Author Topic: 1.6L TD in a Dodge Caravan (Read 144740 times)

arb · « **Reply #195 on:** March 13, 2009, 08:52:25 am »

Wife's birthday was Wednesday, so little work the past 2 days.. here's what I did -

Got 2 other belts for the alternator:

Got the new auto - darkening lens for my helmet, but the strap was broken and this one from a face shield does not fit well. Maybe I take it back...

I need only 2 more custom size reducers. I started both and tried to finish one last night.

jtanguay · « **Reply #196 on:** March 13, 2009, 12:10:49 pm »

Quote from: "arb"

Quote from: "dieselweasel"
Sorry to hear...I'd be pissed! I don't live too far from Haliburton...there are some interesting characters up there. Why did you drive 16 hrs for that? There's got to be lots of 1.6s much closer to you...?

Well, around here the IDI's are hard to find and the seller usually looks on eBay and see's a mint Caddy in California sell for $3,500 so figures their MKI is worth thousands even if it can't start. So, his offer for a TD complete and rust free for $300 - $500 Canadian = $225 - $375 USD sounded good, even with the $100 in gas I'd burn. Yes, it was interesting driving up there. I was expecting the guy to have a collection of several dozen broken MKI and MKII in his front yard like so many homes around the many lakes I pasted.

In stead, I got burned. At least his name and number are on the net now and if anyone googles "Jeff Dersche [email protected]
705-754-1218 905-449-3214" they will see he is a scammer, maybe a car thief as evident from the rusted stripped 1983 Rabbit he has w/o papers.

So, last night I did some more aluminum fabrication with my new welding lens in a very old welding helmet. The camera batteries where dead so no photos. I also returned the 15330 belt and got a 15335 and 15345 - They did not have a 15340. The "33" in these is the length in inches, so I have a 33.5" and 34.5" belts to try tonight.

and this is the same Jeff parting out those cars in the for sale section? hmmm... i'd be pissed! you should have made a stop by to Giles if his shop was open at the time. at least make the best of it and see how he runs things

arb · « **Reply #197 on:** March 13, 2009, 12:19:52 pm »

Quote from: "jtanguay"

and this is the same Jeff parting out those cars in the for sale section? hmmm... i'd be pissed! you should have made a stop by to Giles if his shop was open at the time. at least make the best of it and see how he runs things

YES, the very same Jeff Desroche. That's how I came into contact with him... so, unless you live in Halliburton ON, I would not waste the breath in my lungs to talk to him.

Yeah, it had become late Saturday by the time we were back down to Toronto, so I was sure Giles was doing 12 oz curls, or what ever he drinks :-)

arb · « **Reply #198 on:** March 16, 2009, 08:10:38 am »

No work Saturday on my ride.... but Sunday I got some progress. I made the top manifold plate. I needed a shorter 8mm stainless Steel bolt.

Here it is installed.

I needed to make another reducer. This is 1/8" plate aluminum.

Here is the intake side of the loop complete.

arb · « **Reply #199 on:** March 17, 2009, 02:35:03 pm »

Last night I fabricated some of the plumbing for the IC loop. Question, with stock boost, will the 2" silicone clamp to the aluminum pipe without blowing off if I don't weld a ridge around the end?

jtanguay · « **Reply #200 on:** March 17, 2009, 03:00:39 pm »

Quote from: "arb"

Last night I fabricated some of the plumbing for the IC loop. Question, with stock boost, will the 2" silicone clamp to the aluminum pipe without blowing off if I don't weld a ridge around the end?

it wouldn't be a bad idea, but you don't need to weld it. get an old pair of vice grips and modify them into a crimping tool. theres a thread floating around where it was done. it was Jake's (fspGTD)

i'd imagine that you might want to run more than stock boost to get your van goin :wink:

arb · « **Reply #201 on:** March 17, 2009, 03:22:05 pm »

LOL !! Yes, I might need more power especially if I haul my pop-up camper behind it :-D

hamradio · « **Reply #202 on:** March 17, 2009, 07:25:51 pm »

Quote from: "arb"

Here is the intake side of the loop complete.

FYI, this is what happens over time when screw type hose clamps are used on silicone intercooler piping.

jtanguay · « **Reply #203 on:** March 17, 2009, 07:35:26 pm »

yea but arb's don't look like they have open slits... its easier to make them that way, but i bet his are dimpled, so they won't 'slice' the silicon. it looks like they were tightened a little too much... i'd rather crimp the ends and not have to overtighten them.

arb · « **Reply #204 on:** March 19, 2009, 08:32:31 am »

Point well taken on the cheap clamps. On my airplane I would never use these clamps as they will fail or become loose at some point. For aircraft was use constant pressure clamps with springs in the jack screw. I have welded a ridge on almost all my pipes so I don't have to get crazy with clamping pressure.

Some have sent me messages about my Miller auto-darkening helmet. The fault was not that it was solar powered, the fault was Miller decided to seal a soldered on battery to the logic board so you had to buy a new $150 helmet when it wears out. I'm going to replace my soldered on battery, but my wife said go and buy a second helmet so you never have to worry about it again or have to wait for your helmet to "Charge in the sun"...

