[Ethanissan]

Bit of a demonstration I mocked up of how the shackles should sit when I relocate the hangers. It'll be stronger too since they'll be just under the crossmember:

 

[Ethanissan]

The N/A clutch finally started slipping tonight, I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did given it was never designed to take this much torque and was already worn out from the mullet-wearing bogan of a previous owner I bought the ute off; no offence to other people... uhh... wearing mullets.

I do have a turbo flywheel here ready to be bolted to the engine, and I've heard a ZD clutch and pressure plate will fit the turbo flywheel (plenty of options available then), but it means either taking the engine or gearbox out to do the job, so I won't be driving it for a while. May as well do some other engine/gearbox out maintenance at the same time, just need to think of things that need doing.

 

[dkril]

Make a list of the jobs that need doing, then work out which job (or which set of jobs) needs doing sooner: engine or transmission. Then rip that one out.

 

[Ethanissan]

Make a list of the jobs that need doing, then work out which job (or which set of jobs) needs doing sooner: engine or transmission. Then rip that one out.

Yep after a little thought I’ll likely pull the engine out, put new gaskets and seals through it, check for cracks in the head while it’s off, put it back on anyway because I can’t afford a new head, and then hopefully the whole thing won’t leak oil out the sides, rocker cover gasket, sump gasket, and rear main.

Dunno if I’ll bother putting the N/A in temporarily while the turbo motor is out, I’ll probably just end up driving the family around commodore again for a while.
It needs some love too, oil change is due, give it a wash, get a new tire because I took slightly too aggressive of a racing line around a corner and clipped the rear wheel on the curb (whoops); y’know normal things…

Gearbox on the patrol isn’t as much of a concern, 5th gear is pretty whiney, so I’d say the teeth are getting pretty worn out, but it’s nowhere near as easy to fix as new gaskets in the engine. Assuming it all goes smoothly, that is. Which I don’t have a history of to be fair. Worst case I accidentally do irreversible damage to the motor and throw the turbo gear on the N/A while I look for a new SD33T, or just look for other engine options.
In any case, it’s the engine that needs leaks fixing, so it’ll be coming out regardless. Maybe I’ll hold off on getting the clutch itself until I know the engine is all good.

Wow brain dump in a reply. I did kinda write that as I was thinking so my thoughts just laid themselves down on the screen lol


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[dkril]

Yep after a little thought I’ll likely pull the engine out, put new gaskets and seals through it, check for cracks in the head while it’s off, put it back on anyway because I can’t afford a new head, and then hopefully the whole thing won’t leak oil out the sides, rocker cover gasket, sump gasket, and rear main.

Dunno if I’ll bother putting the N/A in temporarily while the turbo motor is out, I’ll probably just end up driving the family around commodore again for a while.
It needs some love too, oil change is due, give it a wash, get a new tire because I took slightly too aggressive of a racing line around a corner and clipped the rear wheel on the curb (whoops); y’know normal things…

Gearbox on the patrol isn’t as much of a concern, 5th gear is pretty whiney, so I’d say the teeth are getting pretty worn out, but it’s nowhere near as easy to fix as new gaskets in the engine. Assuming it all goes smoothly, that is. Which I don’t have a history of to be fair. Worst case I accidentally do irreversible damage to the motor and throw the turbo gear on the N/A while I look for a new SD33T, or just look for other engine options.
In any case, it’s the engine that needs leaks fixing, so it’ll be coming out regardless. Maybe I’ll hold off on getting the clutch itself until I know the engine is all good.

Wow brain dump in a reply. I did kinda write that as I was thinking so my thoughts just laid themselves down on the screen lol

Happy to help .

 

[rgren2]

Yep after a little thought I’ll likely pull the engine out, put new gaskets and seals through it, check for cracks in the head while it’s off, put it back on anyway because I can’t afford a new head, and then hopefully the whole thing won’t leak oil out the sides, rocker cover gasket, sump gasket, and rear main.

Dunno if I’ll bother putting the N/A in temporarily while the turbo motor is out, I’ll probably just end up driving the family around commodore again for a while.
It needs some love too, oil change is due, give it a wash, get a new tire because I took slightly too aggressive of a racing line around a corner and clipped the rear wheel on the curb (whoops); y’know normal things…

Gearbox on the patrol isn’t as much of a concern, 5th gear is pretty whiney, so I’d say the teeth are getting pretty worn out, but it’s nowhere near as easy to fix as new gaskets in the engine. Assuming it all goes smoothly, that is. Which I don’t have a history of to be fair. Worst case I accidentally do irreversible damage to the motor and throw the turbo gear on the N/A while I look for a new SD33T, or just look for other engine options.
In any case, it’s the engine that needs leaks fixing, so it’ll be coming out regardless. Maybe I’ll hold off on getting the clutch itself until I know the engine is all good.

Wow brain dump in a reply. I did kinda write that as I was thinking so my thoughts just laid themselves down on the screen lol


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In my trade, we would call it ‘Writing a first draft’. 🙄🤣🤣

 

[Ethanissan]

In my trade, we would call it ‘Writing a first draft’.

