No worries Pat, thanks anyway. I think I have a plan to get through it anyhow. If it doesn't work, worst case is I buy some Deutsch connectors and replug the ends of the harnesses. I'd rather spend $100 on plugs and tools than craigslist some used harness that's liable to be just as much trouble when it arrives as what I've already got.
Belafonte Reboot....Ambulance to 4x4 Camper Conversion
- Thread starter tgreening
- Start date
No worries Pat, thanks anyway. I think I have a plan to get through it anyhow. If it doesn't work, worst case is I buy some Deutsch connectors and replug the ends of the harnesses. I'd rather spend $100 on plugs and tools than craigslist some used harness that's liable to be just as much trouble when it arrives as what I've already got.
patoz
Expedition Leader
That might be your best bet, and you can check continuity as you install them so you won't be dealing with a 'mystery' harness when it's done.
The only parts I have left of the E350 are those dash pieces I showed you when you were here. Once I get all of my wiring inside the module transferred to the new Blue Sea Panel, the Wheeled Coach Panels will be free and you you can have those for spares. However, at the speed I'm going you may not even still have your Ambo by then.
The only parts I have left of the E350 are those dash pieces I showed you when you were here. Once I get all of my wiring inside the module transferred to the new Blue Sea Panel, the Wheeled Coach Panels will be free and you you can have those for spares. However, at the speed I'm going you may not even still have your Ambo by then.
What's this noise?
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Finally getting around to doing the Hypermax install and I have to say, so far it wins 1st Place for being the single biggest pain in the ******** outright futher mucker of a project. Ford could not have made working on a van any freakin more difficult if they had tried on purpose. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has been simple to accomplish.
This was a royal pain, but 50% admittedly my fault. You have to rotate the engine till the screw shows up in the hole. I thought that piece with the groove in it was what rotated and eventually another hole would show up with the screw in it. I dont know how many freakin times I hopped out and crawled under to rotate the crank, and then hopped back in to look for the screw. And was getting pissed out how slow that piece seemed to rotate, till I finally figured out it wasn't rotating at all, and I was looking at it all wrong. Derrrr. Finally got that figured out and then spent about 45 minutes trying to come up with the right combo of allen wrench and something to turn that sucker, because my girly fingers sure weren't up to the task. I think I turned it up somewhere between 2 1/2 - 3 flats.
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This is the plug that crumbled a bit. The two on the end are what feeds the glow plugs and I think the amp draw generated enough heat to eventually cook the plug. I'm going to separate them out and plug them individually. The rest of the plug should go back together ok.
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Sweet Baby Jesus w/Tom Cruise voodoo magic, this was a ROYAL pain to remove. All but two bolts were fairly easy. The last two, good lord. I ended up having to pull the A/C unit (left it plumbed) so I could get access to the very front bolt. The front bottom bolt didn't come out "too" bad, but I knew getting the bolt back in was going to be a muther, and it was. Once the bolts were out it just took a ratchet strap and bit of wigglin' to get the cover out.
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The Hypermax instructions are a bit vague sometimes and I swear I think it's on purpose because if folks knew what a royal pain in the ******** this is they'd probably dump whatever they were driving and buy something already turbo'd. Like this valve cover. The instructions just mention that you need to drill a hole in the valve cover and put a grommet in it. Sounds simple right?
Then this thing. It has to be moved forward about 2" and they give you a 1/2" thick spacer/adapter plate to do it. Four holes in it, 2 threaded. Instructions say "move the filter forward using the adapter and 2 3/8"x1" bolts and washers. So I unbolt the thing (notice long ******** bolts with springs), move it up a bit so I can slide the spacer under it, and thread in the 1" bolts. Then I remount this to the spacer using the long bolts and springs. Tighten up the 1" bolts and the first one promptly strips out the threads in the aluminum of the intake because the 1" bolts dont go here, they mount the filter to the plate, and you are supposed to use the original long bolts with springs to mount the plate to the intake. Doesn't really read that way in the instructions but my mistake for not noticing that 1" bolts were kinda short for this spot. In the end it was ok because the long bolts reached past the stripped out portion.
