I'm Back! S-10 OM617 Project - Page 22 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

mach4 · #**316** 02-09-2015, 07:25 PM

I know you've pretty much decided on foregoing a secondary positive shutoff and I don't disagree. But I've been thinking how it might be possible to cut off the air rather than cut off the fuel. Nothing really practical came to mind until just now as I was perusing a diesel forum I haven't spent any time on and came across the idea of using a throttle body for shutdown. The particular post suggested a Mustang throttle body. That would be pretty easy to plumb in and could be activated by either a cable in the cabin or a normally open solenoid and tied to the emergency electrical shutoff in the rear. The throttle body would be full open except during the shutdown process. Without power to the solenoid it would snap shut and provide positive shutdown.

A block of wood over the intake is the classic "cure" for a runaway engine. This is just more elegant.

Just an idea in case the other system(s) don't pass muster with the technical folks.

Dan Stokes · #**317** 02-09-2015, 11:08 PM

Thanks for thinking about this challenge! I can see where that could work. Some of the early 2-cycle DDAs (Detroit Diesel Allison) have exactly that sort of system built in on the inlet to the Roots blower. Sometimes they'd suck oil out of the crankcase and just keep right on running until the oil ran out - probably not good for engine life.

On a happy note - I picked up the bits to make it happen and moved the oil pressure sensor to the loop that takes the place of the oil cooler. NO oil pressure, just like before even though the mechanical gage on top of the oil filter canister said 20PSI-ish. Light bulb comes on!!!! I clipped a jumper wire from the case of the sensor to ground and EUREKA! 70 PSI! When I rev the engine to 3500 or so it pegs the meter at 100 - pretty common on this engine according to the guys on the forum. I expect that once the engine warms up it'll be a bit lower. I have to refine this a bit as the flex line lays slightly on the steel part of the motor mount but that's just refinement.

Evidently there's no orifice in the oil cooler circuit. I'm not sure why the OP is SO different between the top of the oil filter canister and the filter outlet but I don't have a clear picture of the the flow path thru there.

Nice to be getting everything in line.

Dan

Dan Stokes · #**318** 02-14-2015, 10:37 PM

Found and fixed (at least the big) banging when I drove the truck. Turns out that the driveshaft was banging on a part of the floor that hangs down just behind the front U-joint. My guess is that the rear of the trans sits about there with the factory drivetrain but mine sits farther toward the front of the truck so the shaft goes up and down in that region.

I failed miserably to take a "before" pic but here's the "afters". You'll have to take my word for it that I gained about 1 1/2" of clearance which should be plenty.

Here's everything stitched up and in primer. Note the tell-tale stripe on the driveshaft.

Here's the shot of the inside. I included the caulk in the pic so the inspectors could tell that I used the fire-resistant stuff. The caulk is probably unnecessary but I might have missed a pinhole so why take a chance? I'll paint this tomorrow after the caulk has set up

Dan

Dan Stokes · #**319** 03-02-2015, 03:19 PM

A couple of pics and a little explanation:

Turns out that an OM617 and Getrag 4 speed are lighter than a small block Chevy and TH350 so the nose is sitting too high (in LSR we like the vehicle a bit nose-down). The truck already has 2" lowering spindles and lowering springs but it's still too high. I looked into several solutions and it turns out that RideTech Shockwaves (an inner shock with an airbag in place of a coil spring - so sort of a coil-over without the coil) were the best solution for my situation. If I just cut another coil out of the spring it would lower the truck but I couldn't load it on the trailer - it needs to go up and down which the Shockwaves will do easily.

As always, one thing leads to another. As I'm waiting for the Shockwaves I started prepping for the conversion and figured out that if I lower the front much the left front wheel will be pretty close to the crash shield for my front-mounted fuel cell. So it's time to move the fuel cell a tad so there's room. Here's the pics:

1) Shot from the engine bay. The front of the truck is to the right and you're looking at the LF wheelwell. It's forward about 3" and up about 1 1/2" from it's former location.

2) Here's a shot looking in the wheelwell. As you can see it pretty much clears the tire at least until it gets WAY up there. The pic is with the current suspension carrying the full weight of the truck. BTW - those are really small diameter tires - about 22"-23".

The forum wouldn't allow me to repost the "before" pics so if you're curious you'll have to look back in this thread. As soon as the Shockwaves arrive I'll get them on and repeat the pics.

Dan

mytmousemalibu · #**320** 03-05-2015, 09:25 PM

Just been reading this whole thread, great read and awesome job on your project!

