The 300D50
The 300D50
Once upon a time, in a land where oil flowed and diesel bubbled, there was a brave truck that could.
No, wait, that's not right...
Ahem, here we go.
This is the story of the unholy matrimony of German and Japanese engineering.
It all started in 2007 with a 1989 Dodge Ram50 pickup, and spiraled into something much more bizarre.
To date, the project has involved 2 trucks, 2 engines, 3 years, and no actual time on the road.
It is a labor of love, driven by sheer determination and will power.
Rather than re-post all of it, here's the links to the 2 build threads.
First thread
http://www.hotrodcoffeeshop.com/forum/vi...?f=6&t=164
Second
http://www.hotrodcoffeeshop.com/forum/vi...?f=6&t=475
Now that I have the "big novel of my life" introduction out of the way, here's the skinnies on where it stands now.
Truck is in the shop with the tranny/V6/harness removed, waiting for the benz to get pulled from the other truck. Once that happens, I can get final dimensions off the flywheel and start machining the crank spacer and adapter plate.
After that it's a custom lower pan that will clear the sway bar and front frame member, and hopefully still work with the stock oil pump. If not, it's time to find a turbo pump and see how much of a pita it will be to put it in...
Then it's motor mounts, starter bracket, swapping to the turbo exhaust manifold for clearance of the motor mounts, making brackets to mount the Mitsubishi A/C compressor, wiring in coolant sensors, fuel, starter, etc.
Needless to say, I'll be here picking peoples brains and offering my general tidbits of knowledge.
Some form of picture will be added when it's not 1:15 am
(10-08-2010, 12:17 AM)300D50 This is the story of the unholy matrimony of German and Japanese engineering.
(10-08-2010, 12:17 AM)300D50 This is the story of the unholy matrimony of German and Japanese engineering.
WOW. I just read through both of your links, that is a load of work! Looks like you're doing a great job and having fun with it though! Keep us up to date.
Haha, yeah, as I said it's a labor of love
Going to get the automagic flywheel measured out later today and hopefully finalize my crank spacer design...
Took 4 days to get this far because of interruptions, but took a month to perfect the design.
It's not completely finished yet, I still have to turn snap-ring grooves in the inner bore to hold the pilot bearing in place, but that has to wait till I can bolt the flywheel on and do a sanity check on the dimensions.
There's some visible chatter marks on the one face because of some resonance of the boring bar, but other than that it's well within tolerance, and everything should be good.
It's such an amazing feeling to hold something that 4 days earlier was just a cad drawing, and a few weeks earlier was just a vision in my minds eye.
Now to test it on the 616 and wait for my flywheel bolts to come in....
Holy crap. I think I need a CNC machine. I could get into so much troubl... I mean, have so much fun!!
Engine is out of the truck, seems my memory is futzed up, it looks to be an everyday 240D flywheel.
Spacer fits perfectly, so it's hopefully going off to get cryo'd to take it down a few tenths so the pilot bearing fits tighter.
Bolts came in Monday! Big thanks to Rusty at BuyMBParts.biz!
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Also got a manifold gasket for when I switch intakes.
Decided to deck the flywheel down to fit the Mitsubishi pressure plate and put in a new friction surface, my simulations show this is the best way to go.
Here we go, fingers crossed....
Point of no return.
Hellooo holes!
Fast forward to fitting the clutch disc...
Taking a .001" skim cut to level the surface, bye bye original surface...
And now awaiting a new piece of plate for the friction surface.
More to come once I've got the plate in monday.
again very impressive!
Im going to have to join biohazard in wishing I had a CNC machine or at least a lathe to play with!
That looks great, how light do you think this flywheel is now? There have been some reports and discussions of vibratios based on balance in a number of 617 manual swaps
Not sure on the NA 617s, but it seems that a selection of 617s have flywheels balanced with the crank, and some not. Did that flywheel come on that NA motor?
Im thinking that the lighter flywheel you have now it would be doubly important to verify what balance that motor already had for any possible vibration.
The original driven plate for the 617 is playing "lost in the shop/garage/barn/junk pile" right now, and the flywheel that's been turned down wasn't re-balanced to it before it was put on. That being said, I never did check if the original driven plate was zero-balanced or balanced to the crank.
I haven't cleaned the lathe it's chucked in yet, I'll try and weigh the chips. :p
Rough guess is about 1/3 of it is gone.
As for vibration, once it's done I'll fire it up on the engine hoist and see. Plans are to zero balance the flywheel+pressure plate once the friction surface goes in.
Kinda scared I'll need to send this all out, because there were alignment marks on the original driven plate and the crank...