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And who can shed some light on this? Just in front is where the old crank case ventilator valve (or whatever that things called) plugged in. New function is turbo oil drain. I had to reach through this hole and punch 3 holes to aid in oil drain back. But what the heck is this hole? It has a square opening that a 3/8" ratchet fits right into, and it "looks" like some kind of plug you could unscrew, but the square opening goes all the way through. Anything that leaks out on top the motor could drain right through this hole and as far as I can tell find it's way right into the crankcase. Instructions make no mention of it, and I'm at a bit of a loss.
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My pictures arent consistent, and probably wont be. Ran out of patience early on with this project and just want to bull through it. Besides, others have already done a fine job of documenting. Right now I'm at the point where the glow plug harness is supposed to start going back in, but I'm not sure the relay is going to live under that ginormous bundle of hoses and wires that runs right above it's supposed to be new home.
Once I get past that I think it's time for the hard parts to start going in.
Finally getting around to doing the Hypermax install and I have to say, so far it wins 1st Place for being the single biggest pain in the ******** outright futher mucker of a project. Ford could not have made working on a van any freakin more difficult if they had tried on purpose. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has been simple to accomplish.
This was a royal pain, but 50% admittedly my fault. You have to rotate the engine till the screw shows up in the hole. I thought that piece with the groove in it was what rotated and eventually another hole would show up with the screw in it. I dont know how many freakin times I hopped out and crawled under to rotate the crank, and then hopped back in to look for the screw. And was getting pissed out how slow that piece seemed to rotate, till I finally figured out it wasn't rotating at all, and I was looking at it all wrong. Derrrr. Finally got that figured out and then spent about 45 minutes trying to come up with the right combo of allen wrench and something to turn that sucker, because my girly fingers sure weren't up to the task. I think I turned it up somewhere between 2 1/2 - 3 flats.
This is the plug that crumbled a bit. The two on the end are what feeds the glow plugs and I think the amp draw generated enough heat to eventually cook the plug. I'm going to separate them out and plug them individually. The rest of the plug should go back together ok.
Sweet Baby Jesus w/Tom Cruise voodoo magic, this was a ROYAL pain to remove. All but two bolts were fairly easy. The last two, good lord. I ended up having to pull the A/C unit (left it plumbed) so I could get access to the very front bolt. The front bottom bolt didn't come out "too" bad, but I knew getting the bolt back in was going to be a muther, and it was. Once the bolts were out it just took a ratchet strap and bit of wigglin' to get the cover out.
The Hypermax instructions are a bit vague sometimes and I swear I think it's on purpose because if folks knew what a royal pain in the ******** this is they'd probably dump whatever they were driving and buy something already turbo'd. Like this valve cover. The instructions just mention that you need to drill a hole in the valve cover and put a grommet in it. Sounds simple right?
Then this thing. It has to be moved forward about 2" and they give you a 1/2" thick spacer/adapter plate to do it. Four holes in it, 2 threaded. Instructions say "move the filter forward using the adapter and 2 3/8"x1" bolts and washers. So I unbolt the thing (notice long ******** bolts with springs), move it up a bit so I can slide the spacer under it, and thread in the 1" bolts. Then I remount this to the spacer using the long bolts and springs. Tighten up the 1" bolts and the first one promptly strips out the threads in the aluminum of the intake because the 1" bolts dont go here, they mount the filter to the plate, and you are supposed to use the original long bolts with springs to mount the plate to the intake. Doesn't really read that way in the instructions but my mistake for not noticing that 1" bolts were kinda short for this spot. In the end it was ok because the long bolts reached past the stripped out portion.
And who can shed some light on this? Just in front is where the old crank case ventilator valve (or whatever that things called) plugged in. New function is turbo oil drain. I had to reach through this hole and punch 3 holes to aid in oil drain back. But what the heck is this hole? It has a square opening that a 3/8" ratchet fits right into, and it "looks" like some kind of plug you could unscrew, but the square opening goes all the way through. Anything that leaks out on top the motor could drain right through this hole and as far as I can tell find it's way right into the crankcase. Instructions make no mention of it, and I'm at a bit of a loss.
