72 k20 project

[6BT 56]

Return line ? Or dosent a p pump eng use one like my old 92 cummins ?

Awsone work as always.

[ryanroo]

Thanks!

that is the draw tube for the lift pump. the lift pump is that big gnarly black thing. since it moves a lot of fuel, it specs a #10 feed so it doesn't starve and cavitate. since i didnt have the pump at the time i made the tank, i used a #8 fitting for the draw and didnt want to risk the expensive pump. this was my best solution. the return port is located on the front of the tank at the top.

[mcmlxix]

Did you add a slosh tube to keep the fuel gauge from fluctuating?

[ryanroo]

this sender is has the alum. tube with small holes in the top and bottom for the float. with the baffles in the tank and that, i dont think it should be to reactive. i could probably add a tube over it, but i'm not sure how i would make it less sensitive to the fuel slosh. does this style sender have a reputation for that sort of thing?

[6BT 56]

i see a lot of senders like that one in boat fuel tanks . they dont seem to jump around too much . Maby thats cuz they dont have time to slosh as 400hp at 5000rpm for a few hours wont allow enuf time for sloshing . lol

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

i see a lot of senders like that one in boat fuel tanks . they dont seem to jump around too much . Maby thats cuz they dont have time to slosh as 400hp at 5000rpm for a few hours wont allow enuf time for sloshing . lol

boats...

all of my friends have them. most of them have several. i think i have either worked on or built parts for all of them. i am glad i don't have that problem too.

i wish i had pics of the stainless transom i built for my buddies 21' cat. he decided to hang some monstrous 2 stroke outboard on it and was worried about the motor pushing the transom out of the hull. i made a fancy 7 guage stainless super beefcake transom with 4 link style kickers for it. that thing is FAST.

i just emptied the wallet again on parts, should have some v-bands for the 'gate and boost piping coming, and a sealer kit for the fuel tank. after reading reviews and dithering i went with the KBS tank sealer. lots of good reviews. and it was half the cost of the Caswell kit that i was also considering. we shall see. most of the bad reviews on any tank sealer kit i read come from tank restorations, and i bet a lot of them were prep issues. i have a clean fresh steel tank, so i bet i will be extra stoked. as it turns out, even buying a little extra coating(i am on the upper end of the capacity for the kit) it cost less to build the tank from MS and coat it that to do it from SS304.

[6BT 56]

Why do you even need to coat the tank ? Is it just in case of leaks ? After 40 pages of watching your handy work I hardly tbink it would dare leak

[ryanroo]

for work, i have built a significant number of tanks in AL, steel and a few 300 series stainless varieties. i hate to admit that from experience(...) i know that no matter how good you are, there are sometimes leaks. this one i know is solid though. i had everything sealed and capped and a few weeks ago when i cracked the cap, it sucked in a bunch of air. i capped it when i welded it to protect the threads and never pulled the caps. so, it held a noticeable vacuum for well over a year. i want to coat it so it wont ever rust. i built the thing out of pickled and oiled steel, but that oil will dissolve into the fuel and leave behind raw steel. i live in a desert-ish environment that can have significant temperature changes just day to night, and its mountainous so the weather can change drastically through the course of a day. in a relatively sealed system the raw steel can flash rust from the condensation of moisture in the tank. over time it turns to rust. bad news bears. could have done stainless and it would have lasted till the robots harvested its remains in salvage a thousand years from now, but at the time i built it i hadn't actually priced the coatings. all told i still would have probably spent more on a stainless tank. provided i get the inside all well coated i should see a long service life from this, hopefully longer filter life, and at least tell myself i made good call!

[6BT 56]

Sounds like a good plan to me . I heat my house with a outdoor wood furnace and its always making rusty water if you shut the circulation down for any period of time . I wish it had some coating inside or better, was stainless. Its been 6 years now at least . working well but i can hear a loud ticking in my head every time i walk by the thing if you know what i mean .....

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

Sounds like a good plan to me . I heat my house with a outdoor wood furnace and its always making rusty water if you shut the circulation down for any period of time . I wish it had some coating inside or better, was stainless. Its been 6 years now at least . working well but i can hear a loud ticking in my head every time i walk by the thing if you know what i mean .....

i hear ya. wood furnace heat is a chore. shortly after my parents parted ways we lived in a house with wood furnace heat. i dont really miss it.

a little fiddling

i got a box the other day with some mandrel bends.

if you remember the wastegate port i milled into the turbo flange, it was long and flat. i did a little amateur(very) black smithing on this bend and then some strong tweaking out to get it looking a little bit less beat to death.







then i mocked this up a little.





waiting on a few more parts, but i can get to looking on the rest of the plumbing now i hope.

i need to get some 5" so i can get after the exhaust a little. i also need to either pull the trigger on an exhaust brake or decide that i want to live without for a bit.

[ryanroo]

i have a couple flanges on order. i want to be able to pull this apart easily

[Dieselwrencher]

Looking nice Ryan!

