Real Fiero Tech

well, I'm planning another trip in the Pig Rig, this time, I'll be heading southeast towards Oklahoma City for a friends wedding. I have a fairly short list of things I need to handle before I disembark.

Aim the headlights(they're way off)
oil change for the engine and BOTH differentials.
install proper vent tubes on the differentials.
coolant flush/put antifeeze in.
figure out the problems with the HVAC fan.
fix the cluster lights
fix the OPSU leak.

I've also started investigating other diesel engines for the pig, and I'm starting to think I might just pick up a 6.5 detroit diesel do a rebuild and install it. I'd like to get my hands on one to see what i would be working with, but I think it would make for the best of what I need and want out of the truck.

I also realized that I don't think I ever posted the whole route that I took...

Snazzy route.

A 6.5 won't be at all fast or have good pulling power. Even with a Banks turbo setup they don't even hit 300 HP.

My dad has a GMC Motorhome with Olds 455. I'd *LOVE* to diesel it, but it has the TH425 transmission, which is fairly torque limited for a Duramax. The 6.5 conversion has been done to them, but they're going to be dog slow climbing or towing.

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:07 pm Snazzy route.

A 6.5 won't be at all fast or have good pulling power. Even with a Banks turbo setup they don't even hit 300 HP.

My dad has a GMC Motorhome with Olds 455. I'd *LOVE* to diesel it, but it has the TH425 transmission, which is fairly torque limited for a Duramax. The 6.5 conversion has been done to them, but they're going to be dog slow climbing or towing.

The big problem with 6.5's and power, is the high compression ratio(22:1), the turbos are too small(drive pressure causes high EGTs), and the lack of an intercooler. I'm currently investigating a few other ideas to bring the power to more respectable numbers. I'm not trying to make a 6.5 do what a duramax will do, I'm just trying to split the difference between the $8000 expense of a duramax (for just the engine), and the crappieness of a 6.2 that these came stock with. I know a cummins can go into a square, but it's far from a bolt in affair, comparable to a duramax from a swap standpoint, whereas the 6.5 bolts into the stock mounts and can run any transmission a chevy V8 can.

For the motorhome, the TH425 is limited to 600 ftlbs because of the chain drive. If I build an engine with 600 torques and tow a vehicle or trailer behind the motorhome or climb mountains with it, I'd probably wear the chain drive out PDQ.

A DuramAllison would be brutally expensive on its own, but also require a fixed "U-drive" attachment and a front diff of corresponding strength, both of which are going to be highly custom articles, driving cost even higher. An Atlas T-case might be a good start for the U-Drive, but I don't have confidence it's designed for continuous duty at ~900 ftlbs (~600ftlbs Duramax output x Allison 3rd gear) at road speeds in a rig grossing close to 20,000# (Motorhome + trailer). Hell, there aren't a lot of "normal" diffs that can handle that for continuous duty.

A 6.5 would be hella slower, but way cheaper, especially if it kept the torque in the 450-500 ftlbs range, but then it would be making so little power the rig would be a hazard to navigation on hills. Maybe the Cummins V8 in the Nissan Titan would be the right direction to go...

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Tue Oct 29, 2019 4:45 pm For the motorhome, the TH425 is limited to 600 ftlbs because of the chain drive. If I build an engine with 600 torques and tow a vehicle or trailer behind the motorhome or climb mountains with it, I'd probably wear the chain drive out PDQ.

A DuramAllison would be brutally expensive on its own, but also require a fixed "U-drive" attachment and a front diff of corresponding strength, both of which are going to be highly custom articles, driving cost even higher. An Atlas T-case might be a good start for the U-Drive, but I don't have confidence it's designed for continuous duty at ~900 ftlbs (~600ftlbs Duramax output x Allison 3rd gear) at road speeds in a rig grossing close to 20,000# (Motorhome + trailer). Hell, there aren't a lot of "normal" diffs that can handle that for continuous duty.

A 6.5 would be hella slower, but way cheaper, especially if it kept the torque in the 450-500 ftlbs range, but then it would be making so little power the rig would be a hazard to navigation on hills. Maybe the Cummins V8 in the Nissan Titan would be the right direction to go...