My pictures arent consistent, and probably wont be. Ran out of patience early on with this project and just want to bull through it. Besides, others have already done a fine job of documenting. Right now I'm at the point where the glow plug harness is supposed to start going back in, but I'm not sure the relay is going to live under that ginormous bundle of hoses and wires that runs right above it's supposed to be new home.
Once I get past that I think it's time for the hard parts to start going in.
guidolyons
Addicted to Gear Oil
It will be worth it!
Man I hope so. It's been kicking my butt so far, with the wire harness reconfig/reroute being the absolute worst. Being an ambo makes it just a bit worse because of the absolutely massive bundle of hoses and wires coming up through the dog house on the drivers side. Good news though is I think I'm past the wire nightmare.
I bolted up the turbo mount today, pulled the front exhaust, and got the exhaust up pipes in. Passenger side looks like it'll be fairly simple, but drivers side is going to be a booger I think, due to all those hoses and wires mentioned. Pretty tight right there. Some pictures later......
Shot of the turbo mount. This was easy peasy.
This little do-dah at about the 9:00 on the tranny needs to be cut off to make room for the up pipe. It looked like it was going to be a bear but the sawz-all fit in there pretty good and made short work of it.
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And I was right about the drivers side being a booger, but instead of it being the hoses it was mostly the way those up pipes fit into the turbo mount, as it not. Move them around the wrong way with your tongue not quite right and they'd seize right up. I ended up having to pull the whole mess back out and put it on my bench. Some judicious use of sand paper got them to the point they were just free enough to move about without being sloppy.
The next thing was to mount the turbo (temp fit) and bolt the oil drain tube to the turbo center section. Turbo bolted up easy but I was having a beyotch of a time getting the 3/8 bolts called for for the drain tube to start up. So bad I had to pull the turbo back out, and then the problem became obvious. The turbo center section is not drilled and tapped for the 3/8" bolts the instructions call for, and the drain tube flange is drilled for. A quick call to Hypermax tech support was met with "ahhhhh" and a promise of a call back, not yet received of course.
Earlier today I was feeling like a whiny b&$*h because of all the complaining I've been doing on this project, but then this pops up and made me think that maybe the Boost Gods might have it in for me after all.
The next thing was to mount the turbo (temp fit) and bolt the oil drain tube to the turbo center section. Turbo bolted up easy but I was having a beyotch of a time getting the 3/8 bolts called for for the drain tube to start up. So bad I had to pull the turbo back out, and then the problem became obvious. The turbo center section is not drilled and tapped for the 3/8" bolts the instructions call for, and the drain tube flange is drilled for. A quick call to Hypermax tech support was met with "ahhhhh" and a promise of a call back, not yet received of course.
Earlier today I was feeling like a whiny b&$*h because of all the complaining I've been doing on this project, but then this pops up and made me think that maybe the Boost Gods might have it in for me after all.
Progress today. Got the turbo bolted up, oil drain tube bolts sorted out, intake cap on and the air filter mounted.
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This bundle of hoses I think might be a pain. I have to try to reconfigure it for clearance from the up pipe so nothing gets cooked.
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Should be on the downhill side now, barring any surprises. Tie wrap some wire bundles here and there, put the new tranny dip tube in, hook up and route hoses/wires for the boost gauge & EGT gauge, exhaust, and probably a bit of misc. If I get lucky I might git 'er done this week but I only get a couple hours a night at best, but by monday should be a for sure. Can't wait to fire this thing back up and go for a ride. I REALLY hope it has a significant affect on the get up & go because as its sits it's a bit of a turd.
After this I have to install the replacement rear springs that Chris sent me. Rear end was sagging about 3" compared to the front when I did the initial install. I stuffed some 2" lift blocks back there (all I could find) to get me by, but I've had them for a while now and it's time to step up. After this turbo though, these things will be a cake walk.