As for emergency shut off, I ABSOLUTELY agree with Mach4 on the air-kill. Thats what many truck & tractor pull sanctioning bodies deem mandatory on diesel class vehicles. Your normal kill setup is great but wont do you a lick bit of good if your turbo compressor seal lets go or it finds another way to ingest oil. Also and more likely, especially with modded pumps, if the rack were to hang up which could just happen out of the blue or in the event of an accident and the thing goes runaway. An airkill could easily be made from an old throttle body as mentioned. They can be cable operated, sprung closed/powered open, etc. Some I've seen were nothing more than a big disk that closed flush over the end of a tube. Some are an air-gate/guillotine affair. Just a wanted to add to that.

Dan Stokes · #**321** 03-10-2015, 10:10 AM

NOT Benz-related but some might find this interesting.

I needed to lower the front end of the S-10 as the Mercedes engine/trans combo is a bit lighter than the small block Chevy/TH350 combo that came out of there. However, I also needed to be able to readily raise the front to get the truck on the trailer (remember that this is race-only and has to be trailered to the track some 600 miles away).

After much searching I decided on RideTech Shockwaves, essentially coil-overs but with an airbag in place of the coil. While not cheap they actually weren't much more than a set of airbags, a new set of shocks, and the necessary shock mounts. So the adventure begins, a first trip into air suspension for me.

Here's a few pics:

1) Here's the hole the Shockwave has to go in, as made by Chevy. Note that the spring pocket goes around the spring. This would interfere with the 'bag and eventually wear thru the bag causing failure. In the directions they tell you to cut that outer section away.

2) Here's a shot with the offending portion cut away and the Shockwave sitting in place - sort of a trial fit.

3) There was also a rear ridge that ran around the back of the original spring pocket. It might have been OK but it was close enough that it worried me but I'm sure that it also provided considerable structure to that area. My solution was to "blacksmith" it - I heated with the cutting torch (I don't have a rosebud) and pounded the snot out of it to roll it over and away from the 'bag. In this shot that ridge is hammered as flat as possible. In the second pic you can see the ridge before the heat-n-beat.

4) Here's the completed installation. The interesting thing is that once in place I doubt anyone could tell that the front is on bags by looking - it's really hidden under there.

5) And finally, the air lines run up front. Can't see them? Look at the gap between the headlamp doors and the grille, right at the top of the core support. Regulation Schrader valves. I'll just pump them up with a portable air compressor - no on-board air tanks, pump, etc. needed. The lines run thru the frame, up the front of the core support, and end in the Schrader valves. All the fittings are from our local Parker store - they've been really helpful on this project.

Dan

Dan Stokes · #**322** 03-12-2015, 08:42 PM

After a couple of missteps the Shockwaves are up and working like they should.

1) A shot of the new ride height. The nose is about 3" lower than when I started.

2) I thought you guys would dig this pic.

3) Windshield and dash top back in place. Now it can go down the track.

Dan

Dan Stokes · #**323** 03-17-2015, 09:55 PM

The tonneau is made and in place. I'm pretty pleased with how this came out.

1) The framework to support the tonneau. The double cross bar is where the front section and rear section join. With the down bars there has to be a split somewhere to let them thru the tonneau.

2 & 3) Shots of the completed cover. There are nearly 50 10-24 SS screws, most threaded into Nutserts so I can run the screws out easily with a battery-powered drill. Note that I saved the cutouts from the down bars and installed them back in to smooth airflow at the base of the bars.

Some of you guys may not know that a tonneau along the lines of this one really cleans up the aerodynamics of a pickup. I have a hard tonneau made by Bak-Flip on my Dodge and it made a HUGE difference in MPG and I'm sure MPH as well ( I never ran the Dodge w/o the tonneau so I can verify how much difference it made.

Dan

t walgamuth · #**324** 03-17-2015, 11:39 PM

That looks very nice Dan!

ngarover · #**325** 03-18-2015, 12:07 AM

Love this build.

Dan Stokes · #**326** 03-18-2015, 08:53 AM

Thanks guys! I plan to take it the drag strip this Saturday just to get my feet wet and see how it runs. It isn't built for the quarter mile but it's a good place to run it at WOR, adjust the boost pressure, and find out what's needed before I haul all the way to Ohio.

Dan

t walgamuth · #**327** 03-18-2015, 12:14 PM

Cool!

Simpler=Better · #**328** 03-19-2015, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Stokes

Bodywork. For those not familiar - YES, you CAN do it.