Thankfully for me, the pig is nowhere near 20K pounds. if I were to try and use a 4x4 transfer case for that, I wouldn't use anything less than an NP 205, cast iron gear to gear, it's bulletproof and might be able to handle the torque at a high duty cycle.

well, today made for quite a bit of progress on the Pig Rig.

I fixed both battery trays, the passenger side tray had a mounting ear break off, so I welded it back on and it's now much tighter. the driver's side is another story, and had I known the problem existed before I left to go to Alaska, I wouldn't have had to do anything to it. what I didn't know before, is that it was only held in by two of the four bolts the factory used. which cause the metal to tear at the bolt holes in the fender and let the battery flop around in the engine bay, thankfully, I noticed the change in noise and was able to strap it down with a ratchet strap to prevent further problems. my fix was kinda ghetto, but it should be fine, I through bolted the top two bolts with large fender washers and high strength bolts, then I drilled the holes required in the inner fender and put bolts in to hold the lower portions, it's strong enough now to shake the entire truck by the mount!

I also fixed the leaky oil pressure sending unit, all that's left to investigate is a small trans fluid leak, I think it's coming from the fittings on the transmission.

in other news I fixed the back window, which decided it only wanted to go down and not up, unfortunately, I did a ton of work to fix things that weren't actually the problem...

I never gave this wire much thought



today, I pulled it out and found one of my favorite things to find on an old truck, a wire with a ball of tape on the end...



Remove the tape to find the plug for the switch that prevents the window motor from operating with the door open... and previous owner hackery...







If I had a line on a new switch, I'd put it in, but I don't, and I plan to replace this body anyways, so I used a butt connector to bypass the non existant switch permanently,

then I moved on to replacing the window tracks that allow the regulator to move the window, one of mine had been bent, so I ordered a pair from LMC truck, they're about $20 each not including shipping.

see a problem here???





For parts that could easily be measured with the simplest of hand tools, they somehow made not one, but both of them over 1/8" off! I'm pretty irritated I'm not going to use them, but I am contacting them about it. I ended up taking a hammer to the bent slide, and then welding in a new nut so that it would work.

I also decided that I wanted curtains for a bit of added privacy on camping trips, so I found some fabric. and am going to fire up the sewing machine!

well, I went to OKC, I had minimal problems along the way, the transfer case doesn't like 4 high, I think the linkage needs to be adjusted, thankfully, I didn't need it that often, I also fixed an oil leak while in OKC, other than that, the truck has been dead nuts reliable. the trip was about 5100 miles, covering 11 states, and more state/national parks/forests than I can count. Some quick math suggests I get about 12 MPG, without factoring in the times I missed turns (I don't GPS) or when I doubled back to try and find my phone after I lost it in Colorado(Which is why I don't have pictures from the Pacific Coast HWY or Bonneville... )... The BFG tires saved my ass on a snow covered mountain road in southwest Washington, they grip like mad, I couldn't be happier!

The way there:



The way back



Some pictures.

Looks like a great trip, less losing a phone!

What franken-axles do you have under this thing again?

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 11:04 am Looks like a great trip, less losing a phone!

What franken-axles do you have under this thing again?

nothing crazy, stock 10 bolt with dana 44 "flat top" outer knuckles, and Off road design crossover, high steer setup, and a 9.5" 14 bolt. I've been keeping my eyes out for a 10.5" 14 bolt to replace the rear, preferably from a late model with disc brakes. I'm also looking into installing late model front calipers and rotors on the front axle as well, but I need more parts to take measurements off of because my dumb ass threw away the parts I was going to use for mock up...

I'd also love to put a Dana 60 front axle under it as well, but there're harder to find, and way more expensive, especially considering what I have isn't broken.


it was a good one, had a couple of scares, transfer case popping out of 4H and into neutral on a busy snow covered road with a 10% downgrade isn't fun, but I made it out alive and unscathed. I'll have to look into adjusting the linkage. the oil leak was from the oil pressure switch on the back of the block, when I was tightening it, I snapped it off... I was sweating while carefully tapping an easy out into it and trying to turn it back out... but I was able to fix it and get home.

I had a Quadrasteer sighting this morning... Was leaving the parking lot of the little strip mall where the Chick-Fil-A and 7-11 are and noticed an extended cab truck entering the parking lot with oddly shaped bed sides... Then I saw they were *slightly* flared, figured it was a QS, looked and saw the hardware on the rear axle. I did not stop him to make an offer.

