Hello Mr. Murphy

I did get some stuff done today. I installed the fuel pressure gauge.

I also managed to get the turbo mounted for real...with gaskets, feed and drain lines plumbed in.


(no this is not heater hose. It is $8 a foot oil safe hose.)
As well as weld in the wastegate. I had to do a little trimming on the gate where I had welding in the flange previously. I was hitting the valve in the gate and holding it open just a bit...but enough to leak...a little time with the dremel and it now has a tight seal.

You may also notice that it is installed backward from how I had it mocked up. I decided not to plumb it in so close to the turbo outlet as it does cause some power loss at high rpm by putting turbulence right at the mouth of the turbo...which I knew, but initially didn't care too much and it was the easiest routing. Now I will either plumb it in past the O2 sensor or may even just let it dump outside the exhaust all together.

The day was not without it's murphy law moments...I had a kit to install the fuel gauge- wrong fitting for the gauge end. I bought bolts to mount the fuel pump block off- wrong size. I thought I had a tap for a 1/4" NPT fitting - wrong size. So, I didn't get done as much as I would have liked...but progress is progress...

Update tomorrow....

I went out today and rounded up the fittings, hose and such that I need to complete the pumbing of the fuel pressure gauge, boost gauge, wastegate hose, and boost reference for the fuel pump. Look for an update tomorrow...

Back in the Saddle...

Ok so after a short hiatus from the truck (reason: see previous post) I got some work done on the truck today.

First I fixed the electrical issue (see: not very electrifying) ...turned out to be a bad ground...so the pump has got juice. (note: bought a nice new test light at Loop Road - still down one multimeter)

Next, I welded up the rest of the the merge pipe. I ran by RJ's custom piping in Raleigh and picked up the 90 degree pipe I needed. It had all been mocked up and tacked...so I did the "real" welds. I had little scare in the middle of it...my welder just stoppped...dead. Oh, crap. It turns out it just overheated...after cooling down for a while it started working again...whew. Anyway, done.


I also removed the mechanical fuel pump and built the drain to replace it. I fuel pump block off plate that I drilled and welded a bung to and threaded in a 5/8 fitting.


Finally I had an issue when I added the drain to the turbo...it hit the bracket I had made....so I had to rejigger the bracket (note the cut and reweld in the bottom bracket below) to clear the drain and it was just tacked as well...so I burnt some metal there too. I then painted up all the crap I built or modified before putting it all back in...

No work = Lots of Work

Well, I haven't got much done on the truck the last few weekends...why? The wife's Wagoneer blew a head gasket...so I got to tear into the 360...so, here it is: "How to replace head gaskets in 30 seconds or less!"