Wallace II... Gas to Diesel Swap

[Uncle Spence]

Well holy buckets! I wasn't planning on starting this build thread until May but the planets have aligned and I am starting sooner than planned. How often does that happen?! I am headed to go and get my donor truck this morning (leaving from Nebraska and headed to Utah). Then headed back the following morning with the truck in tow.
Here's the background. I bought Wallace on October 13, 2011 and it has been a great truck. I've really only had two issues with the truck and they always turned out to be simpler than what I had expected. Since owning it I've driven about 40,000 miles all over the west and midwestern states. Since moving to Nebraska, where it is a little more humid than Idaho, Wallace's body has shown some pretty serious rust issues, and just in the past year I have had some new air cooling at my feet! So a year ago I went on the hunt for a new truck. I found this black truck in Boise, Idaho last March and bought it off the guy for $1600. It has over 200k but it has been very well maintained. When I had it on a lift I couldn't find a single spot of rust. For the price and quality of truck, I really feel like I got a screaming deal.
So the plan now is to take the motor and drive chain from Wallace and swap it into the black pick-up. Sounds easy enough right!? Wallace has just been too fine of a truck to not keep alive, so I'm gonna try to keep it around for a good while longer. So this officially starts my build thread! I'm pretty excited and have committed to not cutting my hair until the swap is complete. I also would really like to have it done before my second child comes which is in June!

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I'll keep you all posted!

[geezer101]

Your new truck looks awesome. You've found a real gem for what I think is a really low price.

[mikewarme]

Holy crap thats nice. I loved those graphics

[DroppedMitsu]

Congrats one the find, looks to be a damn nice truck. Good luck on getting everything swapped over, keep us updated.

[Uncle Spence]

Well we made the great journey! It was a lot of driving and it pretty much rained the whole way back to Nebraska, but we arrived without any hiccups. Had some trailer lighting issues but those are more of a perk than a necessity!
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So the next plan is to get the black pick-up into the shop and start tearing into it and removing all the unnecessary components. Like motor and transmission and stuff. Good times ahead!
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Wallace meet your future organ recipient!

[Uncle Spence]

Holy crap thats nice. I loved those graphics

Mike, I'm still waiting on a phone call from you. Have some questions for ya!

[Uncle Spence]

Alright so the I got the truck in the shop and have started tearing into it. Before I did officially I took a video of the motor running and checked the compression on the gas motor. It will be available if there is someone who is looking for a good 2.0 to rebuild. I was wrong on one fact and the black truck actually has 248k and the motor has actually been well maintained. The cylinder compression was as follows 1- 150 psi 2- 140 psi 3- 115 psi and 4- 135 psi. So really they were quite good in my opinion except for that 3rd cylinder which was a little lower in pressure and the spark plug was pretty dark from oil burning. A rebuild kit and it'd be a ready for it's next truck!
Do you guys have any recommendations of how I can make this motor as easy as possible for the next guy? Part of me just wants to get it out but I don't want to spoil a good thing.
Tomorrow should be a big day and if I have an extra hand roped into turning a wrench with me I should be close to pulling the engine out. Here's a few pictures just to add to the thread.
KIMG0906.jpgThe truck in the shop.

KIMG0908.jpgHere's a picture of the Mikuni carb that I know very little about but sure here a lot of complaints on this site about the poor thing. I had heard good things about the company until I came here.

KIMG0897.jpgThis is just a sweet air tractor that I saw while I was down in Texas a few weeks back. Not sure how many people appreciate this sort of stuff but I thought it was pretty sweet.

[geezer101]

The carb looks pretty clean (but that doesn't mean there isn't trouble brewing in there). The Mikuni isn't garbage, just not a lot of fun to pull down and is restrictive due to all the tree huggers and the EPA... You might regain some compression with an engine flush and a fuel additive to clean up the rings and combustion chambers. Cylinder #3 is pretty low though. It is probably due for new valve stem seals thus the oil burn (if you get a cloud of smoke from stand still it's a dead give away).

...and anyone who flies in one of those 'dusters has got guts. No thanks

[Uncle Spence]

Progress was made today!

It actually went much smoother than I had expected. For those who are afraid of removing an engine... fear not. It's getting the one you want back in that you have be weary of.


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[geezer101]

On older vehicles, pulling an engine is a piece of cake as long as you got an engine hoist and maybe a second pair of hands to stop your engine from swaying in the breeze like a drunk. Now you can get in there and go crazy scrubbing the engine bay.
I always have to look twice when I see LHD engine bays, everything looks out of place

[Raikinx]

First off black looks awesome on that truck. I also love the picture of the airplanes. Always been fascinated with flying as a kid but I still find it interesting in present. And there isn't too much gutsy with flying that thing. If it cuts out while flying you just glide it to the ground.

[Uncle Spence]

Well this past weekend I did spend a few hours on the truck, which is better than no time at all.
I removed the transmission and the drive lines and got a good look at the rear end. I'm pretty darn sure, but haven't had it confirmed yet that the gearing ratio in the rear end will be different in the gas verses the diesel. I have never tore into a rear end before, but there are a lot of "I have never's" on this project. The bonus to swapping the rear end guts is that then the nice rust free axle will stay with the rust free truck.
I also ordered a few things that I couldn't round up in my local mechanic circle.
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The manual I have looked through and feel like it is a pretty solid resource. I just picked it up off of ebay for $24 and it would have been the same manual that a dealer shop would have had back in the 80's. It just so happened that this was the exact year of Wallace (not like there's a whole heap of variance) and had the diesel motor specks, which I need!
This weekend I have to leave town for a wedding (tis the season) so won't get the chance to tinker but I plan to do my cylinder compression tests on the diesel motor before I leave and then get a good idea of what parts I want to throw at it. Will try to keep updated.