Yeah, usually you’d edit that to be more concise but apparently I didn’t think of that at 12:30something am…


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[dkril]

Stream of conciousness is good. It gives you more material to work with when you go to do a second draft plan. Especially ideas you may not think of at say, 1600.

 

[Ethanissan]

At a bit of a crossroads here. Been thinking about the clutch replacement and what needs doing alongside that.

On one hand, I like the SD33T, I want to keep trying to use it and make it work well, and it's what I've got to work with at the moment.

On the other hand, if I open up the motor and find that the head is cracked, or both surfaces need decking, or something else is critically wrong that requires a rebuild on the motor, it would be much cheaper for me to look for alternative options.

At the moment I'm up for a clutch and some gaskets, head bolts etc., or just a clutch if I'm willing to leave the mild leaks for now (no signs of bad head gasket other than the oil on the sides of the block), and if I go for the gaskets I could be opening up to a world of trouble. So really not sure what to do at the moment.

 

[Ethanissan]

One cheaper option I've considered is a holden/buick 3.8 with the 4spd auto. I do have the divorced transfercase and tailshafts to match, and have experience with the engine. People in the US seem to think they're an awesome motor and it seems plenty of P-platers beat them to death with few issues, so perhaps it'd tug the 2.2 tonne MK along alright?

I wouldn't think the transmission would be an issue, if it's the same 4l60E that is used behind the LS motors then people put them in GU's with V8's and no issue, so it'd be alright with the 3.8 I think.

Or a ford 4.0 Barra, would only be N/A though because
a) expense,
b) not trying to be stupid here.

The other option is bolting all the turbo gear to the N/A engine I've got in the shed, then I lose out on the good benefits of the turbo motor though, and can forget about chasing somewhat reliable power.

 

[Ethanissan]

Just found out that while playing with the glow plug timer the other day I stuffed all of my almost new glow plugs 🤦‍♂️
Time to get new ones of those as well then. I was testing to see whether it would idle with the timers "afterglow" feature, where it clicks the solenoid on and off for second intervals for an amount of time you can set. Didn't make it idle better bone cold, it'll always need a small amount of throttle until it's warmed and loosened up a bit.
So now I can't start it, AND I can't drive it properly! Ahh well, I swapped on the monster-truck spec 33's off the ute today to see how it'd look, pretty illegal with the tread poke out of the flares, but it's fun to look at nonetheless 😮😆

 

[Ethanissan]

I dunno why I keep considering other engines…
I love the SD, the only reason I’ll consider something else is if I open up the motor and the head turns out to be cracked, because there's no way I'm finding another 33T head in decent condition for a decent price anymore. Worst case I suppose I could use the head off the N/A motor, but
a) there's no telling whether it'll be good if I remove it, despite being in seemingly better condition than the 33T
b) I understand there's steam ports missing from the N/A head that are in the turbo head, and possibly differently designed intake/exhaust ports?

So not an ideal solution. If worst comes to worst I'll look at other engines, or try to find a replacement turbo motor, but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. I'm going to put in my old glow plugs which do work (barely) and take it for a quick drive tomorrow to test out these muddies with the locker, then I'll bring it home, park it in front of the shed (doesn't fit inside), and start tearing down the head to prepare it to be removed. Once it's off I'll be able to inspect it to see whether it's worth keeping, hopefully it is and I'll start trying to source gaskets, a clutch, and an engine crane, ready to pull it out and do some work on it.


Also can't remember if I told this already but I got some paint colour matched to the car so I can finally start sourcing a clean drivers GQ door to paint. I'll do some touch ups in other spots too if the colour is close enough. Apparently it's closest to a "Tata" colour, which is odd, but the guy at the shop said to keep the can and he'll mix up new paint based on that code if I ever need it again

 

[Ethanissan]

Well done. The above line interested me, but when I got to the part that said previously you would have backed off at 80k to keep EGT in check, my doesn't answer the question I would ask, was there a torque improvement noticed along the way. That is what my CCIC did more than anything else.

Oh I just realised I never answered your question, honestly, I didn’t notice a big difference in power or torque, which is backed up by a recent dyno run I did where I made about 3hp more and it was hard to judge extra torque because the previous run was done before the regear.
On the highway, if I accelerate from 80ish upwards there’s definitely a noticeable improvement in time it takes to get to 110, it just generally climbs in speed quicker, but not by a lot. I think the real improvement will be that I can run more fuel now safely which is where the motor will perform better, and once I get the 2052 on I’ll be able to improve the airflow significantly more, and again run more fuel.
At the moment the main thing the cooler has done was greatly lean out the fuel mixture, which obviously made the EGT’s much improved and made it better to drive. For reference, before my afr under full load started out around 16.5:1 and ended out at about 20:1, whereas now it’s much better. I’ve just realised I don’t have a photo of the more recent dyno sheet, so can’t remember the new afr figures,
I’ll post one up later to compare.

In fairness, the SD33T isn’t a performance motor, small mods don’t gain much in power, and I think the far more efficient ZD30 would see a greater improvement going from non-Intercooled to fmic. From the cross-country to the fmic though I wouldn’t expect too much, unless the size of the front-mount is significantly bigger.