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Yes, the poor firewall is pretty well massaged by now. First from getting the motor to fit in, and then again up higher to get the valve cover off.
For a sec there I thought I might have to pull the radiator and hoist the motor forward to get the cover off. Thankfully the massage session cleared *just* enough space!
(I had to "massage" quite a bit to fit everything in my application as well!)
Lol, thank you for telling me that. Makes me feel a little better about it!
Thanks Terry! Still have a plethora of tweaks to do, just a bit bogged down with a move to a new location- which also includes building it out before I move in. So so so happy to have the truck functional during the impending never-ending trips to Home Depot.
On that note, I've been driving the truck a lot. I am realizing that my butt dyno was for sure heavily re-calibrated from driving nothing but motorcycles for several months straight (while my truck sat with the 22re out waiting for me to get my **** together and finding the time to do this).
I still haven't found the time to get the gauges installed, but when I do I'll be happy to see if the boost is set a little too low The motor feels like a tank after the valve adjustment, idle is ticking like a metronome, and I have consistently been surprised how long the tank lasts.
It worries me a little bit driving up hills without the EGT gauge, so that is my next step. I guess I'll be taking the turbo off, holding it at 2000 while drilling and/or using a shop vac, or something like that- haven't looked into it enough to be ready for probe installation. I'm all ears if anyone has good tips on the easiest/safest way to drill&tap a hole in the exhaust manifold for the EGT probe.
I'm always leery of shortcuts with turbos and metal shavings. I would pull the manifold and do it on the bench. (It is also way easier to tap, since the probe is usually on the bottom and a bit toward the block.)
((Hey, if you are feeling squirrelly, you could always port the intake & head; but I'm not sure what you will gain in a non-crossflow head.)
Great work!! I also played with the arduino and my tach at school and found it quite amusing! If you ever want more power definitely look into dieselmeken and his M pumps. My 91 pickup has a stage 2 and it dyno'd at 259hp and 390 ft lbs. I have a wrx intercooler and running about 22 lbs of boost. Before I swapped the pump it seemed like the truck really was missing something however I likewise road my streetbike while I was doing the swap so acceleration between the two is not a fair comparison. Lol
Unfortunately, someone ran a red light and hit my truck a couple weeks ago and bent the ifs lift so I'm in the process of SAS. Your truck looks great! Keep up the good work.
Great work!! I also played with the arduino and my tach at school and found it quite amusing! If you ever want more power definitely look into dieselmeken and his M pumps. My 91 pickup has a stage 2 and it dyno'd at 259hp and 390 ft lbs. I have a wrx intercooler and running about 22 lbs of boost. Before I swapped the pump it seemed like the truck really was missing something however I likewise road my streetbike while I was doing the swap so acceleration between the two is not a fair comparison. Lol
Unfortunately, someone ran a red light and hit my truck a couple weeks ago and bent the ifs lift so I'm in the process of SAS. Your truck looks great! Keep up the good work.
Your truck looks great! Would you mind making a build thread or a build summary thread with a lot more pictures? I need something new to drool over, hahaha!
Part of me wishes I'd never read this thread last night, as I've spent the last few months researching and developing many things that I see in this thread, such as using the stock GP relay and so very ironically running the blue wire to the gauge cluster's CEL. My plug and play wiring kit uses this exact same idea, out of all the idiot lights, I thought the CEL made the most sense (too bad not all cluster's have the GP resistor light).
As for tachometer, you have a few options. You can do like I did the first time and use a gear tooth sensor on the flywheel. You have to pull the tranny to install it, though. You can possibly use the crank sensor and a modified tach amp or a Dakota Digital processor. The guy in Oregon who was making custom tach amp's no longer has a working website, though. The option I am recommending is upgrading to the 115amp Saab alternator and simply using a Dakota Digital W-terminal tach driver. Installation is painless and price isn't that bad compared to all other options.
As for shutting the motor off, it took me a while to decide how I wanted to make my kits. I originally used a Toyota air solenoid that was normally closed, and a momentary switch. This put minimal stress on all components. Some people like to run a normally open air solenoid, but more wear is then put on that solenoid, and if the solenoid fails on the road, you have to find a way to cap the air line, or risk failure of the brake system. If a normally closed air solenoid fails, no big deal, you just have to shut the motor off mechanically on the motor, like I did for a good 2 months. I've automated the normally closed air solenoid option with the help of some 12v solenoids.
I've seen some alternator brackets that attach to the aluminum crankcase or to the oil sump pan below. I caution against this as aluminum is more susceptible to stress cracking from the fatigue caused by the alternator's vibrations. Put into English, that simply means that it might work at first, but after the alternator sits there and vibrates for a while, it's going to put a lot of stress on the crank case and cause it to fail in one way or another.
If you like playing with Arduino's AND you want a variable vane turbo, I can give you a job. HA! I started this project during one of my electrical engineering courses, but haven't finished it yet. I plan to use a boost sensor and some sort of throttle position sensor to send inputs to an Arduino which will in turn drive the vane's of a variable vane turbo. That project got side-lined after finding out how limited the OM617 is on fuel, and how weak the internals are under boost greater than 15psi. It would still be nice, as mentioned above, to flatten out the power band and have dramatically better bottom-end response.