[brimc]

Awesome work!
I had to go back and look at those cab pics again. I really like that color! Can't wait to see this one finished!

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Looking nice Ryan!

Originally Posted by brimc

Awesome work!
I had to go back and look at those cab pics again. I really like that color! Can't wait to see this one finished!

Thanks Guys.

i know seeing it sitting out there helps me. i poked at the body guy the other day and made him know it was time to be seeing some more green. here's hoping

anyhow, i got a start on the tank liner.

i chose KBS Coatings tank liner. solid reviews from what i could tell.

begin with this one.



you mix this water based cleaner 50/50 with hot water and slosh it all around in the tank. i did two loads, with the second draining clear. given the fact that it is fresh steel that was cleaned before assembly, i wasnt surprised that it cleaned up quickly. the cleaner is GNARLY. it softened paint that was fresh but had spent 10 days curing.

after it is cleaned and thoroughly rinsed you button up all the holes, duct tape was the recommended patch for anything you couldn't plug. i happened to find a perfect roll to use.

as you can see, i rigged up a hokey set up on my engine stand.



then you pour this whole jug in the thing



post up in the bag chair and crank till arm falls off.



that is the rust converter/etch primer. it takes 30-60 minutes of jostling. i went for 30 considering there was almost nothing for it to convert. it left a slightly chalky layer of zinc phosphate, i think is what i read.



it will dry overnight. and then the story continues

[DeadheadNM]

Didn't realize fresh tanks needed lining. Couldn't you strap the tank filled with the rust converter in back of the Jeep that's in the driveway and bomb around some dirt roads in the hills for a while instead of hand cranking

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Didn't realize fresh tanks needed lining. Couldn't you strap the tank filled with the rust converter in back of the Jeep that's in the driveway and bomb around some dirt roads in the hills for a while instead of hand cranking

unfortunately, the coating is necessary. at least if you have the twitch like me... haha. uncoated, as the temp cycles here in desert land the moisture in the air in the tank can condense on the tank walls and start the cycle of rust. that leads to contaminated fuel at first and later, a leaky tank. this is also an issue for winter driving. it can get remarkable cold here and just over the divide in the San Luis Valley it frequently gets down to OMG cold. if the truck has been running for a while, the fuel is warmed up just from cycling through the IP in the engine bay and returning to the tank. that also causes condensation. this truck will see its share of winter driving. since i chose mild steel for the tank, i felt i needed to coat it.

there is a half flat basketball in the back of the jeep that my dog likes to play with at the lake. the guys i run the trails with always get a kick out of how it bounces like crazy back there, but in 5+ years of driving that thing around the basketball never comes out! maybe the same would be the case with a fuel tank... i just felt happy with myself finding another use for my engine stand... haha.

[ryanroo]

the last step.

the kit came with two quarts. i tweaked out a little and bought a just in case pint. turns out they knew what they were selling. when done i drained just about a quart out.



must be stirred well to redistribute the silver



this is the coated surface. there are some funny lines from how the pigment is laying in the urethane, but these pics were when it was still very wet. it levels out pretty good the longer it sits, but ill see for sure in 4 days when the cure time is reached.



i need to run a thread chaser though the threads that were exposed when it has set up and it could be good to go.

[6BT 56]

I have had many trucks over the years that didn't have that nice of a finish on them. Lol.

Did the other coats involve more I engine stand spinning action.? I hope you at least switched arms to even out the workout . That looks like at least a 6 cold one afternoon with all the spinning .

[DeadheadNM]

Makes sense. Is the inner coating necessary then with a stainless steel tank because of the welds?

[shopteacher]

Ok Ryan tell us a little bit about the M715 in the background !

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by 6BT 56

I have had many trucks over the years that didn't have that nice of a finish on them. Lol.

Did the other coats involve more I engine stand spinning action.? I hope you at least switched arms to even out the workout . That looks like at least a 6 cold one afternoon with all the spinning .

i doubt they were any worse or better. i cranked that thing 1000 miles over the weekend i think. i definitely had to keep myself occupied for a while this afternoon. and for sure on the arm swapping.

Originally Posted by DeadheadNM

Makes sense. Is the inner coating necessary then with a stainless steel tank because of the welds?

i would have just run a stainless with no post welding prep. there is an oxidation that happens to stainless, but it wont continue to oxidize over time.

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice work on the tank liner Ryan. I will have to remember to check this out if I get to that point on the 72.

[ryanroo]

Thanks!

so far i am sold. it has a nice smooth finish now that it has set up. the pigment is still a little streaky, but i couldn't care less about that. so far it seems just as advertised. i have no reason to think it will cause me issues. it appears to have coated everything well and as such, i cant think why it wouldnt last forever. supposedly it is not responsive to any solvent. diesel is pretty mild as that goes, adding to my confidence.

[ryanroo]

a little fiddling.



now i have to trim the ell for the inlet of the wastegate and fit/weld it.

[mx289]

The tank looks great Ryan.
Details.

Nice pipefitting work !
Really looks good.