My new Miller (It was the cheapest they carried in an auto darkening - would have liked the $425 helmet with side lenses too and a huge face panel ;-) This one has AAA batteries:

So, before going to the fatness center to loose the bear belly, I welded my last size increaser.

I then had to trim the radiator over flow tank's bracket to allow the IC pipe to pass under the hood. Thought about running sans hood like the high school hot rods did back in my days... 8-)

This is a side increaser, so the step does not bother me. This is right off the TC.

And here it is !!!! My TC completely installed !!! No other plumbing to do on the TC. The BOV exit needs a hose to keep the dirt out, and the original hose to the LDA needs to be blocked, but the TC is happy !

arb · « **Reply #205 on:** March 20, 2009, 08:14:44 am »

Last night I made the fuel filter mount. I am going to bolt it to the passenger side strut tower. I was going to use aluminum, but decided on steel as the second thing I was going to start building is the anti-torque mounts and they need to be steel ... Here's the paint drying on the filter mount.

So, I decided on using 2 anti-torque mounts. One being the extension I put on the alternator / A/C compressor mount. It is anchored to the side of the block. But, I don't want all the torque going there when I try pulling the pop-up, or get hooked on big power down the road ;-) Here's the side mount, up side down.. Maybe a photo on the block will be clear?

The second mount will be across the top two bolts on the bell housing and go back to the fire wall. They will connect with rubber bushings. Here is the front bolt. I might add a piece of flat stock to make a triangle box over the rear bolt and most of the way to the firewall.

arb · « **Reply #206 on:** March 23, 2009, 08:54:42 am »

Busy weekend, but I got very close to first start !!

I started by trying to mount the fuel filter, but the bolt on top of the strut tower snapped off :-( I'll fix that later.

So I used 3 self tapping sheet metal screws instead. They are in the perimeter of the strut tower so they don't touch the spring or strut.

Next I fabricated the anti-torque mount. I can up with a mount that goes across the top 2 bell housing bolts and goes back to the firewall. There it triangulates to the differential housing mount. I found a metric self locking nut in my tool box for this.

I made the firewall part of the mount with more angle steel. It is bolted to the firewall with 5 closely spaced 3/8" bolts with self locking nuts. I used a stainless steel bolt for the mount. It has a washer with 2 sides bend up to prevent the bolt from turning. I used a sandwich of radiator hose for the mount.

On the inside of the firewall I made a clamping plate from 1/8" bar stock to distribute the forces. My son helped me with this as I needed to be on both sides of the firewall at the same time. The gas peddle needed to be R&R'd

I'll try and take photos of the mount tonight.... With everything torqued, I finally got to install the radiator and expansion tank. I have to make a mounting bracket for the tank, but for the moment, it is resting here.

I then filled the system with 6 quarts of 50/50 extended life fluid. My brother says it is just 2x the cost, but hey, if it reduces the change time, I'm OK with that.

Now, the fan belt and a few wires and I will be at first start !!!!

arb · « **Reply #207 on:** March 23, 2009, 02:34:45 pm »

My short list to driving now:

Install belt for alternator
connect alternator wires
install a/c compressor mount and compressor
Install battery box
Re-install intercooler loop and air filter
Torque passenger side drive shaft bolts
Install clamps to down pipe / flex joint
Fabricate S.S. elbow of 130 degrees
Install exhaust / muffler
Start engine
Run to operating temp w/o expansion tank cap
Top off coolant
Retorque head bolts
Attach hood to hinges
replace stone shields, make curb-strike guard to protect engine - Alternator.

arb · « **Reply #208 on:** March 25, 2009, 08:51:14 am »

I made smoke last night !! I didn't get the photos uploaded yet, so they will wait. The alternator did not have enough travel as I made the bracket off the engine and did not realize the water pump is a limiter for alternator travel. So, I cut the bracket in 2 places and TIG welded it on the car. I hate TIG welding laying on my side and using my knee to operate the welding peddle. It worked great. The alternator is not installed with self locking nuts. I installed the air filter and IC lines I removed to do the mount... Then I installed the battery box support and set a battery on it for a test start. I only connected the IP cut-off solenoid and starter to the battery. I briefly ran the aux fuel pump, but noticed the return hose for injector #2 was leaking. I need to replace the hose. I then held the GP feed to the battery for 20 seconds, then using a screw driver, ran the starter. Only 2 of the 4 injectors have the air out of them, so the other 2 have their feed lines still loose. The engine fired a few times, but the battery was not fully charged, so I stopped cranking. One of the injects then started to squirt fuel out of the cracked nut, so I torque it down. Only one injector to prime now. It is raining, so I might not try again tonight. Photos to follow. SMOKE !!! We had SMOKE !!!!

arb · « **Reply #209 on:** March 25, 2009, 10:37:36 am »

Quote from: "libbybapa"

That's awesome. I always seem to find first starts more exciting than being chased by a tiger.

BTW, I can understand wanting to keep the intercooler piping out of the way, but any addition length the the pipe increases turbo lag. I'm not saying the routing is bad, just something to consider.

Andrew

Thanks !! I jumped ahead of my list to do first start last night !! My wife came to see how I was doing and I used that as an excuse to do this :-)

Yes, I understood about the extra volumes in the loop increasing lag, but I'm not going to drive this like a GT The tiny turbo I have will surprise me if I can get 12 psi out of it.