That sounds like my kinda trip. The gnarly stuff is cool to conquer but having rig that's usable for basically anything I think is better.
CK5
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One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban
- Thread starter AgDieseler
- Start date
Let’s begin.
I’ve started the process to figure out how to rotate the HE351CW and maintain wastegate control. The outlet needs to rotate about 100* CCW, and that puts the wastegated actuator well out of the way of the wastegate arm on the impeller housing.
My local M&D Diesel can rebuild the turbo, and I’m looking at TurboSmart’s universal wastegate actuator. I’d just need to fab a mounting bracket, and that shouldn’t be too tough.
There are also small index holes in the impeller and compressor housings I’ll need to drill to correctly orient the bearing section. Whereas my TE06H rotates freely with the circlip disengaged, the HE351CW’s bearing section has tiny indexing dowels that orient the housings to their factory locations.
I have a plan, but there’s no way around yanking the TE06H and mocking this one up on the truck. Here’s how the existing turbo is aligned to the intercooler. It’s important to get the rotation just right...not a ton of room.
I love working on this truck.
David
I’ve started the process to figure out how to rotate the HE351CW and maintain wastegate control. The outlet needs to rotate about 100* CCW, and that puts the wastegated actuator well out of the way of the wastegate arm on the impeller housing.
My local M&D Diesel can rebuild the turbo, and I’m looking at TurboSmart’s universal wastegate actuator. I’d just need to fab a mounting bracket, and that shouldn’t be too tough.
There are also small index holes in the impeller and compressor housings I’ll need to drill to correctly orient the bearing section. Whereas my TE06H rotates freely with the circlip disengaged, the HE351CW’s bearing section has tiny indexing dowels that orient the housings to their factory locations.
I have a plan, but there’s no way around yanking the TE06H and mocking this one up on the truck. Here’s how the existing turbo is aligned to the intercooler. It’s important to get the rotation just right...not a ton of room.
I love working on this truck.
David
M&D is right out for this little project. They only run an exchange program for the turbo - $1050 out the door - and they get spooked at the whiff of a “custom application.” That’s way more than I want to spend.
Fortunately, there’s Majestic Turbo. My rebuild should be very reasonable $280-550 if the center bearing is good, which is promising since there’s no fore/aft play and I don’t need any go-fast billet junk for this to work well on the suburban. They’re a 1-2 day turnaround.
On the way to the airport, I dropped the compressor housing off at a buddy’s shop to get cleaned in their sonic tank, and maybe a bit of vapor blasting for the tough crud - just need to have a good surface to weld on the new wastegate mount. We have a landfill run on Friday, and then I’m taking her down to fit and integrate.
Rev0 is basic mounting and packaging and performance using up to 15psi. I’ll put the engine on a stand for Rev1.
David
Fortunately, there’s Majestic Turbo. My rebuild should be very reasonable $280-550 if the center bearing is good, which is promising since there’s no fore/aft play and I don’t need any go-fast billet junk for this to work well on the suburban. They’re a 1-2 day turnaround.
On the way to the airport, I dropped the compressor housing off at a buddy’s shop to get cleaned in their sonic tank, and maybe a bit of vapor blasting for the tough crud - just need to have a good surface to weld on the new wastegate mount. We have a landfill run on Friday, and then I’m taking her down to fit and integrate.
Rev0 is basic mounting and packaging and performance using up to 15psi. I’ll put the engine on a stand for Rev1.
David
Show them how the big boys do it!!
Love the wall art. All of it.
Me too! Except the bubble gum wrapper. Surely there's a story to go with it?
Like everything on that wall, it has a story and/or a purpose.
Shortly after my grandfather passed, I was working on his 68 C10 - cleaning it up, rebuilding the carb - and there was this crumpled Super Bubble wrapper in the ash tray. He was a big fan of the brand and sweet chewing gun in general, and we’d find those wrappers everywhere. Since that would no longer be the case, I kept this one as a memento.
About 20 years later, it’s on my garage wall.
David
That’s awesome!
Back in town, and looking forward to getting the turbo mocked up. I had a buddy give it a gentle clean in his vapor blaster, so now I can weld on a new wastegate mount. I’m hoping to drop it off at Majestic Turbo on Monday.
His shop is f’ing cool.
Work related - I got my interview window for the new role at work, and it’s both weeks on either side of BB18. Prepping for that, too.
David
His shop is f’ing cool.
Work related - I got my interview window for the new role at work, and it’s both weeks on either side of BB18. Prepping for that, too.
David
I met none of my goals, but made good progress.
TE06H out.
Really nice improvement on the exhaust side. The HE351CW has a flapper that ejects directly into the 4” exhaust stream rather than 90* turn into the 2.5” on the TE06H.
Finally got the wastegate length set at 20psi, which along with the back pressure should hopefully pop somewhere around 15. We’ll see. There’s room to adjust.
Still need to install the alternator and check clearances. I have a 3/8” flange I can use as a spacer if it’s too tight. Also, the output and intercooler are offset from each other by about 1.75”, so I’m fabricating an offset 2.75”>3” piece of piping.
Old oil flange doesn’t really fit, so I’ll just need to bend up some new tubing and tie it into the 1/2NPT vibrant flange that’s coming Wednesday.
Parting shot
David
TE06H out.
Really nice improvement on the exhaust side. The HE351CW has a flapper that ejects directly into the 4” exhaust stream rather than 90* turn into the 2.5” on the TE06H.
Finally got the wastegate length set at 20psi, which along with the back pressure should hopefully pop somewhere around 15. We’ll see. There’s room to adjust.
Still need to install the alternator and check clearances. I have a 3/8” flange I can use as a spacer if it’s too tight. Also, the output and intercooler are offset from each other by about 1.75”, so I’m fabricating an offset 2.75”>3” piece of piping.
Old oil flange doesn’t really fit, so I’ll just need to bend up some new tubing and tie it into the 1/2NPT vibrant flange that’s coming Wednesday.
Parting shot
David
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That's the story of my week!
Nice work, man. I wish I could see the truck again. I wanna see how you will fit a 4" downpipe between the starter and the frame rail. My 3" downpipe is already snug through there.
It will go in the same space as the current downpipe. It’s tight, but there’s room. It doesn’t need a full 4” cross section - 3.5” is plenty and 3” is sufficient. Hard to be more descriptive, because it’s just one of those things I’ll figure out when I get there.
You’ll love my downpipe design for shakedown. There will be a video.
David
You’ll love my downpipe design for shakedown. There will be a video.
David
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Great progress! Reading both burn diesel builds is a good time.
Ethan a huge down pipe on a 6.2 isn't necessary, there's plenty of duramax engines out there putting out 500+HP on a 3". 4" is nice but definitely overkill.
Ethan a huge down pipe on a 6.2 isn't necessary, there's plenty of duramax engines out there putting out 500+HP on a 3". 4" is nice but definitely overkill.
Of course 3" is fine, that's what I'm running.
But there's no kill like overkill, right?
I figure the best way to connect a 4" muffler and a 4" turbine is a piece of 4" pipe. But maybe I'm underthinking things for once.
I understand this thought process completely.
I won't admit to how many hours I've stared at my exhaust pieces thus far...
Someday I want to talk turbo with you. I want/need something different for my crew cab that doesn't build heat as much.
