Cummins Canoe (A Stepvan Story)

[bullfrog]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Keeping things within a budget is difficult these days. Hope the best for you all. Let us know what you decide. Even my fall back of “put a Chevy V8 in.” as they and their parts are plentiful and cheap isn’t so much true today as it was in the past. I’ve got one and I’m pretty sure there are several old motorhomes sitting around with Chevy V8 and turbo 400 transmissions that could be donors.

 

[VanFan]

Things were going well, full of challenges and tribunals. And then it all went horribly wrong again...

Took a bunch of hands to get the hydraulic pump pack on as we never disconnect the lines, but instead remove the pump while it's in the vehicle.

More tragedy stuck. Moving things around, dropped the turbocharger on the ground right before I installed it. the leverage from the oil pipe return seemed to trash center bearing housing. That was an expensive hit. It was pretty much a new unit, not sure what to do about that. Rigged up an old turbocharger I had laying around instead and got it running! Started right up once fuel lines were bled. Drove it around, everything seemed well. Then boom! Smoke was everywhere and the dipstick shot out of the engine. It's been a terrible last few weeks. I have no idea what to do with this piece of junk. I guess I need to try engine #5? Still living in the van, but it's still stranded.

Ouch! So sorry you're having to deal with this.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

I just have terrible luck. Converting from diesel to petrol would be a huge step back. Thinking about going all electric.

 

[bullfrog]

Maybe hook up a Prius on a tow bar and push it or use it as a power supply! I did that once with my 15,000 lbs of motor home and a old VW bug but it was hard on the clutch to get it moving. Actually did pretty good rolling it on flat ground! Lol!!!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Haha, you would have been better off pushing the motorhome first to get it rolling and then using the VW bug! I recently acquired a 2008 Honda Fit to get around. I did put a hitch receiver on it, so maybe I can flat tow the van? Van is only 10,000 lbs, so maybe I can be less hard on the clutch?

 

[bullfrog]

Maybe get some really small diameter wheels and tires for the front of the Fit! Lol!!! Be sure to have good communication with the person working the brakes in the van!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Ok, it's terrible that the engine is still broken. I got tired of sleeping with the van not being level. So at least this little side project will help me sleep better through the holidays.

Cut these old scrap boards up and used the router on all the edges. Found some unused space under the couch/bed to store these new leveling boards.

Painted them a nice yellow so I'll be able to dig them out of the mud after I've driven off of them. With these under the tires, I can also cook on the counter without stuff rolling off like I'm on a boat at sea!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

In anticipation of this rig getting back on the road again, I decided to get her ready to tow stuff, like mostly legally. If I do all this work and expect her to run, she'll just run right?

Got the old hydraulic punch and made a big hole above the rear bumper. Drilled and tapped some smaller holes for the screws.

Like a factory fit!

My girlfriend got me this PowerProbe a while back. You can apply 12v power while also testing other things. It was perfect for finding out what wires did what down under. Super easy to to wire in an trailer electrical harness. Did I tell you she's awesome?

All done with that side quest! Now if only we had an engine that actually stayed working...

 

[wayne49]

Yesterday I was wondering what you have been up to.

Trailering the hot tub?

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Been working to get money to do another engine! Haha. We're gonna try to flat tow the Honda Fit behind this junker. When we break down, it will save a few days to have a car to drive to the parts store instead of walking!

 

[mudbunny]

Glad to see things moving back from the grave again or probably back from the care home. Hoping things go as planned.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Life is okay. Everything is broken but small battles are won everyday.

Can't drive the van anywhere, but friends can drive to the van! Also, the hot tub is still running great. The scenery is getting old though.

Speaking of hot tubs, the framework for the hot tub walls are getting really annoying living on the floor all the time. Time to find permanent storage for those.

Thought long time on this. Came up with mounting them all to the ceiling. The pipes snap up into these plastic holders. They are spaced down from the ceiling so now we can use them as a clothes drying rack! Only problem now is that I can't open this cabinet door. Ugh, that's where we keep the snacks!