Oh, and the transmission from the 2.0 was the cutest little thing I've ever seen. I've wrenched a lot on semi's and replacing clutches on those transmissions is much more difficult than it would be on this little guy! I could pick up the whole thing without even straining!

[Uncle Spence]

Haven't updated in nearly a month but things are going great/busy!
Did the compression test as intended and things were a little low on the 2nd and 3rd cylinders but still enough to have compression to run. Talked to Mike and he made his assessment and further digging will find the reason for the lower compression.
I did one final burnout and raced a Mitsubishi lancer the day before I put Wallace out to pasture. Got him in the garage, said a prayer over him, and pronounced his body dead on the scene. Luckily he died in an honorable manner and his organs will be harvested and donated to a much cleaner and rust free individual. Here's a few photos to add to the progress.
I started tearing down the motor this last Monday and should be able to get it down to a bare block within a couple of more hours. Hopefully Friday I will get to it if the wife is willing to let me. We are a week away from expecting our second little cub in the family so I can't be too distracted and can't turn her into a truck widow.


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[Uncle Spence]

Well I spent this past Monday and a good chunk of Saturday tearing down the motor and got everything organized and laid out all nice and "clean". This week I'll get the block run through the dishwasher, build myself a parts cleaning station, and then make some measurements and see what the block needs in way of new stuff.
In the mean time I will take out the transmission from Wallace along with the drivelines and then do some digging on the rear end ratios. As always here's a few photos to add to the good times.

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[rranger]

Well I spent this past Monday and a good chunk of Saturday tearing down the motor and got everything organized and laid out all nice and "clean". This week I'll get the block run through the dishwasher, build myself a parts cleaning station, and then make some measurements and see what the block needs in way of new stuff.
In the mean time I will take out the transmission from Wallace along with the drivelines and then do some digging on the rear end ratios. As always here's a few photos to add to the good times.

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Following you now.

[85Ram50]

I'm jealous. What would it cost to send me that gas motor to Lane county Oregon?

[Uncle Spence]

Good question. I'd have to do some digging. It is available to a new owner as soon as this whole project is completed. That includes the wiring harness and computer as well.

[85Ram50]

Something that nice I might have to find a better body to stick it in.

[Uncle Spence]

A few short hours was all I had to spend this weekend but it was still informative. The engine block is still at the cleaners, and so this Saturday I went and took out the wiring harness out of Wallace. It is nice that the gas truck has the wiring harness for the auxiliary functions and then a separate harness for the engine. The diesel model is a mess and it's all one big wiring harness and everything is all together, plus I have the added bonus of a previous owner making a rats nest of wires with the aftermarket radio and bypassing the timed relay for the glowplugs. I will be taking that apart one night (maybe more) and transferring over all the stuff that is pertinent. Hopefully that will go smoothly.
The second part I discovered will require a little bit of fabricating but it is easier to envision a solution than the electrical troubles. The hydraulic clutch on the diesel truck obviously is much different than the mechanical one on the gas pick-up. So I will have to cut a hole in the firewall, but will also have to fabricate a bracket to hold the clutch pedal in the proper place. Other than that, the only other thing I'll have to put more holes in the firewall for is for the fuel filter which shouldn't be too much of a problem with some rivnuts installed.
This week my wife will be 41 weeks pregnant with our second child so we'll see how much time I'm able to put in. With the out-laws in town helping out I might have a few nights after the kiddo is born to do some moonlight wrenching.

[Uncle Spence]

Well I have a new daughter! She was born last Friday and has been a welcome addition to the fam!
Yesterday I took advantage of my maternity leave and worked on the truck for about 4 hours. I have the diesel wiring harness completely removed and am figuring out what everything does. At this point I am intended to only swap the absolute necessities. Few more hours on that junk and I should be ready to get back to work on the motor

[geezer101]

Congrats on the arrival of your new family member. Prepare yourself for some hard core sleep deprivation! Meh, what's a few sleepless nights... This is the best time and it will feel like it it's flying by.

[Uncle Spence]

Not like anyone is really following this too closely, but figured it was good time for an update.
With the new youngin', having family come and go, plus some work trips and a triathlon I competed in, the truck had been sitting patiently for my loving touch again.
Spent a fair amount of time this past Saturday and swapped over the clutch pedal and its master cylinder, along with the oil cooler. Did some painting on the engine bay and just tinkered with a whole lot of little things. I drained all the gas and ran about 4 gallons of diesel through the lines. If you have any recommendations on how to get all the gasoline out I'd take them. The diesel I drain out still has a hint of old gas smell and I just don't want to risk running any gasoline through a newly rebuilt engine. I figure I'll fill the tank with 10 gallons of fresh diesel before I try firing it up to at least have a strong chance of diluting anything that is left.
I dropped off my crank to the machine shop today and he had the block all nice and clean and ready to have the cylinders bored this week. Really between the machinist taking his time and me waiting on some other engine parts I have been halted in my progress. Such is life though. Once the engine is all done with the machinist I will have some nice motivation to get back at it and put the whole thing all together again with the shiny new head. The end is in sight.

[geezer101]

Trust me Uncle Spence, we are watching. These things often take time and a few wrong turns and distractions from the task at hand are normal.

[Uncle Spence]

Things are looking up again!
I received some much awaited for parts in the mail and was able to getting my balance shaft bushing to the machinist who bored my cylinders. He pressed them in and the block is back in my shop now. I'm sort of in a pivotal part of my Master's degree right now, so I won't have much time to work on Wallace until mid-November, but I'll put time into it when I have it. I went on Saturday since it was nice and warm and taped off and painted the block while the kids ran around outside. Only took an hour but it looks nice now and I at least got to spend some time on it!

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[85Ram50]

Sweet.