The Story Of A Cummins Suburban (Lots Of Pics)

[justcuz]

When you did the rear axle shave, how easy was it to transition the removed area to the rest of the housing? It looks like there may be a little step on the right side up close to the tube. Headliner came out nice and I bet it feels better to have it all one color now. The orange is probably growing on you because there are not many of these left with that color combo anymore. When they are not as common as VW's used to be, your persective changes.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by justcuz

When you did the rear axle shave, how easy was it to transition the removed area to the rest of the housing? It looks like there may be a little step on the right side up close to the tube. Headliner came out nice and I bet it feels better to have it all one color now. The orange is probably growing on you because there are not many of these left with that color combo anymore. When they are not as common as VW's used to be, your persective changes.

There really wasn't a "transition" per se. I just scribed a line along the lower edge of the cover and started cutting. I stopped cutting when I ran out of material to cut (what I was cutting evened up with the shape of the cover). The "step" that you are referring to was above where the cutting stopped so it survived.

[mosesburb]

So I was installing an auxilliary heater and I had the passenger inner fenderwell out of the truck. One night I was checking something out on another one of my trucks and I turned around and glanced through the opening with my flashlight and saw something that made me want to turn around and walk away.



I initially, incorrectly, assumed it was a valve cover leak. It was wishful thinking, but I REALLY wanted to repair a valve cover gasket. It wasn't a valve cover. Now I'm no stranger to a seeping head gasket. I stopped using Fel Pro head gaskets in the early 90's because of seepage. So I called a buddy of mine at Low Budget Diesel Performance and he confirmed my suspicion and also my fear that the head had to come off. Boo. Well, here we go. After some serious disassembly, this is what I was left with:



Straight-up 80's tech right there. Graphite composite in a steel shim gasket. You can almost smell the Aqua-Net hair spray. I got eveything cleaned up and had the head checked out. It passed pressure test easily and it passes vac test well enough for an old motor. It did require a mill to the surface though. They took .25mm off and got it back to me. I needed a way to work on the head now. I could have borrowed a pair of head stands, but the angle of the yokes would not have worked well for the goofy-shaped intake side of the Cummins head. I wandered out to my iron pile and found some pieces of channel. I also found some pieces of old bed frame. Perfect. A little pipe insulation and some 3M Super 88 tape and we're off to the races:



So I wasn't thrilled with the vac test performance. It wasn't bad enough to need a valve job, but it could use some help, so I decided to do some old school lapping. I didn't use the old suction cup deal, but instead used a drill chucked on the stem and some good old fashioned clover lapping compound. After cleaning the valves and lapping them in, a very obvious difference could be seen. So I had the head disassembled, may as well throw some new valve stem seals and 60lb valve springs at it in case an exhaust brake falls in my lap some day:



Yeah, I thought it was a good idea too. So with all of this and all of that, this is what I ended up with: (it's heavier than it looks)



Here is some new millenium technology. One Cummins factory head gasket.



So, all that needs to happen now is slip that head back onto its perch. I borrowed my neighbor and we got the head about in the right place and soo realized putting it back together is going to be way more difficult that taking it apart. When it came apart, there was no concern for the head gasket. Well, with the price of this new head gasket, I was not willing to use too much brute force and ignorance during assembly. What is the issue you may ask?? You take it apart, you put it together. Sounds simple enough. The problem resides in the pushrods for cylinder number six. Yep, those things are so long they have to come out with the head because they hit the cowl. Seriously. Coming apart the head can be tilted and manipulated, but working over a high-dollar replacement gasket, that plan is no good. I ended up doing a little in-field modification:



So any of you guys using this thread as a guide or worse using it as a play-by-play, take note(!!), you will run into this same problem if you have to pull the head off of your motor in-frame. Also, two holes are not enough--it requires four. The two in the firewall and two in the cowl. Yep, pull your wipers, you're going in!! Those push rods are really long. Really long.

So while I was in there, I noticed some seepage from the weep hole (I am ready to start weeping by about now....) What's another hundred and change to the Cummins store??



So with that, I was able to start going back together. I was offered help by my boy which I gladly accepted. Unfortunately, he decided he could pick his job. He took the driver side bracketry reassembly and left the exhaust manifold/turbo install for me. It was cool though. He did his side and I did mine. Photographic proof:



So this gets me a motor that will retain it coolant. I can now get back onto my auxilliary heater install.

[ryanroo]

I was about to send you a message the other day and ask how that heater install was coming, but something shiny drove buy and i lost my train of thought or something.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by ryanroo

I was about to send you a message the other day and ask how that heater install was coming, but something shiny drove buy and i lost my train of thought or something.

