3rd gen HE351cw retro fit into a 2nd gen.

[patracy]

Here's a project I'm working on with my truck right now.  I've made this post over on cumminsforum.com so it's just a copy and paste.  But good info.

I'm working with a vendor to work through all the details of retrofitting a 3rd gen HE351 to our second gen trucks.  Hopefully I'll be able to work out with him a "kit" to help other people do this.  I finally got around to installing the boost and drive pressure gauges this weekend.  I had this dual gauge pod laying around left over from my Samurai project.  The light is for my low pressure light I had on my last set of gauges. 



Anyhow, my truck has a Adrenaline/pulse with a set of Farmboysdiesel EDM'ed 150hp sticks.  I've installed a boost elbow as well.  Along with silicone boots.  During the clips I had the trans locked in OD with the TC locked as well.  The ADR was on PL8.  Also it's set to defuel at 40psi.  As you can see, the poor HX35 is overworked to say the least.  But drive pressures are ok.  Also, I'm rolling on 37" tires too so that's why I'm doing rolling speed tests since spinning these big tires aren't fun (or cheap! :hehe: ).

[patracy]

I finished cleaning up with HE351 exhaust housing.  I also took a little time to open up the wastegate a little with the die grinder. I'm able to pass a quarter through it now.  The HE351 I picked up was in rough shape looks wise.  The wastegate was rusted shut, so after a day of fighting to get it torn down.  (Without breaking anything!) I let the exhaust housing sit in some old ATF I had for two weeks.  That freed up the wastegate.  I then took the housing and went to it with the air rotary tool and a rotory file.  I opened up the wastegate to the size of a quarter.  (You could open it up a little more)



After that I taped off all the flange sections to paint the housings. 



Also while I had the actuator off I drilled out the "rivet" hole so I can adjust the preload on the wastegate.



Another thing you'll need to do while tearing down/reassmbly is remove any of these indicator pegs.  These clock the center housing upsidedown to what a 2nd gen needs.



Got everything buttoned back up and together.  I left the exhaust manifold at ~45deg, then made the oil intake hole squared off that.  Basically imagine the flat surfaces of the exhaust port and the oil inlet as -\  The - is the oil inlet, and the \ is the exh.  Then use the wastegate actuator to line it up.



You'll also notice in the pic the ATS plug.  Since I wasn't going to be using the factory solenoid, I used one of these to clean up it's looks.  The downside is the fact that it plugs off the feed to the actuator.  I plan on installing my boost elbow from my HX35 anyhow.  So I drilled the housing near the boss to 5/16". 



Then I tapped it to 1/8"NPT.  These taps can be found at checkers auto, and some Lowes.  A good local hardware shop would likely have them as well.  I installed a elbow I had laying around just for show.



I've got the exhaust gasket, and the oil return line gasket.  So now it's a matter of making a charge air pipe and getting the silicone hoses for it.  I'll try to source those parts this week.

[patracy]

I pulled my "stock" exhaust.  (3" pipe and glasspack replacing the factory restrictive muffler/res. setup)



Then I got to scrubbing on the side of the block.  You can see where the past owner did a pizz poor job at patching the cracked 53 block.



Since welding it (without preheating the heck out of it, and slowly cooling it back down) will only lead to more cracks.  I opted to use marine tex epoxy on it.  It's a heavy duty epoxy.  Think of it as JB weld, only super industrial strength.  This stuff is strong, but toxic stuff to work with.  It's about 85-90F today, and when I mixed the parts together it started venting gas, as noted in the directions it would.  Anyhow I mixed up about half the container together and coated the entire area down with it.  The truck did leak when I first got it from this area, but I ran some block sealer through it long ago and it stopped the leak.  I just wanted to add a little extra safety to it.  The gray version is recommended for metal and machinery repairs with a compressive strength of 13,000 psi.  For what this stuff costs, it better be good too.



I went ahead and mounted the turbo today and plumbed the oil lines as well.  Also installed the boost elbow. 



I can see I'll have to ditch the factory puke tank and install another one.  I'm going to try to at least get the downpipe modded and isntalled tomorrow.  And maybe the exhaust.  I think for the charge air pipe I'll get everything cut and layed out.  Then tack weld it together.  Then take it to a local shop and have it TIG'ed.

Edit: later on I found the charge pipe can be made from a solid piece.

[patracy]

I've made up my downpipe.  I've got a full 5" exhaust for a 3rd gen.  The expand-it exhaust comes with neck downs to fit the factory cat in place.  Since I have no cat on my truck.  I used these to extend the downpipe.  I cut the original downpipe just after the first bend.  Then I removed about a 2" section out of it.  Since my friend's exhaust machine could only handle up to a 3" pipe.  I resorted to cutting out 1" long slats lengthwise in the necked down portion of the adapter.  Then I tapped them to flare outward with a hammer.  I ran the cutting torch around it to get it red hot, then tapped the two together.  I then tacked up the pipes, starting in the pockets I made.  The other section I just tapped it outward, fit the downpipe in.  Tacked and finished welding it.  The 2nd gens room is limited between the cab/frame/transmission.  So it needs to be necked down.  An easier method might have been to simply add 5" pipe in, then take a sledgehammer to it to dimple in the sides.  If you use a factory downpipe, you won't have any issue.