Awesome Work!
I have crashed the work CNC many a time learning haha But the things you can do are awesome!
Yeah, especially when you have live tooling!
Engine is on the stand, oil drained, kerosene added, drained again.
Every accessory removed, manifolds removed, it's go time.
Expcet awesome things before january.
Having fun test fitting the clutch with the pilot bearing installed.
Now for a question.
What do you do when you have a section of plate steel that needs a precision circular section removed from it?
You can't use the cnc mills, because neither has a vice with a 12" jaw opening, you can't remove the vice because then you'd have to reindicate it.
Solution?
Grab a hunk of scrap round stock and make another arbor to mill it in the 3 axis lathe! :twisted:
From there it's a matter of a carbide endmill in a face live tooling holder, and a small 15ish line program to mill the desired circular profile.
I did the holes in the plate using a 1:1 printout, a center punch, drill press, and a little luck.
Hopefully by noon tomorrow it'll be faced off on the one side, turned to final size, and freeze-fit into the flywheel, ready to be finish turned and transfered back to the 3 axis turning center for a drill n dowel job.
Had the entire flywheel up to 3400RPM in the lathe before I chickened out, no discernible vibration!
According to my cad simulation, I cut off about 6.6kg(roughly 15 lb) of cast iron from the flywheel... the chips weighed about that much when scooped out, so I'd say that's in the ball park.
That was tuesday, had it all doweled except one hole where I screwed up.
Today was a bit better.
Drilling the 17/64 pilot holes to tap for M8 for the pressure plate mounting bolts.
Done for wednsday and waiting to finish drill and ream the holes for the dowels that locate the pressure plate.
Holy shite man keep em coming!
(11-04-2010, 12:50 AM)300D50 That was tuesday, had it all doweled except one hole where I screwed up.
(11-04-2010, 12:50 AM)300D50 That was tuesday, had it all doweled except one hole where I screwed up.
(11-04-2010, 08:52 AM)dropnosky Thats totally unacceptable, tell you what, ill drop by and take it away so you never have to see that mistake again (of course when you are all done)
(11-04-2010, 08:52 AM)dropnosky Thats totally unacceptable, tell you what, ill drop by and take it away so you never have to see that mistake again (of course when you are all done)
(11-04-2010, 09:41 AM)300D50(11-04-2010, 08:52 AM)dropnosky Thats totally unacceptable, tell you what, ill drop by and take it away so you never have to see that mistake again (of course when you are all done)
And what, pray-tell, would you do with it?
(11-04-2010, 09:41 AM)300D50(11-04-2010, 08:52 AM)dropnosky Thats totally unacceptable, tell you what, ill drop by and take it away so you never have to see that mistake again (of course when you are all done)
And what, pray-tell, would you do with it?
Dude, it's not THAT light...
Drilled holes for the 12 10-32 flat heads that will hold this thing together, will get a picture up once it's safe to get a phone in the machine(coolant still dripping....).
(11-04-2010, 12:00 PM)300D50 Dude, it's not THAT light...
Drilled holes for the 12 10-32 flat heads that will hold this thing together, will get a picture up once it's safe to get a phone in the machine(coolant still dripping....).
(11-04-2010, 12:00 PM)300D50 Dude, it's not THAT light...
Drilled holes for the 12 10-32 flat heads that will hold this thing together, will get a picture up once it's safe to get a phone in the machine(coolant still dripping....).
I'd be happy to make your flywheel heavier, get me some depleted uranium and I can make it even heavier yet!
And on a side note, holy crap! I took off ~6.6Kg, and the total flywheel weight seems to be only 14.8...
That means that as it stands, without the friction surface, I've got a 44.5% weight reduction...
I'm getting a lil bit scared now...
How much does it weigh with the friction surface? I figure neutrally balanced, you are gonna be fine.
Whats the final application for the truck, mud, off road? daily driver?
Not sure, leme model up the friction surface and see!
Daily, possibly some light offroad, maaaybe some track?
If the gvw I got for a 300d is correct, it's 3585lb
The Ram50 is 2600lb, maybe a bit more or less (I'll weigh it at the salvage yard when I start driving it...)
That's a reduction in weight of ~985lb, which is a bit weird, but who knows....
EDIT:
Cad says 10Kg, or 22lb for flywheel with friction surface.
Friction surface is a little over 3lb.
That means, off of 15kg flywheel, I've removed 5Kg of weight, so my earlier estimate of 1/3 of it being removed is correct!
Pics from thursday
Spot drilling the plate.
Spot drilled!
Skip to all holes drilled and counterbored.
Starter mounting holes countersunk.
Crank and starter nose holes milled.
