripped beyond repair. His trans will need to be dropped and new converter will need to be bought or I could try to tap the holes and fix it. He is currently thinking on the price quote I gave him.

 

[imiceman44]

This might be crazy talk but can you fill the groove and regrind to close tolerance then hone it.
Or even better, just bore it back the size it's at?

 

[2INSANE]

This might be crazy talk but can you fill the groove and regrind to close tolerance then hone it.
Or even better, just bore it back the size it's at?

Yes! That can be done by an experienced welder/machine shop. It would be costly. I myself, would rather not go this route. It would be cheaper to sleeve it.

My goal with cylinder #2 is to hone the crap out of it once the new rings show up to smooth out that groove as much as possible. As long as the ring gap specs are still good with the new rings, it should be successful.

The process would be this…

Hone 15 seconds, check ring gaps, hone 15 seconds, check ring gaps, hone 15 seconds, check ring gaps… until the groove is as smooth as you can get it pending ring gap specs. Does that make sense?

 

[2INSANE]

Yesterday, I asked a friend/coworker if he would sand blast a couple of parts I had. 10 minutes later, i now have a rust free driver side valve cover and a rust free 9 blade steel upgraded fan, that is no longer being made anymore to my understanding.

I took the parts home, did a quick light sand with 200 grit, sprayed with brakekleen and laid 4 coats of Ace high temp indoor/outdoor gloss black on them. Looks great!

The passenger side valve cover will need to be done by hand because of the CDR vent mesh built inside the cover.

 

[Big Ray]

What's the latest, crazy one?

 

[2INSANE]

What's the latest, crazy one?

Not much. Just waiting for parts to arrive. The 4 1/4” 320 grit hone arrived last night. The piston rings are on back order.

The owner of Twisted Steel Performance most graciously donated a lot of P400 block material for my metallurgy experiment lab testing. Here’s the block identification, drill location and material in the test tube. Only have 2 more blocks I need to get material for before I send the samples to the lab for testing.

 

[Truckman4life]

Do you happen to know the dimensions for the hose connection on the CDR valve that goes to the intake side on a 6.2L and also the dimension for the connections on the sides of the intake manifold? I think the intake ones are 3/4" but I'm not sure if the one on the CDR valve is 1" or something different. I'm gonna build a little manifold while at work to redo my plumbing away from the stock style stuff that isn't available.