1stgenoverland
Adventurer
Oh sweet! I'll go have a peruse
1991 Dodge W250 Overland Tourer Build and Adventures
- Thread starter 1stgenoverland
- Start date
Kingsize24
Well-known member
Hell yes its detailed, but still one of the best builds on here.
1stgenoverland
Adventurer
Honestly inspired. I skimmed through it and stopped on the fab stuff. An inspiring amount of skill you have. I hope I reach that level one day. For now, I'll just keep plugging away at my list.
frojoe
Adventurer
Heck yeah man, you got this!
I also have a Steed Speed exhaust manifold, and couldn't agree more with what you said about it. I have a PDD 362sxe and the turbo has no issue keeping it happily fed with exhuast at 1300 or 2100rpm, and transient response is fantastic and linear (no crazy short-lived ski jump boost spike).
I have a Mishimoto aftermarket intercooler which I did some mods to.. however if memory serves correct, it should still be about +15% in flow area relative to the charge air flow direction.
I deleted the grid heater for simplicity (and realistically not really needed with the lowest temps in our climate), but still have the factory intake manifold because.... it fits. I'd be curious to know if there are any intake elbow differences between a 1st gen VE 12V and a 2nd gen 12V/24V.
Do you have any plans for VE fueling, or just turn it up a hair to keep the truck moving its own weight handily, but still maintain reliability and EGT's..?
I also have a Steed Speed exhaust manifold, and couldn't agree more with what you said about it. I have a PDD 362sxe and the turbo has no issue keeping it happily fed with exhuast at 1300 or 2100rpm, and transient response is fantastic and linear (no crazy short-lived ski jump boost spike).
I have a Mishimoto aftermarket intercooler which I did some mods to.. however if memory serves correct, it should still be about +15% in flow area relative to the charge air flow direction.
I deleted the grid heater for simplicity (and realistically not really needed with the lowest temps in our climate), but still have the factory intake manifold because.... it fits. I'd be curious to know if there are any intake elbow differences between a 1st gen VE 12V and a 2nd gen 12V/24V.
Do you have any plans for VE fueling, or just turn it up a hair to keep the truck moving its own weight handily, but still maintain reliability and EGT's..?
1stgenoverland
Adventurer
I know I got this, I fabricated a good number of things over the years. Aluminum pod for the boat, a couple flat decks, landings, exhaust systems... there's more, but I still have this little edge to me, every time I'm about to do something new.
I noticed your intercooler, and was wondering how you were going to solve the space issue with the winch. great solutions.
And I agree, the grid heater really isn't needed for our west coast climate, and I favour plugging in the truck in the winter anyways. once my oil pan is new, I will be adding an oil pan heater as well.
The intake elbow differences are pretty big actually. The 2nd gen elbow will flow way better then the 1st gen, but, my 3" fabricated elbow, will flow better then the whole lot. I've since discovered that there's further improvements to be made, If I want even better flow to the rear most cylinders. I'd be curious to share that idea with you in private, because it appears you know how to cad. A skill I haven't mastered at all.
I have no plans in change up the VE pump more then adjustments. as it sits right now, it has more then enough fuel for the amount of air this engine can move. A timing bump is coming, as well as dialling the pump in a bit better. My friend has a diesel shop, and He offered to put the pump on the dyno. I want to get the pump back to a base tune, advance the timing, and then do my fuel and AFC adjustments from there. Honestly, when you're rolling around with an old getrag bolted beneath your butt, you want to be careful how much torque you put through the driveline. As it sits, I'm really happy with it. Like yours, it will haul ass up any hill in BC.
1stgenoverland
Adventurer
I should add. I'm installing a set of dynamite diesels pilot hole injectors. The technology is incredible, and they have a promotion out right now, where, for $400 US, you can send you injectors in, they'll rebuild them with the Pilot hole tips, and ship them back to you. I highly suggest watching a few of their videos on YouTube but the basics of it is this. They have two small pilot holes near the tip, and then 4 main holes above them. At idle, the pintle in the injector only opens enough to let the two holes flow fuel. What you get is a super fine mist of fuel that burns incredibly well, and gets rid of the idle haze and a lot of the noise. They are also the main holes being used under low loads and low rpm. When you start pushing into the throttle, the pintle raises high enough to expose the 4 larger holes and you now pass enough fuel for higher rpm and load. But the pilot holes still are active, and the super fine mist of fuel they spray, milliseconds before the 4 holes are exposed, gets the flame front going, making the 4 holes inject into an already burning combustion chamber. You get an incredibly clean burn this way, and this is roughly what is happening in modern diesel engines, with electronically controlled fuel injectors. Only they are having up to 7 injection events per power stroke. Some advanced and some retarded.
1stgenoverland
Adventurer
Having been invited by Ray Hyland himself, for a number of years, to attend the BC Overland Rally, I finally bought a ticket, and made the journey to Merrit BC. I had @fire_rosie_on_tour behind me, as we went up Through the Fraser Canyon, and then from Spences Bridge to Merrit. That highway from Spences Bridge, used to be fairly well paved but since the huge flood that went through there in 2021, the road has been cobbled together between bits of what was left, and then running the new road on top of the old abandoned railway. It gave a new perspective to that valley that I had never seen before.