A squirrel with chrome hubcaps??
Posted via Mobile Device

[1985-GMC]

Nice job! That looks like a whole lot of fun... NOT! I will be doing that before the engine ever goes in the truck!
Posted via Mobile Device

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work and good job on replacing the springs and lapping the valves.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Nice job! That looks like a whole lot of fun... NOT! I will be doing that before the engine ever goes in the truck!
Posted via Mobile Device

That's the best way to do it. It really was not as much fun as it appeared.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work and good job on replacing the springs and lapping the valves.

Thanks!! Thanks again for your technical assistance. Your answers to the odd questions I had made the job alot easier.

[mosesburb]

So while I had the cooling system down I noticed some junk in the bottom of the bucket.



I did not take the time to identify it, I just used it as an excuse to install the coolant filter that I have been putting off installing since I built the truck. I figured it couldn't hurt any. I used ball valves on the inlet and outlet so I can change the filter without effectively draining the entire cooling system.



I mounted it pre-heater valve, so it is in a bypass configuration when the heater valve is open and it is full-flow when the heater valve is closed.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Thanks again for your technical assistance. Your answers to the odd questions I had made the job alot easier.

No problem! Nice work on the coolant filter bypass. I've always been surprised these things never had one built into it like the larger Cummins engines.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

No problem! Nice work on the coolant filter bypass. I've always been surprised these things never had one built into it like the larger Cummins engines.

Yeah, everything we run has them on it. I was always amazed at how much junk a coolant filter will catch.

[mosesburb]

So I can finally get back to my auxiliary heater installation. Well, not so fast. Come to find out, the Optima in this pic has a bad cell:



I know, an Optima with a bad cell is so unusual and unique. Well, not so much as my S10 pickup barfed an Optima at this same time. Yup, bad cell. Imagine that. That one was still under warranty so I got it replaced, but the Suburban units were not under warranty. I stopped buying Optimas a couple years ago since their quality has completely tanked. I have not bought a battery that is not an Optima since 1989. I could not even guess as to how many I have purchased for my fleet and sold to my customers. This goes back to when they had offset posts. Fantastic batteries. They were a minimum six to seven year battery and out here that was unheard of. Even though they were big money, they were an easy purchase because you knew it was going to last a long time. Well, not anymore. They get just out of warranty and fail. Just like any other cheap battery, but these are not cheap batteries. I am tired of it. I want to say it is when they were bought by Johnson Controls and moved to Mexico, but I can't say for sure that is when they went south (went south, LOL!!) Anyway, I started researching Optima alternatives and there are a few now. I think the best commercially available AGM battery is the Odyssey. Amazing power for a given group size. Not everyone has them, but Die Hard Platinums are Odyssey batteries even though they claim they are not. One drawback to Odyssey batteries is the cost. They are pricey. Sometimes the Die Hard Platinums can be gotten on sale, but that is usually the best price available. Over priced?? I would not say that as they are REALLY good batteries.

Another readily available HIGH quality AGM battery is made by East Penn Manufacturing in The United States of America and sold under the Deka name. Anybody familiar with electric commodity handling equipment knows the Deka name. Forklifts, pallet jacks, man lifts etc, Deka has a battery for it. Their name is not as well known in the automotive battery market, but it should be. They make an AGM battery that lasts like the old Optimas did. Real good batteries, for a price that is typically a fair bit less than Optima's. I called East Penn Manufacturing and asked if I could buy direct from their facility in town here and they said I could, but that I could also buy from one of their distributors. He threw a couple names out there and I knew of one that was far away and the other I would not do business with, but then he said that Batteries Plus sells the Deka battery with their house brand label on it. I knew they used to (I have bought a few already), but I didn't know they still did. So I went up to Batteries Plus an picked up a couple Deka AGM Intimidator X2 batteries. My wallet left seeing stars, but I left saying Woo Hoo!! No more Optimas in my truck!!

Well, that presents another problem, or five. I built my battery trays to fit an Optima 34/78 or SCU34 or whatever number they are calling them now. It is basically a group 34/78 battery. A group 34 has top posts and a 78 has side posts (same size footprint for both batteries) and the Optima has both so it is basically a group 34/78. The only problem with Optima's classification of the 34/78 is their battery is about 1/4" shorter in length than a standard 34/78 battery case like the Deka uses. Being that I made my trays for the Optimas, I had to remake my trays. This all started as an auxiliary heater install.....

