It was all probably a happy convenience.
CK5
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'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond
- Thread starter mrk5
- Start date
Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
the most simple way to get air in to all ports of an engine no matter the intake design is just 1 extra part ............ FORCED INDUCTION and live with the byproducts of that part .
A tunnel ram would have allowed for easy coil mounting.
Martin
Martin
I did finally figure out the passenger side coil mounting. The big key was to mount the 2nd coil (cylinder #4) flipped over. That put the harness connector closer to the 3rd coil (cylinder #6).
It's a tight fit running the harness under the throttle body, but there is some slack in the wires.
It's a tight fit running the harness under the throttle body, but there is some slack in the wires.
I decided to fire up the CNC and make some coil covers.
Pretty cool
That's a fun tool to have access to!
Looks good.
Looks good.
Wow. Nice machine work. Looks cool.
Thanks for the compliments! It occurred to me after I was done, I hope it clears the brake booster....
Yes, but I was actually worried about the little CO2 canister thing. Looks like I should be okay. I will take the plate off to be safe.
Thank you for posting that picture @Capt Ron. It's good to lay eyes on a complete engine and how some of the harness and hoses are routed. I notice you have the same p/s reservoir mounting idea that I have. I'm glad you agree with me about leaving the dumb little square hat thing off the intake.
It looks like the dipstick tube should have a locking clip or something. I don't remember taking anything off of it. I found an oring for the tube on RockAuto, but not anything else.
I also forgot the starter comes with a heat shield and I only had to bend the end of it about 1/8" to clear the headers.
I found the ARP starter bolts in my drawer of extra APR hardware. I don't remember buying them so I'm not sure where they came from. I guess that's the fun thing about forgetting things, it leads to nice surprises in the future.
I also forgot the starter comes with a heat shield and I only had to bend the end of it about 1/8" to clear the headers.
I found the ARP starter bolts in my drawer of extra APR hardware. I don't remember buying them so I'm not sure where they came from. I guess that's the fun thing about forgetting things, it leads to nice surprises in the future.
dipstick uses an o-ring and I used some rtv with it.
Sure looks like a clip goes there.
Is there a tab higher on the tube to secure it to a manifold / header bolt?
Looks like something else didn't clear the headersIt looks like the dipstick tube should have a locking clip or something. I don't remember taking anything off of it. I found an oring for the tube on RockAuto, but not anything else.
View attachment 469164
I also forgot the starter comes with a heat shield and I only had to bend the end of it about 1/8" to clear the headers.
View attachment 469163
I found the ARP starter bolts in my drawer of extra APR hardware. I don't remember buying them so I'm not sure where they came from. I guess that's the fun thing about forgetting things, it leads to nice surprises in the future.
yes.
Yes, there's a tab that goes to one of the header bolts.
I know, right? I'm wondering if might be something that's used in the marine applications.
I'm pretty sure that is courtesy of the motor mount that was only held in by 1 loose bolt. If I remember right, I had to grind a little off the frame in that spot when I first installed them.Looks like something else didn't clear the headers
I was planning to put the engine in the truck this weekend, but instead I have taken about 4 or 5 steps backwards...... 
I didn't think it looked like the balancer was installing deep enough. The gap between the cover and balancer looked like more than I am used to seeing. I bolted one of the accessory brackets on and the crank pulley was not lining up to one of the idler pulleys. I asked @Capt Ron and @doubletrouble to check the gap on the L29 engines they have access too and they confirmed my suspicions.
I think most of you can probably see the problem pretty easily in the picture below:
After doing some internet research I was finding that it looks like the aftermarket timing chains do not take the crank sensor reluctor into account. Apparently they assume people aren't running double rollers with factory EFI. I even found a post by @skunked in the Sancho thread where he had found his aftermarket crank sprocket was thicker but in his case it was perfect because he's not running factory EFI.
I only found 1 aftermarket timing chain for the Gen VI that said it wouldn't work with factory EFI; that was CompCam. After reading some forums, it sounds like up until about a year ago it was mentioned this was the case as a few people had run into this issue.
Here are the numbers that will hopefully help someone else in the future that has a similar issue with their L29 Gen VI vortec 7.4L 454 (I listed all of the possible nomenclature because my searching has taught me you have to use about all of the variants to find answers).
At this point I'm either running the factory timing chain or I could have 0.1" taken off the reluctor. The only concern I have there is clearance between the reluctor and the timing chain which you can see in the picture below thru the crank sensor hole.
I put a feeler gauge between them and just 0.1" just fits.
I did think some about taking 0.1" off the balancer, but I have some concern about the sensor properly reading the reluctor. As you can see in the picture, it's pushed off center in the hole.
I guess another option is to consider taking a little off the reluctor and the balancer. Only thing I don't like about this is that it does make the balancer unique but I should be needing to replace balancers in the future.
My biggest lesson from this project is that just because a part is listed for the Gen VI 454, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work. Especially not with the factory EFI. Not only does this problem happen with the timing chains, but if you search for balancers on Summit Racing, it will give you several of the deeper MarkIV type options and really only 1 or 2 that are true factory replacements for the Gen VI.
I didn't think it looked like the balancer was installing deep enough. The gap between the cover and balancer looked like more than I am used to seeing. I bolted one of the accessory brackets on and the crank pulley was not lining up to one of the idler pulleys. I asked @Capt Ron and @doubletrouble to check the gap on the L29 engines they have access too and they confirmed my suspicions.
I think most of you can probably see the problem pretty easily in the picture below:
After doing some internet research I was finding that it looks like the aftermarket timing chains do not take the crank sensor reluctor into account. Apparently they assume people aren't running double rollers with factory EFI. I even found a post by @skunked in the Sancho thread where he had found his aftermarket crank sprocket was thicker but in his case it was perfect because he's not running factory EFI.
I only found 1 aftermarket timing chain for the Gen VI that said it wouldn't work with factory EFI; that was CompCam. After reading some forums, it sounds like up until about a year ago it was mentioned this was the case as a few people had run into this issue.
Here are the numbers that will hopefully help someone else in the future that has a similar issue with their L29 Gen VI vortec 7.4L 454 (I listed all of the possible nomenclature because my searching has taught me you have to use about all of the variants to find answers).
- Factory timing chain crank gear width: 0.456"
- Howards 94309 timing chain crank gear width: 0.558"
- Crank sensor reluctor wheel width: 0.2"
- Gen VI harmonic balancer depth: 2.562" as measured by me
- Mark IV harmonic balancer depth: 2.686" per RockAuto Dayco unit
At this point I'm either running the factory timing chain or I could have 0.1" taken off the reluctor. The only concern I have there is clearance between the reluctor and the timing chain which you can see in the picture below thru the crank sensor hole.
I put a feeler gauge between them and just 0.1" just fits.
I did think some about taking 0.1" off the balancer, but I have some concern about the sensor properly reading the reluctor. As you can see in the picture, it's pushed off center in the hole.
I guess another option is to consider taking a little off the reluctor and the balancer. Only thing I don't like about this is that it does make the balancer unique but I should be needing to replace balancers in the future.
My biggest lesson from this project is that just because a part is listed for the Gen VI 454, it doesn't necessarily mean it will work. Especially not with the factory EFI. Not only does this problem happen with the timing chains, but if you search for balancers on Summit Racing, it will give you several of the deeper MarkIV type options and really only 1 or 2 that are true factory replacements for the Gen VI.
