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88 K5 Diesel - Tranny/Trans Adapter Install

Long overdue

Well, been a while since I've been in here! Truck's been down since September when I flexed the hell out of it and ripped my intake apart. Enter hunting season, then winter, didn't get around to fixing anything...

Intake is replaced, ditched that huge cast iron filter box that comes with the Banks kit - mounts to the battery tray then attaches to the turbo, and constantly rips off. Some heavy flexing finally broke the bottom right off that thing. Don't seem to have a picture, but I'll update.

Went for a drive after that, just quick, got home to a huge cloud of diesel smoke. Turns out my motor mount was completely thrashed on the passenger side (driver to, but pass worse) and the downpipe off the turbo was pressed up against my injector return lines, burnt through a couple. Ordered up the ORD HD mounts and finally got around to putting them in over the weekend.

Out of the box:


Busted!:


Fancy new ones:


A shameless plug for ORD here... Their site isn't lying, there is a noticeable increase in the noise/vibration transmitted through the poly bushings vs the stocker rubber ones. I have to say though, just driving around town for a few hours yesterday and the entire drivetrain feels MUCH more solid. Absolutely worth the upgrade for anybody who thinks their mounts might be on their last legs. It was a bit of a hard swallow, $170US for the ORD ones vs $11CAD for the stock ones, but I'll never question these ones.

Have a new set of marine 6.5 injectors to go in too, will hopefully get around to that this weekend.

However, picked up this beauty a couple weeks ago:



She doesn't look like much, bu it's a 93 K2500 4x4. Most importantly, it has a mech IP 6.5TD that runs nice and strong, and an MT8 NV4500 with the 6.54 granny low.

Martin you'll be happy to hear that I fully intend to swap the hydro pedals and clutch in finally. I've definitely had my share of the mech linkage getting hung up. :waytogo:

Clutch kit, input shaft for the NV, and the NV/fig8 205 adapter are all on order, looks like they won't be here until mid April though. Weather/time permitting, hopefully by end of April I'll have new power plant and new gears to play with!

Lockers/regear also on schedule this summer. Going to be a busy one.
 
Not going to lie, part of the problemis the insane creaking coming from the clutch pedal. It's almost as much work to get through the dash to do that as it is to replace the pedals.

The mech linkage hanging up sucks too though.
 
Alright couple of updates. Said above the intake box was trashed. Used the silicon 90 with exhaust pieces slid inside to reinforce it. Used a 1/2" NPT bulkhead fitting to attach the CDR.





Not the best pictures, but you get the idea.
 
Then went to a GPS place in Calgary and got some RAM mounts for my GPS and phone. These are great mounts, all metal, 1" balls, very secure. Tek screwed the bases onto the dash. Can finally hands free some stuff! Power outlet as well, long overdue.





Ya I know the power went in crooked... Tough to fire in the tek screws while reaching up under the dash. Can't tell unless you're laying on the floor, so I'll suffer. Dual 2.1a USB on the left, standard 12v outlet on the right.





And can't forget the sweet $15 tilt gauge!

 
Actually did something significant over the weekend replacing the shocks and injectors. Went with the 6.5 marine injectors so I can swap them over into the new 6.5 once I'm done collecting the parts. Was a little worried swapping the long stock injectors with the short 6.5s, but runs great, turbo spools faster, overall happy with it. Shocks went with Bilstein 5100s 12" travel. Rides a LOT better than before, though it might be a little stiff for my taste. Anything is better than worrying I'm going to bounce off the road every time I hit a bump.



Just from the eyelets you can tell the Bilsteins are an improvement over the damn Zone OR ones...

 
Well once again it's been a long time since I've updated anything, but I have a bunch of powertrain updates coming.

Engine:
6.5 heads/GM3 turbo - have to rig a mech wastegate control
head studs
.010 over HG
basics - IM/VC gaskets, oil pan and rear main, oil pump

I've already swapped on the 6.5 mech IP which has made a HUGE difference, so pretty excited to get the heads on with the marine injectors that are already in my 6.2.