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Been working nonstop. Got lots of stuff done lately. This rig will be back on the road soon...

This year has been the year of head gaskets. Took the Cummins cylinder head from the van, both cylinder heads from the old GM military truck, and both exhaust manifolds for the van to the machine shop. Apparently, the Cummins cylinder head was not machined properly from the factory. I'm not a machinist, so I'm taking the word from the guy who did them. This was a new cylinder head so not sure what was that. Of course the warranty had already expired on that, so I had to eat that.

And in case you are wondering, the old GM military truck started right up and is back to work hauling tools and material here and there. Sometimes I do things right!

Took engine parts from multiple different Cummins engines. Yes, we have acquired more than one. Not sure what was what or where things were coming from anymore, nor did I trust anything. Did a bunch of math with piston protrusion and all that jazz and made sure we got the proper cylinder head gasket.

Doubled and triple checked every nut and bolt for proper factory torque. It's bad that I'm starting to memorize the bolt torques I've collected on my little torque sheet I've made. Locktite and antisieze on all the right hardware. Did valve lash adjustment like four times just to be super sure.

Engine version #5 here we go! Wish us luck, send all the prayers this way because we need em!

 

[bullfrog !]

Best wishes coming your way!

 

[mudbunny]

Sending my good luck. Hoping 5 times is the charm.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

We got really good at engine swaps! Can get the engine from the floor in the garage and bolted onto the engine mounts in about 20 minutes!

But there are always things to slow you down! Snapped a bolt in the cylinder head and had to remove a bunch of stuff, heat it up with the torch after soaking overnight with Aerokroil, drill out bolt, and extract. And of course it came out in three pieces.

Also had to tackle this mess with the turbocharger. New ones are like $1000, and this is basically a new unit, so we're going to roll the dice.

Brazed this thing back together. We'll see how it goes! It's just a non pressurized oil drain, so it should be ok?

Took extra precaution and got the turbocharger balanced and all that jazz! Not many shops around anywhere that do this type of stuff, but found this old timey guy from Jamaica that was able to do it!

Rewelded the turbocharger oil drain tube to face the oil pan more directly.

This allowed me to clock the turbocharger so the oil feed is on top right at twelve o'clock.

Also replaced the old worn out transmission mount. The new mount caused the transmission to sit a tad higher and the body crossmember and floor needed modification. Boy, it just doesn't stop!

 

[KarlH]

A good silver- or bronze-brazed joint can be a lot stronger than the tensile strengrh of a typical casting. But most of the experience I have is with wrought base metals, so I'm not 100% sure what the joint strength is likely to be here.

But I'd guess it's strong enough.

 

[Camper]

A few years ago I had a Cummins engine rebuilt by a company that's near Atlanta. They did an excellent job and the engine is still running well today. It was not cheap, but being without a motor is not much fun either.

 

[PlethoraOfGuns]

Great news! Got everything back together, filled all the fluids up, and what do you know? She started right up! Only had one leak. Me being a dumby put the coolant thermostat seal in backwards. Easy fix, just had to remove a bunch of stuff and flip the seal around. But boy was I ever nervous when I saw coolant dripping from the head gasket area!

Look, proof! First time she moved in 6 months! Where did she drive to first?

To church of course for some well needed blessings! Or maybe an exorcism. Time will tell which is the appropriate solution.

 

[Overland One]

Great news! Got everything back together, filled all the fluids up, and what do you know? She started right up! Only had one leak. Me being a dumby put the coolant thermostat seal in backwards. Easy fix, just had to remove a bunch of stuff and flip the seal around. But boy was I ever nervous when I saw coolant dripping from the head gasket area!

Look, proof! First time she moved in 6 months! Where did she drive to first?

To church of course for some well needed blessings! Or maybe an exorcism. Time will tell which is the appropriate solution.

Really nice work on that engine and turbo. I hope you get 600,000, or more, trouble free miles out of her now.