Ok, so the trays have to come out and be extended about 3/8". Lotta damn work for 3/8". So this brings out my power steering issues. Huh?? How the hell did we go from batteries to trays to power steering?!? Well, the driver side battery tray has some hoses running through the lower supports that require the hoses to be removed to facilitate the removal of the battery tray. Easy enough, right?? Well, not quite. Every time I have to get into the power steering system it takes a MINIMUM of three days to bleed the air out of the system. Then, a month later, I will take the cap off to check the level for maintenance purposes and it will throw up fluid out of the reservoir. Did it make fluid?? How did that happen?? I had thought from way back that a remote reservoir would help the situation, so I started looking around at different products available. I found PSC has a new reservoir that they didn't make when I built the truck originally. It is a super sweet deal that has return ports for the gear box and the hydroboost and a feed line to the pump. The BEST PART is it has an integral filter that can be changed without opening up the system like my spin-on required. Take the cap off, take a 5/16-18 bolt out, remove the filter, install a new filter and you're done. So simple. So easy. So expensive. This is becoming a VERY expensive month. So here it is along with the corresponding can for the pump:



I wanted to use the clamp, but I couldn't get it where I wanted it so I ended up using the mounting holes in the bottom and side of the base. I welded some bracketry to the side of my newly modified battery tray to hang it off of:




Then I hung the reservoir off of it. I bought some JIC push on fittings for the feed line from the reservoir to the pump, but I forgot to get the JIC push on fittings for the return lines so I ended up using weld-on AN fittings on the ends of the return tubes coming from the hydroboost and cooler, the using braided Teflon lined hose and fittings for the return lines because I had that stuff at the house. My wallet was giving me the finger over that slip of the mind.



Ok, so what?? How does it work?? In a word, great. I had 95% or more of the air out of the system before I ever started it just by cycling the wheel back and forth probably about a dozen times, but definitely less than twenty. I used to start with about sixty cycles of the wheel, then start the motor and let the emulsification begin. Bleh. No more. This thing is great. PSC has some great tech info on their site as well. That is where I learned my cooler was mounted incorrectly. I had it mounted ports down and on a stacked plate cooler it needs to be mounted ports up or to one side. When mounted to one side the flow is very specific. In on the bottom, out on the top. Otherwise air gets trapped at the top and strange problems occur--like somehow throwing up fluid a month later. The new configuration is visible in this pic:



I actually did all of that work in my driveway, in the rain, in full rain gear. That sucked. I could not lose the weekend. I had to have this ready for a run and taking the easy way out and not working because of the rain was going to keep the truck out of service for this run and I didn't want to miss it. If you ever want to make a long day longer, do it in rain gear. So I think I can get back to my auxilliary heater install now. I hope...

[RINC]

3-13-13

I saw the 'burb at your work !

Brought a smile to my face as I drove by.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work! What PS pump did you use when you built this truck?

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by RINC

3-13-13

I saw the 'burb at your work !

Brought a smile to my face as I drove by.

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Nice work! What PS pump did you use when you built this truck?

The stock unit on the double vac pump housing (one vac pump removed for frame clearance). I only used the housing and shaft from the original pump. The rest of the internal components were new.

[rambler]

as always enjoy your pics and stories.. thanks for sharing!

[jbclassix]

Are those drive train breathers next to your clutch MC?
Posted via Mobile Device

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by rambler

as always enjoy your pics and stories.. thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting up!!

Originally Posted by jbclassix

Are those drive train breathers next to your clutch MC?
Posted via Mobile Device

Yep. Left to right are:

Front diff
Transmission
Transfer case
Rear diff
Fuel tank

I resisted the urge to make one large diamter one and tap the components into it. It would have been easier, but the way I have this one set up, if one line starts vomiting profusely I can tell at a glance which component is ill whereas with a single unit it would not be as easy. The main goal of either design was to get the breathers up high for the inevitable water crossings encountered on the trail.

[Dieselwrencher]

Do you have room to upgrade to the 2nd gen Vac/PS pump? They are a better working set up IMO.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Do you have room to upgrade to the 2nd gen Vac/PS pump? They are a better working set up IMO.

Yeah, I probably could, but the p/s pumps are the same (actually a slight input shaft difference) and all the now single vac pump is used for is a/c door functions.
Posted via Mobile Device

[jbclassix]

I went all the way back to page 2 so i could see your single vacuum pump. I like it!

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Yeah, I probably could, but the p/s pumps are the same (actually a slight input shaft difference) and all the now single vac pump is used for is a/c door functions.
Posted via Mobile Device

There are actually some differences in the regulator and reservoir. I have had better luck with the later style set ups for what ever reason. I've had issues, like you, bleeding air from the early ps pumps.

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

There are actually some differences in the regulator and reservoir. I have had better luck with the later style set ups for what ever reason. I've had issues, like you, bleeding air from the early ps pumps.

Reservoir changes are irrelevant to my situation, but what is a regulator?? My airlock issues were all due to my own lack of knowledge of fluid power systems. If I would have engineered it correctly from the beginning, my problems would have been minimal if there were any at all. It all seemed simple enough, but boy I sure learned that there is a lot more to know than just how to hook the parts together.

[1985-GMC]

I think one has a bigger orifice inside which makes higher flow/ pressure.

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

I think one has a bigger orifice inside which makes higher flow/ pressure.

Bingo, you hit it.