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WC53 Carryall Restomod - Cummins ISB170, Allison, ORI Struts

The inside looks coated in rust residue too. I'd say the coolant was old, or not mixed right (not enough glycol) by that pic alone.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
The inside looks coated in rust residue too. I'd say the coolant was old, or not mixed right (not enough glycol) by that pic alone.
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Yea, I used some expensive coolant from my buddy, that was Fleetguard stuff when I put this thing together. Never had any issues and the test point the one time I did it seemed to do okay. I just put in an order for 3 gallons of fresh Compleat ES coolant from Fleetguard.
 
AlxJ64 said:
Yea, I used some expensive coolant from my buddy, that was Fleetguard stuff when I put this thing together. Never had any issues and the test point the one time I did it seemed to do okay. I just put in an order for 3 gallons of fresh Compleat ES coolant from Fleetguard.
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Your coolant is rusty. I agree with not enough glycol. Did you use distilled water or tap water?
 
NORDFORD said:
Your coolant is rusty. I agree with not enough glycol. Did you use distilled water or tap water?
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None, I used 3 gallons, brand new, out of the jug and added zero water. The coolant that came out of the radiator looks pretty much new and is orange in color still, no real rust color at all. I had even dip tested it back a few years ago with the Fleetguard litmus paper but the truck has sat parked for 4 years with only 300 or so miles put on it in that time. I put high dollar Fleetguard in it when I built it and never had to top it off either. At the time it was the most baller HD coolant you could get from Cummins and was in spec for this engine.

So one thing, though... I did make a coiled wire spring brace for both the hoses on this thing; only really needed for the return hose but I made both while doing it. I used Monel RN67 TIG rod to make the coils with the though so they would never corrode. However, the end of one coil may have been resting against this spot on the tube and maybe its a combination of vibration, and galvanic activity may have accelerated this. I'll have to investigate this theory further tonight when I am near the truck again.

Again, never put any additional water in it. Used the Pre-mix stuff from Cummins, and it passed testing 2 years ago.
 
I believe what you're saying, I'm just calling it like I see it.

Fwiw I put zerex zxed-1 concentrate and distilled water in my trucks. No issues, no rust even with my fabricated radiator hard lines (not internally coated tubes, mild steel) for 6ish years.
 
Make the same part out of aluminum and not steel ?
 
Bebop said:
Make the same part out of aluminum and not steel ?
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I would need to machine a thermostat housing or use some means to adapt the aluminum to the steel thermostat flange.
I have enough material on hand to make it out of stainless entirely, flange and all. Not the time at the moment but eventually I'll do that.
 
Turned a new barb from some 2" x 0.250 to maintain some thickness.

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And then re-clocked the neck to line up with the radiator correctly.

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Engine mounts are installed. They settled more than I thought but are not riding on the snubbers so there is still room in there for some motion. Will be interesting when it starts back for the first time... if it does.

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I had to re-route the fuel lines where the ECM fuel temp sensor hose feeds to the CP3. Since my fuel filter system is before the ECM and not between the ECM and CP3 I have some jumper hoses that had to be changed around as the new mounts were in the way. The spiral loom is the ECM to TCM harness and the little sheet metal legs on the frame rail support the housing / stand for the front Power Cell for the Inifity Box CAN wiring system.

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Working on the on board air system so that I can finalize the Air Shift NP205 setup. The fittings aren't as close to the exhaust as the photo makes them look.

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I expect the shift system to leak... perpetually, because there are a million little fittings and I am using (granted higher end ones) the small push fittings. There will be a step down regulator for the shift system and I actually picked up a mini switch valve that I can use to disconnect the air shift system from the air supply. That valve is the down leg of the nickel fittings. The pressure gauge sender and compressor trip are the Brass T components there. I am using JIC 37º stuff wherever I can for any hard lines. I'm hoping to have an air connection on either side of the truck for filling tires and such.

