Mutt The Race Truck

[DanStokes]

FINALLY - the weldor guy got the flange and what I'm calling the bellows welded to each other and I think it'll work. He was not satisfied with his work on this but it think it's pretty amazing considering that the bellows is as this as paper and the flange is pretty beefy. Anyhow, now I can charge ahead with the installation.

All welded up: (I'm showing the best side - there was some burn-thru on the other side but I'll put that in the back.)



And the bellows on the turbo:



And the turbo settling in to where it'll live:



There's another piece that bolts to those 2 holes to the rear of the bellows. It's a transition piece from the bellows to the exhaust pipe and bolts up to stabilize the whole exhaust assembly. It needs to be spaced out the same 3/4" that the turbo is spaced and I'll come up with something to do that tomorrow after lunch - maybe a stack of washers (J/K!). I'm guessing that the exhaust pipe may need cutting back as it'll stick further outside the fender - I'll decide once I see it all bolted together.

Blytheville, here I come (I hope......).

Dan

[SuperBuickGuy]

I tend not to say anything but I'll be really surprised if that holds. It's not easy welding thin to thick - especially in that groove, but he really needs to try again

[Deaf Bob]

Trick is to keep the main bead on the thick while quickly swaying into and away from thin..
SS is different than bodies..
We weld washers onto bodies to keep the tear thru to a minimum and the channel side irons get welded to the door frames..

[DanStokes]

We welded this stuff A LOT at EPA - our exhaust pipes from the car to the CVS were made of this. A couple of the guys in our fab shop got really good at it and the guy who welded this one admitted that this was his first try at this. I have another bellows and another flange so we can fab #2 if need be. SBG - it's actually better than it looks but it sure isn't pretty. The weldor was kind of embarrassed by it.

Dan

[DanStokes]

Getting closer to done.


View from the front.



From the right side.



Welded-up exhaust fitting in place. Note that it's supported by the turbo on one end and the bracket to the manifold on the other. Mercedes tends to secure everything at least more than needed. Therefore, the weld doesn't have much to support so we'll see how we do with it. So far I can't find a new bellows (which I think would make for better welds) but I do have a spare. We'll see how this works.


And the exhaust leaving the front fender. It sticks out a bit further than before but I think it's OK.



Dan

[silver_bullet]

Cool as hell....don't think you'll fit much more under that stock hood....

[DanStokes]

It's surprising that the new turbo fits in pretty much the same real estate as the old, much smaller one. I thought of mounting the intercooler remotely but I was worried that the chilled air would gain heat in the tubing as it made its way back up front so I crammed everything in the available spot. There IS 10 pounds of stuff in a 7.5 pound bag (not quite as tight as 10 lb in a 5 lb bag.....).

Also - that poor engine needs a bath! With no racing last year it has 2 winters of shop dust all over everything.

Dan

[silver_bullet]

Go fast...that shop dust ain't got a chance...

[langleylad]

I think it's safe to say that this S10 is one of a kind . I like it , completely different from mine that's for sure . Nice work .

[DanStokes]

Thanks for the complements. I've always done weird stuff - that's how I roll.

A bit more done today and an advanced plumbing lesson. I was trying to crimp the high pressure oil supply line onto the 10mm hard line that Mercedes uses to feed the turbo and it wouldn't crimp. BTW - I always use high pressure commercial compression fittings, NOT the hardware store stuff which once cost me an engine fire. Anyhow, the ferrule WOULD NOT crimp onto the hard line. After a couple of trips to the Parker Hannifin store I got the "good" guy and he knew that there are 2 series of metric compression fittings, the "heavy" and "light" series. Turns out that my hard line was only compatible with the light series and he just walked over to the shelf and grabbed the right stuff. So if you ever need a metric compression fitting and either the ferrule is loose on the tube or you can't get it on the tube, you have the wrong series. Live and learn - and it's now hooked up.

Just a couple of pics:

Everything hooked up and the heat shield in place. That took just some minor bending. You can see the braided stainless oil line at the front of the heat shield.



And from the side. These pics are similar to yesterday's but with more in place.




I have a routine cardiac stress test tomorrow but if I get home in time I'll work on refining my shut-off system a bit. I came up with a way to make it more robust.

Dan

[DanStokes]

Refinement on the shutdown system. As a reminder, the challenge is to get the engine to shut off when the main power switch (located in the rear pan) is actuated, allowing the safety folks to kill the engine if needed. Anyhow, the system I was running worked OK but proved not to be robust which is kind of a big deal for a safety system. Pics of the refinement:

"Off" position. Note that the air solenoid is rearward and the arm of the injection pump is also back. This stops the engine.




"On" or "Run" position. The cylinder is contracted so the injection pump arm can come forward and allow the engine to run.




The change is the addition of the guide rod (1/4"SS, BTW). This keeps the toggle (I guess you could call it) moving in a predictable manner so that it engages the pump arm effectively. Works great! I have a few more things to reattach and anchor (I had to move stuff for working room) but other than that this is done.

Dan

[DanStokes]

I got my new rule book and learned that they intend to check tire dates (not a bad idea). My drag radials are fine but the fronts were WAY out of date - 2007! This is weird 'cause it seems like I just put 'em on last week but time flies when you're an old guy. So began the search for new speed-rated tires and we found some Falkens that were W-rated (168 MPH, more than enough). Also the same speed rating as the rear drag radials so that's cool, too. And they're 205/65 X 15's - a better size anyhow. This is a taller tire with narrower tread width than I was running - Kumho ECSTAs 205/50 X 15. So how much difference? Here you go:

Height difference. They are standing side by side so this isn't a perspective thing.


Side by side:



And laying on the floor side by side: (Yes, I painted the rims w/new tires)



And here's Mutt at fightin' height. I set the distance from the floor to the top of the front wheel wells at 26" which is where I've been running on the track. This leaves me a bit of suspension but gets Mutt as low as possible. The taller tires still allow that so I think they'll be OK in that department. (I took this thru my add-on wide angle lens so it's a bit fuzzy).



So far the Falkens look like a pretty good deal at $77/tire here locally. Definitely worth looking at if you need that speed-rated thing.

Dan

[Russell]

Looks good, so what is allowable tire age now? Dad's camaro should be ok but I will check. The mustang tires are old but will not be going to the mile this year. It needs alot of safety, and more power for me to drag it across TN.

[DanStokes]

Hi Russell! Here's the tire info, from the new vehicle inspection form which will come with your entry paper work:

"We strongly discourage the use if tires more than 4 years old: tires manufactured earlier than 2012 will not be allowed, i.e. the four digit date code must end in "12" or higher."

So that line set me to looking. Time sure goes by quickly these days. My drag radials are stamped "14" and that doesn't seem possible either (given that I JUST put them on) but I know it's got to be true.

Dan

[Russell]

4 years go by fast! I will make sure to check the drag radials on Dad's car I bet they are at least 3 if not 4 years old.