This bundle of hoses I think might be a pain. I have to try to reconfigure it for clearance from the up pipe so nothing gets cooked.
Should be on the downhill side now, barring any surprises. Tie wrap some wire bundles here and there, put the new tranny dip tube in, hook up and route hoses/wires for the boost gauge & EGT gauge, exhaust, and probably a bit of misc. If I get lucky I might git 'er done this week but I only get a couple hours a night at best, but by monday should be a for sure. Can't wait to fire this thing back up and go for a ride. I REALLY hope it has a significant affect on the get up & go because as its sits it's a bit of a turd.
After this I have to install the replacement rear springs that Chris sent me. Rear end was sagging about 3" compared to the front when I did the initial install. I stuffed some 2" lift blocks back there (all I could find) to get me by, but I've had them for a while now and it's time to step up. After this turbo though, these things will be a cake walk.
Not much. Hands and forearms are scrapped up pretty good but I'll live. The hard parts on this project haven't been too awful bad. It was all the prep work to get ready for the install that was the real beyotch. Pulling the valve cover. Removing, reconfiguring, and then reinstalling the wire harness for the glow plugs, injection pump, fuel filter, and the usual oil and water sensors. Now THAT was a royal pain in the ********. Plus the Hypermax instructions for reinstalling it were contradictory. I mounted the glow plug relay in It's new home, and then pulled it back out when I read more instructions, and reinstalled it 180 deg from the first time. Then once I actually routed the bundle I figured out it would have worked better the way I had it in the beginning, but I was damned if I was going back to square one again so I just lived with it.
And I REALLY thought the exhaust manifold bolts were going to stick it to me and bust off. They appeared majorly corroded, so I hit them for a few days with the PBlaster, and with much creaking and popping the nuts spun off. Pheww.
All n all its been the biggest pain in the ******** project I can remember, but I'm sure a big big portion of that is from flying solo. A helping hand would have been a major game changer I think. Maybe next time.
Few more bits crossed off the list. Downpipe and new oil dip tube installed. Also got the CDR valve hooked up but cant really see it.
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One thing I need to figure out is how to remount the bits that make up the high-idle system. An electric solenoid and a vacuum plunger that pulls on the throttle. The plunger was bolted to the lifting eye, and the solenoid was bolted to the back of the intake. Space invaded by the turbo now.
You can see the solenoid floating around in this shot.
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Getting close. Cant wait to get this fired up and taken for a ride. I wish there were somewhere I could have put it on a dyno. It would have been interesting to see the real world difference compared to what Hypermax claims.
(tap tap tap. is this thing on?)
One thing I need to figure out is how to remount the bits that make up the high-idle system. An electric solenoid and a vacuum plunger that pulls on the throttle. The plunger was bolted to the lifting eye, and the solenoid was bolted to the back of the intake. Space invaded by the turbo now.
You can see the solenoid floating around in this shot.
Getting close. Cant wait to get this fired up and taken for a ride. I wish there were somewhere I could have put it on a dyno. It would have been interesting to see the real world difference compared to what Hypermax claims.
(tap tap tap. is this thing on?)
guidolyons
Addicted to Gear Oil
:coffeedrink:
:sombrero:
Looking good.
:sombrero:
Looking good.
Bikersmurf
Expedition Leader
It looks like it's coming along well. I don't envy that task... I'm glad mine came with a Turbo stock.
I sure enjoy my ambo, but everything is more difficult than it needs to be.
I sure enjoy my ambo, but everything is more difficult than it needs to be.
Boy you've got that right. I'm a firm believer automotive engineers should have to spend at least 5 years in Military fighter design. Those guys are absolute masters of stuffing 30 lbs of crap in a 10 lb space, and still having it serviceable when done. I remember looking at components and thinking "there ain't no freakin way", yet not only was there a way it was usually fairly easy.
This thing has been just the opposite. I'll look at something and think "piece of cake", and turns out...It. Ain't. Happening. No way.
Most frustrating thing I've ever wrenched.