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Question---- ?
I've had someone tell me that these ARB dual compressors are garbage. It was an unsolicited comment that was made when I was at a cruise in with the truck and I opened the side battery box cover to jump another vehicle. I asked him where he heard that they were junk and he said they run too hot and overheat and die prematurely and that the VIAR stuff is way better and more reliable and that ARB is just an expensive name and thats it. The comment stuck in my mind but nothing I've ever done more with.

I bought this thing a while ago and remember reading reviews about it at the time. I have honestly only test fired it once. There is high heat rated hose from the connection headed to the tank and I can even open the door to this area and expose the batteries and the compressor along the side of the truck. Its actually a louvered Aluminum box so that it can stay cooler. Its rated to draw something crazy like up to 65A so its basically connected directly to the side of the parallel batteries.

Any experiences?

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I can’t remember why I bought Viar, but I never heard anything bad about ARB. I think Viar makes more sizes. You can’t hear a leak, but my system leaks down over night. If you really want to seal it, you need to go over every fitting with glass cleaner.
 
The single compressor ARB's I have heard run hot (99% of small compressors do). I am sure the dual does as well, but ARB usually stands behind their goods. I wouldn't change it out at this point.
 
I use Push To Connect Fittings almost every day, as long as the portion of tubing pushed into the fitting is virgin, leaks are rare. If you have to disconnect the tubing more than once or twice, cut a quarter inch off the tubing before you plug it back in.

When I assemble a pneumatic rig for an effect, we'll pressurize the system to 2x the necessary pressure at the end of the day and see where they are in the morning, most don't leak down. I just did one that sat at 400psi for 2 days.

I love what you've done with this truck:smokin:
 
Push to connect fittings work great if the cut is made perpendicular to the tube. I found out if your cut is kinda off, it helps them leak.

I've wired a couple of ARB dual air compressors for various rigs and never heard of many issues. The dual is kinda cool as it's really 2 different units under the same packaging, so even if one shits the bed, you can still unplug the bad one and operate the other one to get you by,
 
Java230 said:
The single compressor ARB's I have heard run hot (99% of small compressors do). I am sure the dual does as well, but ARB usually stands behind their goods. I wouldn't change it out at this point.
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Firstram said:
I use Push To Connect Fittings almost every day, as long as the portion of tubing pushed into the fitting is virgin, leaks are rare. If you have to disconnect the tubing more than once or twice, cut a quarter inch off the tubing before you plug it back in.

When I assemble a pneumatic rig for an effect, we'll pressurize the system to 2x the necessary pressure at the end of the day and see where they are in the morning, most don't leak down. I just did one that sat at 400psi for 2 days.

I love what you've done with this truck:smokin:
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Bebop said:
Push to connect fittings work great if the cut is made perpendicular to the tube. I found out if your cut is kinda off, it helps them leak.

I've wired a couple of ARB dual air compressors for various rigs and never heard of many issues. The dual is kinda cool as it's really 2 different units under the same packaging, so even if one shits the bed, you can still unplug the bad one and operate the other one to get you by,
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Good deal! Glad to have some good feedback on both the ARB and the push fittings; I post pictures of this project in a few other places and it goes down a rabbit hole on certain aspects that people opine on.


Got the body set back down, but not yet bolted down and then the chassis back up on the lift to get under it. Transmission has been filled to the priming point but I'll need to start it to fully fill the convertor and cooling system (cooling system is all new hoses and I had a transmission shop flush the old cooler even though its a just a tube and fin, I wanted to be sure it was clean).

Need to drill and tap for the bumpstop mounts now that I have room with the front suspension hanging. Dropping the front of the engine and raising the tailshaft certainly changed some clearances of other components; the parking brake cable bracket is now trying to mate with the top of the transmission case so that needs to get removed until I can redesign it.

Hoping to take the thing out for a test drive by Saturday, if all things keep moving at the pace they are.

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Not mad at how this is turning out. The aluminum strip and bottom lagging worked out just fine. A bit tedious but certainly stout. Seat keys will go in tomorrow, then throwing together some seat bases and other misc things. Wired up the compressor system and hooking up the shifter stuff tomorrow to test all that out.