1) There were dents on both sides of the bed (no clue why). This one was not TOO bad. The stud gun pulled it right out. Here it's ready for the first block sanding to flatten it.

2) Same dent, other side. In filler and ready for sanding.

3) I found a dent in the tailgate (maybe a trailer hitch SNAFU?) and it's been a stinker to pull. I used the stud gun which helped but I finally drilled a hole in the inner panel and used a punch from the back to get it close to the right shape.

4) The bed rails had about 1K holes in them, some from the screwed-down tonneau cover and some from maybe a camper top or some such that was fitted at some point. I welded them in, ground the welds, set the welds below the surface (I use the ball end of a ball pein hammer and smack it with my copper hammer), followed by filler and lots of straight line sanding (see last pic for the sander). So now they're nice and flat and here are in primer as I take out the final scratches, etc.

5) Tailgate in filler. Note that it's all sanded up and ready for primer. The truck had had stripes of flat black rattle-can painted all around the truck and I've been sanding all of that off (180 grit on a DA sander) as I don't trust it as an underlayment to real paint.

I should mention: So far pretty much everything I've done could be done without a compressor though I do have one. The DA (dual action sander) is available in an electric model and some are fairly cheap. The straight line sanding can be done by hand and a manual holder for straight line paper is pretty cheap. Most auto parts stores have adhesive-backed straight line paper that will grip on a manual board. The grinder (used for heavy removal and roughing the surface for filler) can be borrowed or rented - and you could do most of this with a 36 grit disc (course) on the DA sander. I did weld in the holes I found but that could be farmed out to a buddy or a welding shop. Mostly this takes time and patience!

Dan

Is this the Harbor Freight $100 stud zapper?
What brand body filler would you recommend for a daily driver?

I've got to de-mangle a fender after a beltway encounter.

Dan Stokes · #**329** 03-19-2015, 02:14 PM

A friend has a really nice stud gun that we lends me as needed. It's the one the Chinese copied to make the HF unit. My guess is that the HF one should work fine for low volume home use. The studs are pretty cheap so don't be afraid to use them by the ton to get pulls where needed.

I was on my way to buy the HF stud gun when I stopped by the shop where my friend works and he offered his. Guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't back away from the HF one.

As far as filler - I usually just get the stuff at Advance. My theory is that there are probably just a couple of factories making the stuff regardless of whos name is on the can so you can't go too far wrong. The big thing is to put it over clean bare metal with a very thin film thickness - it's not made to be structural, just a smoothing agent. I mix mine on a hunk of cardboard usually about 12" square. I use stirring sticks to mix. If you use both sides of the cardboard and both ends of the stick you can stretch the use of them a bit and be a tad more environmentally conscious. After I use both sides/both ends I just toss 'em - the recycling place can't deal with a mixture of cardboard and polyester filler. I use regulation Bondo spreaders to smooth it - they really work best. If you leave a layer of filler on them they clean pretty easily after they dry by just flexing them.

The hard part is learning when to stop sanding! I still tend to go too far and have to build it back up again. Remember to go progressively finer in sandpaper and remember that every scratch you put in you have to fill back in somehow (primer filler, sanding, etc.).

Make friends with a local paint supplier. Tell them you don't know anything and ask them to guide you thru the process. If they aren't willing to do that find another supplier. I like PPG products but I've had good luck with Sikkens, DuPont, R&M/Sherwin Williams (same company) and others. If they get comfortable with you they may invite you to a painting seminar - most of the big companies put one on every once in a while in your area and usually on a weekend. These are well worth the effort to attend and you'll learn a ton. At one in Michigan I hooked up with a guy who would rent me his booth on a weekend and that was a SWEET deal - so far no luck here. The basic difference between good paint and cheap paint is the UV protection/resistance built into it so go with the best you can afford. I kind of broke my own rule on the S-10 because it's race-only and lives in the shop unless racing so it's not out in the sun much.

Dan

Dan Stokes · #**330** 04-17-2015, 08:25 PM

Thought you guys might enjoy taking a look at the front air dam I finished today. I'm allowed a front air dam but no rear spoiler so I'd be dumb not to run one.

1) Here's the understructure. There's a lot of force on these and it increases at the square of wheel speed so they need to be stout.

2) Here it is in place and the front end set to battle mode (25" from the floor to the center of the front wheel arch).

3) Here's a pic of me installing a Nutsert, sorta like a pop rivet only it leaves a female thread when you're done. The whole air dam is made with them and they're a GREAT invention. If there's more interest I have enough pics to do a short tutorial on these.

Dan