The Plan...

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Killer job A- I appreciate all of the details.


You know you've used your welder a lot when the cable wears out. I hope the clutch comes soon.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Ok, so this build is just awsome! I love it! I have a question though. You are using:
A mercedes diesel engine, to a GM bell housing bolt pattern adapter plate, to an Advanced adapters bell housing, to a Toyota Transmission?

Why not just go:
Mercedes, Adapter plate, Toyota?

I understand that the GM clutch is going to be BEEF and that's important and if that's the reason, sweet. Just asking.

:beer:

Correct... The clutch is a bigger and beefier but it is basically a perk. The reason is there is only one commercially available adapter for this engine, which is a GM pattern. Luke is planning a Toyota pickup truck adapter but it probably won't be ready any time in the near future so this was my only option to use anything else other than the factory, doggish, 2WD Mercedes automatic transmission which I had no interest in using what so ever...

So correct, two adapters, for better or for worse...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Killer job A- I appreciate all of the details.


You know you've used your welder a lot when the cable wears out. I hope the clutch comes soon.

Hey thanks Jereme as always. The good news is the clutch is an off the shelf $120 GM 350 clutch from anywhere. In this case I'll use a good quality LUK clutch from a place in SLC...

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

Hey thanks Jereme as always. The good news is the clutch is an off the shelf $120 GM 350 clutch from anywhere. In this case I'll use a good quality LUK clutch from a place in SLC...

Sweet. I'm glad everything else come in. Georg E. (Orange45) speaks highly of the LUK's.

 

[Wheelingnoob]

Cant wait to see this come together!!! Please ad as much detail on the little things involved with making that diesel work in this truck I am very interested in doing the same.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Will do.. I have some big updates coming shortly. It leaves for a week long trip to the Overland Expo in just over 2 weeks so it will be coming together, "quickly." The diesel install is not overly difficult but it does take some weird little things. Also the clearance with this engine is proving to be really tight. The fan unfortunately will be very close to the radiator.

There are some neat surprises though. It looks really really good...

 

[tacollie]

What issues are you having with the height of the motor? I was just curious if you are going to be able to keep the lift height where you wanted.

Also, good work. That thing is looking sweet.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Hey Tacollie I'll answer your questions shortly via.. More pics of course..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Well not too much to report except lots of little things...

First my welder.. The gun only wasn't the problem. Turns out I somehow fried the circuit board so there is another $300 spent. Bummer... I borrowed this prety awesome 250 unit from my friend Brian who is a professional welder. He prefers this setup as it can be mounted in shops on overhead beams and can easily power .045 flux core and massive wires as well as the .030 MIG I am using so it is diverse.. It is a little clunky to me but what a welder. It uses a separate power source, makes no noise (which is a bummer, I left it on overnight by accident) and is a life saver until my DVI machine is fixed. I also used my new gun on it.. What a gun as well is all I have to say..

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I started sorting out most of the wiring last week. It really is remarkable as the truck is designed for many markets with different engines, some EFI and some not. So it was not hard to remove the computer and pretty much all wiring while keeping the wires in tact for the gauges...

Before and after.... Photo 2 also shows the markings I make to cut holes for the large FZJ80 Land Cruiser air cleaner that is a work of art. It has a collection for any oil or water that has seeped in a removable collection cup...

The intake is in the fender where the custom snorkel will come in.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Now was the moment of truth.. I was pretty psyched to finally do a test fit of the engine and it was tight. We will see how it all comes together with how much room. According to my measurements I should have maybe an inch between the radiator and body. According to some of the other threads out there I'll have to get creative with the firewall a little bit and a hammer.. (nothing too major). It will be a tight fit...

This was pretty exciting...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

The two interference spots... I will have to remove and alter the oil pan unfortunately but such is life. I thought I had made decent measurements for this but reality is a little different and the panhard will interfere with the oil pan. The good news is it is not a hard mod at all and will only slightly decrease capacity. This is my third diesel swap and two of the three we've had to alter the oil pan...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Here is what I was doing with the wiring. Basically eliminating the EFI harness...

The end result is basically a setup identical to OEM minus the EFI components so everything basically works the same and operates completely OEM... There are some cleanup aspects but this stuff actually went pretty quickly...

The last pic shows the before harness and the 4 wires I needed out of it (oil pressure & water temp gauge/idiot light, and reverse light). The 4WD indicator light and the neutral switch (makes sure the car only starts in neutral or park) are in the actual shifters so this should be easy to find.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

The Mercedes interstingly uses vacuum to run from its vacuum pump. When the pump has vacuum its on, when it doesn't, it turns off. The switch that allows it to run is basically a relay that lets air pass through. In the Benz it is actually in the steering column but there are others that work. The Toyota uses a vacuum operated transfer case disconnect like a FJ62 (same components even) so this will work great to power the Benz engine. Here I am testing it, and there is even a little vacuum canister in the wheel well (that was removed). Basically the process of using this engine is making the truck bare bones and hopefully bare bones reliable.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Now to the fun stuff...

The Marlin Crawler bumper arrived last week. As usual, a complete work of art (look at the welds)... I basically test fit it to make sure there weren't any adjustments I needed before it goes to the powder coater.

I am using a company called Utah Powder Coaters (www.utahpowdercoaters.com) and you will see some of their work shortly. It is top notch (and a top notch facility). The owner also gave me some 20% off coupons if anyone is interested... All colors and styles and really intricate stuff...