Mercedes 1222A.. The beginning!
- Thread starter Sitec
- Start date
Sitec
Adventurer
Small update here. I have a few things left to do before lifting the body off again and stripping the truck ready to paint the chassis, cab and sideshirts... (which I guess I've been putting off, as suddenly I won't have something that resembles an Overlander...) Seems to be a backwards step pulling it all off again, but I know it's not. Anyway, one of the jobs that needed finishing was the exhaust... connecting the manifolds to the modified Actros muffler I fitted 6 odd months ago... A day and some intricate pipework later and I had something that should work!! There's a few angles in the system that are not ideal, but if you had seen the size of the outlet pipes on the turbo engine manifolds (45 mm per side!!??) then this will be fine!
Here's the 3" pipework welded up, painted and in place. I have a deflector welded into the 'Y' piece, so both banks have the same area to breath into. Once I'd bled the fuel system (as it's not run for 6 months... Found the problem.. Lift pump hand pump plunger is knackered), the V6 burbled into life with a quiet deep note out of the muffler. I'd not heard this truck running with anything other than the rotten twin muffler system, but it's totally different now. Great result!
Here's the 3" pipework welded up, painted and in place. I have a deflector welded into the 'Y' piece, so both banks have the same area to breath into. Once I'd bled the fuel system (as it's not run for 6 months... Found the problem.. Lift pump hand pump plunger is knackered), the V6 burbled into life with a quiet deep note out of the muffler. I'd not heard this truck running with anything other than the rotten twin muffler system, but it's totally different now. Great result!
Sitec
Adventurer
Not yet.... I have a donor engine that has the turbo and manifolds etc on it, but to fit the turbo requires quite a bit of gear linkage mods etc, and intercooler fitting... I'm leaving that until I have the truck back on the road. Once I have a usable Overlander, turbo fitment can happen later in the game... if it's needed. Re noise, the new muffler is huge, and apart form a deep hum at idle it seems very quiet. Just the clear sound of a V6.
Madoxen
Active member
And what a beautifull sound it is. Just the clear sound of a V6.
Sitec
Adventurer
And what a beautifull sound it is
Now I can hear it with a decent muffler yes!
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Australia is quite flat. Even the high country of Victoria caps out at 7,300ft/2,280m. Assuming you don't want to do 120kph+ across the NT, not much need for higher power. Except maybe to get out of a road trains way. They are about the only vehicle big enough to enforce right of way on a truck like this.
Sitec
Adventurer
It's more about having the power to pull out and overtake when needed. At the moment the truck is geared to do 95-100kph flat out with 220HP... If I gear it up to do 120-130kph flat out and cruise nicely at 90-100kph then I'll probably need 300hp to be able to do that comfortably and with reasonable economy. I don't want and need speed, but in the same breath I don't want to be the "I'm stuck behind a camper doing 90" comment that comes over on the two way rado. Having driven semi's, I know how frustrating it is when you are loaded and want to do the speed limit of 100kph but don't have the power or room to overtake something doing 90 kph...
Sitec
Adventurer
So, he last week has been spent under our truck reconnecting all the airlines after I moved the air tanks several months back. It's a job Ive been putting off for ages, but now needed to happen as I want to be able to move the truck... I should have just done it all straight away but it was a boring job! . I was able to tidy everything up on our truck, and get rid of some old clumsy joiners by using air lines from the donor truck. With everything connected it was time to get the truck out of the shed for the first time since I sat the body on the chassis. It now looks very different to how it did 6 months ago! The extra cab height and the roof rack does look like it ties the body in with it nicely.
. I was able to tidy everything up on our truck, and get rid of some old clumsy joiners by using air lines from the donor truck. With everything connected it was time to get the truck out of the shed for the first time since I sat the body on the chassis. It now looks very different to how it did 6 months ago! The extra cab height and the roof rack does look like it ties the body in with it nicely.
Sitec
Adventurer
Cheers! Just got to muster the energy to finish it!
joeblack5
Active member
That looks amazing. Are you going to bring the lift eye higher up. It seems that with the weight of the tires you would be below the center of gravity. How does it work when you are of balance with one tire shredded?
Love the panel recesses in the tire carrier .. another starwars flashback
Love the panel recesses in the tire carrier .. another starwars flashback