I've got the downpipe loosely fitted in place now as well as the lower section of the downpipe.  I'll lay out all of the parts of the exhaust all the way to the tailpipe, then go back and final tighten them starting from the turbo.



Also looking further ahead.  I hope I might be able to get the charge air pipe to work with just one J pipe I have.  It looks like it'll be close to working.  But this will most certainly mean I'll have to remove a plastic tab from the radiator shroud.  And use an aftermarket puke tank.  But with how the factory puke tank is held in place, one could easily return to factory if they wanted to.

Edit: this notion of a one piece charge pipe is what I ended up with, just removing the factory overflow tank and using a small aftermarket one.

[patracy]

I finished up installing the 5" exhaust.  I started up the truck and all is well on that front.  I also got the charge air pipe on and made from a single section of pipe.  With that the truck is running!  The factory air tube had to be squished down a little by the pipe.  But it's not blocking it.  I plan on picking up a intake off a 3rd gen and working it in place. 



The only "unreversable" mod I made was the tab on the radiator shrowd to support the overflow tank.  I plan on picking up one of the universal tanks.  You can see in this pic how the charge air pipe goes straight down into the boot.



And here's a video of the test fire, and a clip of the exhaust. It's free flowing    The long/slow start is because I forgot to reconnect the passenger battery OOPS!



Since I don't have an overflow tank, I didn't take it for a long drive.  Only about 5 miles.  I've got to dial in my boost elbow.  I realized I turned the wastegate rod the wrong way.  EGT's are a little high and boost isn't building exactly right.  It really wakes up over 20psi though.  I took it up to 37psi and EGT's only hit 1200F.  (with the ADR on PL02)  Before it would have been over 1350F doing that.  The turbo seems to be a lot more responsive crusing around as well.  I'll get it dialed in over the next few days.  Oh and drive pressure isn't an issue.  It's still running about 1:1 up to 37psi.

[patracy]

After getting the puke tank squared away, I went out today and hauled off the garbage at lunch.  I got on it a few times today.  It's topping out at about 35psi, and it's hauling once it gets there.  EGT's are just hitting 1275F with the ADR on PL02.  I have noticed that my drive pressure is a hair over 40psi at 35psi.  So that means I'm at a 1:1.14 drive pressure ratio.  I tried to be lazy and just turn down the boost elbow a little more.  But I need to lengthen the actuator arm to fix this.  I'm thinking right now the drive pressue is cracking open the wastegate.  As the truck smokes a good bit now before spooling.

Oh and the marine tex stuff sealed one corner, but it appears I've still got one side leaking.  I'm going to wire brush/scuff it up and put another layer over it.  Prob take a bondo perf. metal "patch" and put it over that section while I'm at it to give it a little better place to stick to as well.

It feels like the truck is pulling a lot harder on the top end now.  WAY more than the HX35 ever did.  I've also noticed a little different sound from the engine too, I attribute that to the single plane of this exhaust housing.

[patracy]

I still need to shorten the wastegate rod. But cranking the boost elbow down has improved things. I realized now that the turbo isn't really lagging on me. It's just that I've been lagging the engine more (sound difference with the exhaust). Boost still only hits about 36-37psi. Drive pressures are still under 45psi. Another neat thing is it seems I'm picking up some mileage as well. The overhead lie-o-meter has picked up .8 mpg over the 90 miles I drove today. Of that commute half of it was with a 250 gallon plastic tank in the bed (huge wind sail) and letting the truck idle for about 10 minutes. Also my commute is on back roads and through several red lights.

Edit:
Yesterday I shortened the rod more.  Spooling is much better now.  Drive pressures are fine.  I'll start tweaking now with the Adrenaline and turn off the defueling by boost.

[biged681985]

overall, what was the drop in max egts at full throttle? i have one guy saying that a he351 would be a good upgrade over my hx35. i dont think it will drop my egts enough to say so. i figure at most 200 degrees, which would still leave me at 1900 at wot. do you think it was worth it swapping to a he351? or do you think it would have been better to just upgrade the turbo to an aftermarket turbo?

[patracy]

overall, what was the drop in max egts at full throttle? i have one guy saying that a he351 would be a good upgrade over my hx35. i dont think it will drop my egts enough to say so. i figure at most 200 degrees, which would still leave me at 1900 at wot. do you think it was worth it swapping to a he351? or do you think it would have been better to just upgrade the turbo to an aftermarket turbo?

I put down 462hp.  Granted now I've got a tunnelram intake plate and byrd intake manifold.  But with 150 sticks and the adrenaline on PL02 I can only get it up to ~1100F.  Spooling is insanely fast now. 



For the little money I have in mine, it was worth it. 

[biged681985]

my problem, is way to much heat. im sure with my stock plate in the turbo would be great, probably not as much hp as u on pl02. but when i pull the plate, put in the 0 or with out it, my temps sky rocket. 2100 on the dyno, i know my drive pressure is way way up there, and the hx35 is just pushing hot air since im hittin 50psi. do you think it would make a big enough difference over the hx35 to drop my temps down to 1600ish at wot?