I almost bought another suburban a week ago, it was on marketplace for $250! it took every ounce of restraint I had to say no, the problem, someone installed a roof rack, and it leaked into the interior, the other, was that there was just enough rust on the brake lines to scare me away. I was planning to pick it up, put all the good stuff from my truck on it. the rust on the brake lines had me thinking that it could very quickly go from a weekend project, to a month long fiasco.

I've been almost exclusively driving the Pig, Since October, and I'm happy to report, that it no longer leaks oil at all, I fixed a leak on the oil pressure switch when I drove it to OKC, and haven't had to add oil since! I'm probably going to give it an oil change next week, it deserves it!

been a minute, I think the ignition module took a dump on me, hard starts when hot. sometimes takes a bit of coaxing to get it started, I still need to do a bit more troubleshooting though.

I'm contemplating taking a week off and going down to the Rubicon in the 'Rig, I definitely need to clean the truck up alot first though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174526223882

Nice truck! the $11K pricetag shows! I don't think I want one that nice though, I don't want to tear up something cherry.

ericjon262 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 28, 2020 6:48 am Nice truck! the $11K pricetag shows! I don't think I want one that nice though, I don't want to tear up something cherry.

I don't see the nice condition of a vehicle as a reason to leave it alone, just that your modification work must be up to snuff and worthy of the vehicle.

pmbrunelle wrote: ↑Sat Nov 28, 2020 5:48 pm

ericjon262 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 28, 2020 6:48 am Nice truck! the $11K pricetag shows! I don't think I want one that nice though, I don't want to tear up something cherry.

I don't see the nice condition of a vehicle as a reason to leave it alone, just that your modification work must be up to snuff and worthy of the vehicle.

True, but I plan to take it off road, and abuse it a bit, I'd hate to cover such a nice body in dents and scratches.

Was kind of a joke because that one, while very nice, is a 6.2 Diesel... and they really are pigs.

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:53 am Was kind of a joke because that one, while very nice, is a 6.2 Diesel... and they really are pigs.

6.2's have their place. I honestly wouldn't mind one for my next one, mainly because I want to put a diesel in it, and wouldn't have to source little odds and ends like gauges that say "diesel fuel only" and stuff like that, not that most of that matters anyway.

ericjon262 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 10:16 am

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Mon Nov 30, 2020 9:53 am Was kind of a joke because that one, while very nice, is a 6.2 Diesel... and they really are pigs.

6.2's have their place. I honestly wouldn't mind one for my next one, mainly because I want to put a diesel in it, and wouldn't have to source little odds and ends like gauges that say "diesel fuel only" and stuff like that, not that most of that matters anyway.

My dad had enough trouble finding a gasoline tach for his Square Body. He actually carried the instrument panel over from his prior truck to install with the Caddy 500 into his current original diesel '90 because he had put the effort into assembling a cluster with full instrumentation.

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Mon Dec 14, 2020 3:02 pm My dad had enough trouble finding a gasoline tach for his Square Body. He actually carried the instrument panel over from his prior truck to install with the Caddy 500 into his current original diesel '90 because he had put the effort into assembling a cluster with full instrumentation.

I wouldn't mind finding a tach cluster for my truck, but it's also no a priority.

I recently watched an episode of "Enginemasters" on motortrend where they swapped the junk '193 heads for a set of L31 Vortec heads with similar intakes and picked up over 100 HP. it got me contemplating doing a very mild heads/cam/intake swap. I really wish this was a factory roller cam block, as I would rather not break in a camshaft.

I have a buddy swapping to aluminum heads, and I might be able to snag his old vortecs cheap.

Intake~$300 new, ~$100 used
cam- ~$180 or so
EBL-Flash ECU mod- $450
TBI to 4bbl intake adapter.~$50
I already have most of the gaskets I need on hand,

The pros:

MORE POWER!
probably better drivability

The cons:

Will probably need a better fuel pump, I don't remember what I put in, but if it's a stock TBI pump, they barely support stock power levels.

money could go towards a diesel or LSx series engine.

the big unknown:

fuel economy change, I feel like this could go up or down.



I think for now, if my buddy lets his vortecs go cheap, I'm going to keep my eyes out for a good deal on an intake, and maybe a used EBL setup, otherwise, I'll leave it as is and keep driving it.