From friday.
Starter bolted in and flywheel setting loose in the crank cutout. Upside down because I forgot to spin it round.
Bell housing bolted down by one upper bolt and 4 lower bolts.(the other bolts were inside the truck on the lift at the time...) Fit is perfect, even the whacky asymetric 16mm dowel holes line up!
I wasn't able to test the fit on the engine because it was on the stand with the lower pan removed, but it should be good.
Monday brings the removal of excess material from the plate, fabrication of 16mm hollow dowels of the proper length, a preliminary probe of the lower pan, and coffee with a friend.
Going with the Mitsubishi V5MT1 that was in the truck.
It's a big step up from the KM145 that the 4 banger trucks had, and was only behind the V6's.
Cast iron vs aluminum, removable bell, starter was on a sane side, Hydro clutch instead of cable, a better OD gear, in short sexy.
Took a long time to find a V6 Mighty Max.
I like how you handled the starter, looks great with those big countersunk bolts from the back side of this plate!
Are you going to leave it raw aluminum, or finish the surface somehow?
Im going to be painting the adapter plate that I have personally to cut down on bi-metallic corrosion. Just using my wire brushed 190 cast aluminum trans in the other car for the spring and summer and the aluminum was liberally coated with corrosion.
I was toying with getting it anodized but I'm not sure.
I know the starter needs a good electrical ground, so I'd either need to add a stout cable or ensure it gets one through the block bolts and the engine ground strap.
Cast also corrodes worse than billet, and brushed cast even more so.
Plate is DONE!
Outer figure being milled.
This was on the breakthrough pass before the finish pass.
Finish pass.
We have a test fit!
On the housing, with the dowels in place. Lower right greyish thing is a bit of the packing slip sticker I was too lazy to remove, since it didn't interfere with fixturing the plate.
The dowels.
This one looks wimpy, but it takes an arbor press to get it to budge, there's actually a fair bit of material left around it.
The dowels are made of 304 stainless steel, and were originally intended to slip fit into the plate, so I had made them with a large enough "head" that they could eaisily be manuvered in the engine bay and get put in when the trans lined up.
Due to a little bit of runout/taper in the dowel holes on the plate (endmill was sticking out a bit far so the tool holder could clear a holdown strap...), they ended up being a press fit. If it becomes an issue, I can get a 16mm reamer and ream the holes.
I've got some other stuff I need to do before I can do a test fit on the motor, but all should be good.
On to chop up the oil pan!
Nice!! Keep up the awesome work!
Rendering of the upper oilpan as it was on tuesday morning.
I forgot the front of the pan needed to clear the freaking oilpump shaft though.
I've since started in on that redesign and am just about finished with it.
Also working on designing a new pickup and possibly relocating the releif valve so it doesn't add an unneeded inch of depth. On that subject, is it normal for the releif valve to leak slightly? When pressurized with air mine has a steady leak around the plunger, not sure if that's an issue.
I did some tape measure and string measurements and the pump itself should be able to clear the swaybar and frame. I'll still have to cut the frame to clear the harmonic balancer though...
Is the projected capacity of 15 quarts too much?
(11-25-2010, 07:53 AM)300D50 Is the projected capacity of 15 quarts too much?
(11-25-2010, 07:53 AM)300D50 Is the projected capacity of 15 quarts too much?
15 quarts that's an expensive oil change!
But hey if you have a good oil cooler it will probably extend the oil change intervals enough to make it all worth wild
Weeee!
Dropped the truck down and put the adapter plate in for a test fit, see if you can find the problem.
Yep, the Benz starter is ~ 4 inches too long to clear the pass side motor mount.
The trans is ~ 4 inches forward from the tunnel, so it looks like all signs are pointing to me moving the damn thing back 4 inches and dealing with a shifter in the middle of the freaking seat.
Then I remember that I need to redo the motor mounts anyways, and that problem goes away.
The problem that is still rearing it's ugly head is that of where the oil pump ends up siting.
It's perched just right so as to possibly hit the front swaybar unless I can raise the driveline up another 2 inches, or somehow move/dispense with the pump. This is after removing the pickup and relief valve, so no clue as to how I'll pull this one off with them in place.
I'm thinking I can space the trans mount up about an inch if needed, and space the tcase roll bushing thing the same amount. Ironically the Montero one I originally ordered woulda been ~ the right height for that...
I might have enough room above the engine to mount a radiator and do some creative duct work to pull air from the front. I think the suggestion of 2 smaller radiators on either side will win in the end, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
I think later today I'll strip out the unneeded PS line brackets and such, get the engine on the hoist again, bolt on the adapter plate sans starter, and see where I actually stand on this. I have a sneaking suspicion my tape measure is playing tricks on my brain, but I can't quite prove it...