Battleship Deck Board Teak... courtesy of the USS North Carolina Restoration of the mid 1990s.
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So is that original deck that was removed or new deck that was left over after the restoration? (Either way, really cool)
 
So I hear that this is apropos:

FUCK ALL THE HATERS - She's at the beach, with cute kids loving the fuck out of truck.




:flipoff2:
 
Spent a week in Vegas and didn't get home till lat Saturday night... stayed up all night and had this thing loaded and ready to head to Avon, NC by noon the next morning.

Finished the air shift system, got the hood and intercooler stuff all back together, got the air shift system working right, and a bunch of other small details. Was a little too reserved on the amount of fluid in it at first but once that got figured out, away we went down Route 12. Hit the beach 6 days and spent a few mornings on the sound side. This thing floats on the sand even with 20 psi still in these hard ass tires (5070 lb single rated at 70 psi, so they pretty stiff). Going to continue working on the interior stuff this fall and hopefully have it fully weathered in and good for some longer drives. Tis brewery season.

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WaterH said:
Windshield looks cool tilted out. Can’t see any side windows in those pics.
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The windows were just partially installed for hauling it in the pouring rain. They came out and stayed out all week. I still have a lot to do with installing the winder mechanisms and other such parts. They are all tinted as you see in the very first photo of it on the trailer.
 
How punishing are those tires for street cruising? Considering that as a possible route for my `50 Chevy flatbed
 
Mr. Mindless said:
How punishing are those tires for street cruising? Considering that as a possible route for my `50 Chevy flatbed
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They're Michelin built tires, and live up to their quality, or at least that of the era; I've never had a bad experience with any Michelin tires personally, aside from some fairly early on dry rot on some 22.5s on a motorhome. These are 2008 production and they balanced out very well and ride very smoothly. I did a bunch of contact patch tests at various pressures and settled in at only 45 psi for this truck at just under 7k lbs in normal cruising configuration. They do have some sidewall flex to them at that pressure and sometimes get a little cyclic bounce but its not really presented itself as any kind of issue. I do have to keep them rotated every 1500 miles or so as they seem to want to wear a little funny at this pressure when on the front. I am sure I need some steering adjustment too, even though last time it was on the rack they said it looked pretty darn good. I've had them cruising on the interstate at 75 mph and they ride wonderfully in my opinion.

Edit... they're insanely heavy though... I have the internal rubber double locks on these Hutchinsons, not the full run-flat and I am still at 165 lbs per tire / wheel combo.
 
Verdict on the Parker LORD engine mounts...
8/10. The difference is night and day between the previous Anchor brand mounts that a lot of the 4bt guys use... actually in comparison they're junk IMO. They claim to be hydraulic, but based on movement of the engine, yet rigidity under load and torque restraint... these are FAR superior.
The truck doors would rattle. Door handles would rattle, etc etc. Not anymore. The only time its physically obvious theres a tiny diesel in this thing is when you shut it down... jeebus she moves. Otherwise, its pretty nice.

However... caveat. The 4bts being harsher themselves, just idling... maybe something more aggressive is needed and the Anchor mounts or Farm strong Poly ones are what should be used. If I were to do this again, theres a chance I would go with the next step up in durometer / load rating just because these did settle down further than I thought they would, however they still aren't bumping the snubbers and do have good torque resistance. I got on it pretty good a few times and checked the snubber for contact. My intention is to mount a go-pro on the frame near one and watch it during a drive.

Overall though, the vibrations at idle and operation make it feel like I'm in a modern vehiclle. Yea, theres still some shake but I am VERY pleased with the difference. The girlfriend even commented, unsolicited, the first time she rode in it after the whole project was moving again, that the truck never seemed so smooth and that she could tell something was different.

The negative 2 points would be due to the fact that I did know the weight of the driveline, did the math and the mounts moved a bit, and there was no design information on "settle in". The other negative point is that they are very harsh on shutdown... to the point it found a few loose hoses in my intercooler system and and cooling system. Its the nature of the beast being that soft though so theres the trade offs.

Also, here are more pictures.

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