At the Overland Rally, I was incredibly inspired by all the people there who had done some incredibly large, World wide trips. Dan Grec was featured one night at fireside, and I was almost emotional as he told his story of how he got to where he is today. Thing is, even these biggest overland dreams are doable, if you put your heart to it and make it happen. He did it with what he had, and returned home a changed man.
I became the talk of the town, when I decided it would be appropriate to take my truck and camper through the off-road challenge course. Landcruisers, Tacomas, 4runners, Jeeps, Landrovers and "normal" off-road vehicles were lined up, to drive the challenge, and then there was me, the big yellow truck and camper, in the middle of the line, a big dopey bird standing out like a sore thumb. Eye brows were raised, but I knew if anything would happen, I'd just get towed out, and then fix whatever I broke. I was actually stunned at how well the truck did. Sure I lifted tires, but I never got stuck or stopped my forward momentum. I was pretty proud of the yellow truck maybe it will fair equally as well this year when I go. I was happy to prove that you don't need to spend +50K on a vehicle to do a little off-roading.
Everyone should get out to the overland rally. It's a good amount of fun.
At the Overland Rally, I was incredibly inspired by all the people there who had done some incredibly large, World wide trips. Dan Grec was featured one night at fireside, and I was almost emotional as he told his story of how he got to where he is today. Thing is, even these biggest overland dreams are doable, if you put your heart to it and make it happen. He did it with what he had, and returned home a changed man.
I became the talk of the town, when I decided it would be appropriate to take my truck and camper through the off-road challenge course. Landcruisers, Tacomas, 4runners, Jeeps, Landrovers and "normal" off-road vehicles were lined up, to drive the challenge, and then there was me, the big yellow truck and camper, in the middle of the line, a big dopey bird standing out like a sore thumb. Eye brows were raised, but I knew if anything would happen, I'd just get towed out, and then fix whatever I broke. I was actually stunned at how well the truck did. Sure I lifted tires, but I never got stuck or stopped my forward momentum. I was pretty proud of the yellow truck maybe it will fair equally as well this year when I go. I was happy to prove that you don't need to spend +50K on a vehicle to do a little off-roading.
Everyone should get out to the overland rally. It's a good amount of fun.
frojoe
Adventurer
That's really cool! Very awesome to see effort still being put into these old [reliable/simple/cool] 12V motors to keep them running better and cleaner at the same time.
Power Driven Diesel came out with their own line of "PowerJet" injectors for VE and P-pump 12V's, and although there aren't many explanatory videos on YouTube, those injectors seem to be incredibly clean at the tailpipe at idle and transient response as boost builds at low rpm, all while still supplying the total flow required for good power. So cool to see these companies put in this new effort!
1stgenoverland
Adventurer
Little secret about power driven diesel, they have their injector tips built by dynamite diesels machine. The two companies do a lot of R&D work together.
FreedomTraveler
Observer
Just search my handle, posted several pic's over the years.
1stgenoverland
Adventurer
What's the next part of the story?
Should we Talk about Campers? Probably. So I have the Northern Lite Camper on the back of the truck. It has a lot of benefits but I find it also has some short comings. I'm a complete flip flop when it comes to the debate, of keeping the camper or building something custom and a little shorter, with a pop top on it. It's so brutally hard to make up my mind.
The pros of the camper are that it's built, but some of the cons, are that it's an old camper, that has its worn out areas. It would be easy enough to repair them, and maybe create some storage boxes to fit under the camper. Or flip down flat deck sides and bins, but I feel like that would be a little dusty. I also think it would be better to have the camper bolt down to the deck and sit on top of something that will protect it better.
Building a camper is quite the dream that Ive been exploring, but it just comes down to making time for it. Not to mention the costs. What are some of the ideas that you all have had over the years?
Should we Talk about Campers? Probably. So I have the Northern Lite Camper on the back of the truck. It has a lot of benefits but I find it also has some short comings. I'm a complete flip flop when it comes to the debate, of keeping the camper or building something custom and a little shorter, with a pop top on it. It's so brutally hard to make up my mind.
The pros of the camper are that it's built, but some of the cons, are that it's an old camper, that has its worn out areas. It would be easy enough to repair them, and maybe create some storage boxes to fit under the camper. Or flip down flat deck sides and bins, but I feel like that would be a little dusty. I also think it would be better to have the camper bolt down to the deck and sit on top of something that will protect it better.
Building a camper is quite the dream that Ive been exploring, but it just comes down to making time for it. Not to mention the costs. What are some of the ideas that you all have had over the years?
I know it’s not much of a camper idea since it’s an off the shelf four wheel camper but the whole rig was a culmination of ideas from a couple decades of different builds with overlanding as the focus. Honestly besides being loud I’d say the first gens are a perfect platform to build off. The four wheel camper I bought new for a 2012 Toyota Tacoma then decided to build the dodge around that camper. In a lot of ways the first gens aren’t all that much bigger than a late model Tacoma . Turned out drastically better than the Tacoma in every category besides noise. The bodies are quite thin and the factory paint isn’t great but if you make sure no body rust gets ignored I don’t see why you couldn’t keep one earning its keep for a lifetime. Getrag might not have the best rep but seems like at lower power levels with sensible driving and care they last just fine.