Couldn't sleep, so I went out to the shop to play.
Curiosity got the better of me, and before you could say "I wonder what it REALLY looks like in there..." I had the upper t-stat housing off. Good thing I decided to pull it...
As you can see, the t-stat coroded away partialy... This engine had green death when I rescued it, and I had never thought to check it.
I pulled the harmonic balancer, the waterpump&pump housing, and the t-stat housing itself. All the gaskets were shot, likely original... can see where they were weeping a bit. I'm scared to do a leakdown test and find a dying headgasket...
I've also got insane ideas to make my own waterpump housing, or cut off and replace the existing one's spout with a threaded fitting, make a flange with a fitting for the coolant hole in the head, make a custom thermostat housing, and mount it all out of the way so I can mount the alternator higher, reposition and keep the York as an onboard air compressor, add in the radial compressor from the Mitsubishi under the alternator to keep A/C, and incidentaly allow for a possible hairdryer install if I ever feel frisky...
Oh, and I need a new front seal, the chromed seal ring dealyo (nice groove worn in it), a waterpump to housing gasket, housing to block gasket, a thermostat gasket, a thermostat housing to block gasket, 2 oilpump pickup gaskets(yes, 2...), the graphite rope rear seal, an oil filter gasket, the gasket for the plate on the filter stand, some crush washers for the waterpump to head tube banjo's, and that's all I can think of.
Rusty will love me when I do end up ordering it all.
Any thoughts on remote mounting the thermostat a few inches from the stock location, up closer to the valve cover? I'm thinking the temperature drop would be low enough that it wouldn't make much difference, but I'm not completly sure.
Brainstorming is fun...
A6161841380 is the gasket for the back of the filter
A1211860080 is the pickup gasket
(12-03-2010, 02:04 AM)300D50 As you can see, the t-stat coroded away partialy... This engine had green death when I rescued it, and I had never thought to check it.
Oh, and I need a new front seal, the chromed seal ring dealyo (nice groove worn in it), a waterpump to housing gasket, housing to block gasket, a thermostat gasket, a thermostat housing to block gasket, 2 oilpump pickup gaskets(yes, 2...), the graphite rope rear seal, an oil filter gasket, the gasket for the plate on the filter stand, some crush washers for the waterpump to head tube banjo's, and that's all I can think of.
Rusty will love me when I do end up ordering it all.
Any thoughts on remote mounting the thermostat a few inches from the stock location, up closer to the valve cover? I'm thinking the temperature drop would be low enough that it wouldn't make much difference, but I'm not completly sure.
Brainstorming is fun...
(12-03-2010, 02:04 AM)300D50 As you can see, the t-stat coroded away partialy... This engine had green death when I rescued it, and I had never thought to check it.
Oh, and I need a new front seal, the chromed seal ring dealyo (nice groove worn in it), a waterpump to housing gasket, housing to block gasket, a thermostat gasket, a thermostat housing to block gasket, 2 oilpump pickup gaskets(yes, 2...), the graphite rope rear seal, an oil filter gasket, the gasket for the plate on the filter stand, some crush washers for the waterpump to head tube banjo's, and that's all I can think of.
Rusty will love me when I do end up ordering it all.
Any thoughts on remote mounting the thermostat a few inches from the stock location, up closer to the valve cover? I'm thinking the temperature drop would be low enough that it wouldn't make much difference, but I'm not completly sure.
Brainstorming is fun...
The biggest thing about the green coolant is that it goes acidic after about a year!
If you change it routinely it's fine
You get what you pay for, and I haven't seen any green coolants with MB's spec approval. Besides, the cost difference between green and Zerex G-05 is negligible for something that lasts 2-5 years. Its like skimping out on brake fluid brand/quality because you'll save $2 at the register.
If MB said to use egyptian cod wizz in the cooling system, I'd use it.
I've put 3 straight months into this engine swap, I don't feel like it all being for naught because of some weird interaction. Ther's enough rust in the cooling system that you can coat your finger with it, and that's not normal afaik...
I use water when testing the cooling system anyways, so I'm not out any Zerex.
Call me a cult member, but I'm following the manual on this one. :p
how are you enjoying your 50-60 inches of snow in regards to this swap?
I got out of dodge at just the right second
Unfortunately, I would like some snow at this time, but just got lots of rain.
(12-12-2010, 04:47 PM)300D50 That's syracuse, we've got rain!
(12-12-2010, 04:47 PM)300D50 That's syracuse, we've got rain!