If you have 31's, I would go get you some 4.56's or possibly a cheaper route, some 4.30's from an auto tranny truck. My army trucks have gearing in the ballpark of 6.71:1 and 43-49" tires and 140-200hp and weigh 13000-30000 lbs, but all move like a bat out of hell off the line because of the gearing. 4.88's worked perfect with my 33's and 5.29's worked well with my 37's. The OM617 likes to be geared the same as the 22R.
Edit: After reading some more, I caught a line about welding on the exhaust. I guess I'll throw in my input here since I'm a Weld Engineer by day. Nothing too special is needed here. I sand blast the flange and the down pipe to get them clean, as a proper weld joint needs to be free of contamination. I cut the head off the down pipe and got rid of the flex pipe in between. I then simply inserted the down pipe into the flange bolted directly to the turbo exhaust casing and welded it with the pipe oriented to clear the frame and the starter. The thing you must realize about the flange is it is cast. Without doing a chemical analysis on it at work, I can't tell you if it's cast steel or cast iron. Cast steel generally welds just like any other low-carbon steel depending on the alloying elements. Cast iron is very high in carbon content, however, and take more effort to properly weld. As carbon content increases, the need for preheat increases. Without getting extremely technical, I will just say that you can get an OXY/ACE torch or some MAP gas, and preheat the flange till it is a dull orange color. Then, weld the down pipe in using a typical ER70S-6 wire. Keep the torch on the flange while it is cooling, and you should be satisfied with the results. You can also throw it in a bucket of sand. The point of the preheat and post-heat treatment is to even out the cooling rates of the two dissimilar metals. Inspect the weld for hairline cracks after it has cooled. Any cracks at all will propagate into a full weld failure shortly after you start using the down pipe.
Last edited by pyrojoe22; Apr 7, 2016 at 11:31 AM.
Rebuilt the injectors to 1950-1990 psi with new nozzles that came in last week. At the same time, we reduced a major air leak in the fuel line by replacing some copper washers and timed the IP to 26. I have a lot of chain stretch at 430k miles and currently the injection pump is jammed as close as it will go to the block Need to adjust cams for chain stretch next.
It could be placebo, but the throttle response feels much different- drives more like the 22re did in the low end... rather than a somewhat soggy beast. No longer a lurch when dumping the clutch into second!
Also, ended up fixing the alternator. The EFI fuse was blown for some reason. This caused the "excite" wire (blue wire on the stock MB alt) that enables the alt's charging circuit (I have it tied to one of the ECU ignition +12v wires) to send zero voltage, so the alt wasn't charging. Just needed a new fuse. Simple fix is always the best
Check out the sweet DIY injector pressure tester in the pics
if your chain and guides are in good shape and you want to correct for the stretch there are offset keys available. They range from maybe a couple of degrees up to replacement spec. also thanks for writing up all the work!!
The chain appears to be in great shape besides the stretch. Amazing how long this motor will run without a new one or a rebuild! The previous owner of the donor car was a nut about maintenance- until he was t-boned.
Definitely a very noticeable improvement in power following the rebuilt injectors. 0-60 and especially highway cruise feels faster than my friend's 88 22re SR5. Before, it felt like the motor was mismatched with the transmission- it felt like a dog!
Very nice work.
My neighbor stuck the same engine in his 93' that sits on an 85 frame with solid axle. But his engine doesn't have a turbo and says it's a real pig.
are you using an intercooler?
Hopefully my diesel swap will be underway in a month or so.
I just now saw the post from pyrojoe- from April, haha. Sorry about that. Very informative post, thanks Joe Sorry for the twice delayed response. For engine shutoff, I used an air solenoid pulled from the donor car, I think it was used for the tranny to shut off alda during highway cruise. I hooked it straight up to one of the unused ignition +12v lines from the [now 95% useless] Toyota harness. The Saab alternator is of interest for more amps and tach, I'll have to look into that! Thanks!
No intercooler yet. The next step in the plan is to adapt a Saab turbo for faster spooling... I am looking to get a spare set of exhaust & intake manifolds so I can do it on the bench, as well as tap for EGT probe. Thankfully, we just added a TIG welder to the arsenal here in the metal shop. I have yet to weld aluminum with it, but I have been having a great time with steel so far! I know aluminum is a lot trickier, need some practice before attempting to make a new intake flange.. If all goes well with the turbo, the IP will get pulled and given all that she's got with some quick adjustments. If I still feel the need for more, I'll be looking into one of those M pumps Who knows what else after that.
I am over the moon with the improvement following the injector rebuild. I had no idea I was missing so much power- still kind of amazing to me. It feels like I've been driving it more in the past couple of days than in the past couple of months. I guess that could also be due to the fact that my bike has been in the shop with a nasty premature clutch throw out bearing failure
RBX- best of luck getting your ducks in a row! I'm not a "prepper" waiting for doomsday, but there is something really neat about having a vehicle that requires no electronics to safely run, and that can use anything from grease to motor oil for fuel. Bring on the solar flares! (just kidding, don't)
Dec 22, 2015 | 01:16 AM
parts are in!
The motor feels like a tank after the valve adjustment, idle is ticking like a metronome, and I have consistently been surprised how long the tank lasts. 
Need to adjust cams for chain stretch next.
Who knows what else after that.