Have to get the heads into have the deck checked and pressure tested, but they're in good shape so shouldn't be a problem.

I've also got an S&B intake for the 6.5 that pulls from the PS fender, and I've ordered an FJ80 ARB snorkel so I'm hoping they somewhat line up and plumbing will be easy-ish.

Also have the MT8 NV4500 ready to go in. Already have a new clutch kit and intake shaft for it, just ordered the AA adapter so I can run my 10 spline NP205 behind it. It's expensive, and it hurt, but I've been staring at that NV4500 for a year now so I had to do it sooner or later. Also have a hydraulic clutch setup to go in, so that will make everything run a little smoother. The 93's pedals aren't nearly the same setup from what's in the K5 now, so I've got the clutch pedal and I'm going to relocate the master's pushrod connector to the existing clutch pedal. Should be an easy matter or measuring the throw, drilling and welding the connector onto the pedal that's in there now. I"ll cut the spring off it through so it swings freely.

I do have to figure something out to get rid of the AC coil on the firewall. I just can't bring myself to spend like 200 bucks on the classic parts blockoff panel, so may try to fab something myself out of fibreglass. We'll see how that goes; I'll likely fail miserably then order it anyway.

So much to do, so much to do. But it's going to be good times once it's over!
 
80' 427 said:
The gm3 is a egt creating pile of crap. Put your banks stuff on the 6.5.
Click to expand...

The Banks turbo I've got does spool a lot better now that I've got much better fueling from the 6.5 IP. That being said though still needs quite a bit of throttle. The GM-3 spools pretty nicely and lower RPM thanks to the wastegate; for wheeling a diesel low end is everything.

Will likely go to an HX/HY35 down the road, but the GM-3 will work for now.
 
My 6.2 has a hx35. For wheeling I use gearing to get lowend. Works a lot easier than 500ftlbs spinning a fluid coupler in an attempt to move an undergeared axle. Of course, what do I know.
 
80' 427 said:
My 6.2 has a hx35. For wheeling I use gearing to get lowend. Works a lot easier than 500ftlbs spinning a fluid coupler in an attempt to move an undergeared axle. Of course, what do I know.
Click to expand...

which fluid coupler are we talking about?
 
Oh yes I forget you have a 465 now. either way picking the operational range is leaps an bounds ahead of attempting to make a engine work about or below its power curve.
 
That's the idea though, to move the power curve left. Part of getting the NV in place with OD means I can up my diff gearing; right now leaning to 4.56 but I'll drive it a bit as is first with the changesr to the powertrain to make sure that's where I want to go. Definitely not saying an HX wouldn't be a good upgrade, but I just dropped a little more than $2k on parts, so can't do everything at once...
 
I understand, I am just suggesting that the guys I wheel with have NA 6.2s and 4.56s and have lots of low end power. A buddy of Martin and I has a 6.2 suburban that will be getting 5.13s or 5.38s, with overdrive final drive ratio is still lower than the guys with 4.56s. I have 5.38s in my truck with a 465/205 and I may still be moving to a doubler even with my 454.
 
Oh ya there's no doubt it helps, but if I can get the power curve as low as I can get it, then I'm going to. GM3 or HX35, as long as it's got a wastegate it's better than the Banks. With the SM 6.55 granny it's actually pretty good for crawling, but the Banks still won't spool well unless I"m in granny and into the pedal going through mud and whatnot.

Granted I haven't wheeled it since I put the 6.5 IP in, so it might actually be a lot better now. 3.54s and a dying IP sure lead to a PITA driving around on the street though lol
 
more fuel down low also equals higher egt sooner.. not that crawling is going to instigate that.. Has anyone tried to compound the GM-3(-8) with a banks? basically spool the larger charger with the smaller one? Its super common in imports to do that.. heck even some of those share exhaust housings.
 
I'm not against trying it, if I can find a reasonably priced hot pipe. Going to have to refab the exhaust anyway.
 
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