6.5L Turbo refit

[llong66]

av8rnik, In pics No. 3 and 7, I see you have what appears to be a line running from your vacuum actuator for your blow off calve to someplace on your motor. are you using vacume from your vacuum pump to open the valve and regulate your boost pressure? I had planned on just fabricating a turbo master type setup, but would be interested in how your setup works.

Thanks,
Greg

 

[av8rnik]

It is just a rubber line from the blow off diaphragm to the outlet of the turbo. It is how i bought it and it doesnt really do much. I will probably switch it to a turbo master sometime in the near future so it actually limits boost.

 

[Ilikemtb999]

All I did on mine is cut the can in half, thread the rod with a die and then use a lock nut to tension the spring. I'm hitting 10psi at wot (a touch more when cold)

 

[acesneights1]

I did this.
First off, don't waste your time doing this without changing the headgaskets. You'll be 3/4 of the way there anyway with the intake and ex manifolds off. The factory printoseal gaskets are garbage and the 6.5 HG's have better fire rings. I prefer ARP studs but New TTY's are ok. Don't waste your time trying to make the mech lift pump work. GM abandoned them in 88-92(GMT 400 6.2s).A factory LP from a 93 K3500 6.5TD is the correct LP for a DB2 Inj pump.Use metric Oring to barb fittings to fit it in. Use the valve covers of the 6.5 and use the 6.5 CDR. The 6.2 one's are obsolete anyway. Expect the ex manifold on the pass side to be a MF to get on and you will need to cut the studs off the manifold bolts as they will hit the frame. You will have to run the downpipe on the outside of the frame.
BTW I would save all the serpentine belt setup. It bolts right on if you wanna do a 12v conversion and allows use of a much better waterpump. Also use the fuel filter assmbly from the 6.5. Again, much better design than the box filters that are a know trouble spot.

 

[av8rnik]

I agree with some of what you said, but not all of it is as definitive as you make it sound. head studs are a nice to do but not required. It isnt as simple as lifting the heads and putting new gaskets and studs on. you have to pull all the injector lines for one and two, if you are pulling heads then you might as well get them checked. I didnt do it and i have been fine so far, but i also keep the boost below 8 psi.

I agree with going with an electric lift pump, it is easy to do and helps prime the system when you replace a fuel filter or anything else with the fuel system.

The downpipe doesnt have to be run outside the frame. it is probably easier, especially if you are doing it yourself. But i had a shop do my exhaust and they ran it inside the frame (to my surprise).

Not trying to discount what you suggested, but it isnt all musts.

 

[av8rnik]

I do completely agree that the pass side exhaust manifold is a huge pain. I had more trouble getting it on that off, but both combined took probably as long as the rest of the install. If you can lift the motor, even an inch or so it would help.

 

[acesneights1]

Enjoy ripping it all back apart when they blow.
I didn't say you must use ARPs. I said I prefer them.
The factory headgaskets suck. Now your gonna add boost to a headgasket that does not have the proper fire rings. Pulling the lines is nothing and there is no need to have head "checked" if there was no issue such as lost compression or coolant leakage. Lot easier to get it over with now but hey go for it.

 

[MatthewH]

Finally warmed up enough to finish my crossover pipe. To clarify, this isn't in a CUCV series vehicle, I stuffed a 6.2/Th700R4 into an M37, using a '97 'burb turbo setup off a 6.5. However, these part numbers will help those who are missing the little pieces to assemble there's.
I used the stock CUCV drivers side exhaust manifold, studs were in good shape, but the exhaust donut and the nuts /springs were gone so I used 3-Dorman #03107 kits for the missing nuts/springs, and Victor Reinz #F7507 for the donut.
Using the 'burb manifold, it had a new exhaust donut already installed, but I picked one up anyways, incase I damaged it during this retrofit. It was missing the nuts for the studs, so I bought 1-Dorman #03133. Kit contains 6 studs and nuts, so I have extra. There M10x1.5, 62mm long. Exhaust donut was Walker #31520
I found the flanges to be different, in regards to the bolt spacing of the 3bolt flange that holds the pipe to the manifold. To solve this, I ordered 2 flanges from SS Diesel Supply, part # SSD-3214. There flanges have slotted holes, and they fit either manifold. Also ordered there 6.5 crossover pipe, part # SSD-2230017. Its not a direct bolt on kit, since I was using a CUCV manifold instead of a 6.5, but since I only needed the belled part, and was cutting it up to fit what space I had, money well spent. Its 2.25" aluminized tube, and with alittle modification, here's what I came up with.
Far from starting, but this gets me alot closer. Had to wrap it to keep from melting wires and hoses that are in close proximity to the pass side pipe

 

[True Knight]

I did the upgrade back in September. You will need to make some decisions:

Oil drain location
CDRV connections
Turbo exhaust routing
Get an EGT and boost gauge if you aren't going to do head studs

Be careful with getting the old exhaust manifold bolts off, i sprayed mine 1-2 times per day (after driving the truck) for a week and didnt have a problem. Go slow with loosening them, you dont want to snap one in the block. Also, go buy new bolts for the exhaust manifolds.

You will either need to put new short injectors on or use two exhaust manifold gaskets on the turbo side because the manifold will not clear the stock injectors with just one gasket. Also, don't bother pulling the driver side exhaust manifold because the one of a 6.5 will not work because the exhaust outlet basically sits right next to the oil lines going to the cooler and you wont be able to get the crossover on. I ended up getting an exhaust shop to put together a crossover for me.

I put an electric fuel pump on and pulled the mechanical lift pump so i could put the oil drain into the block where the mechanical lift pump goes. I used this block off plate because it came with a connection ready to go for the drain line, no fabbing needed (because i didnt have the tools to do it). http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mor-65397/overview/

I also had to put both batteries up front to have enough room for the turbo, as mentioned above. As acmunro mentioned, go ahead and do a rebuild on the turbo. It is easy to do and not very expensive.

I am sure there is more i am not thinking about, but if you have other questions throw them out there. Also here are a few pics of what mine looked like after it was done.

Awesome post with great pictures man! It alone helped more than most of the other turbo swap threads! Ha ha. It's good to see that the exhaust can be routed inside the frame rail. Do you have any more pics of the rest of the exhaust system? Also what size exhaust pipe did you go with?

 

[Ilikemtb999]

Finally warmed up enough to finish my crossover pipe. To clarify, this isn't in a CUCV series vehicle, I stuffed a 6.2/Th700R4 into an M37, using a '97 'burb turbo setup off a 6.5. However, these part numbers will help those who are missing the little pieces to assemble there's.
I used the stock CUCV drivers side exhaust manifold, studs were in good shape, but the exhaust donut and the nuts /springs were gone so I used 3-Dorman #03107 kits for the missing nuts/springs, and Victor Reinz #F7507 for the donut.
Using the 'burb manifold, it had a new exhaust donut already installed, but I picked one up anyways, incase I damaged it during this retrofit. It was missing the nuts for the studs, so I bought 1-Dorman #03133. Kit contains 6 studs and nuts, so I have extra. There M10x1.5, 62mm long. Exhaust donut was Walker #31520
I found the flanges to be different, in regards to the bolt spacing of the 3bolt flange that holds the pipe to the manifold. To solve this, I ordered 2 flanges from SS Diesel Supply, part # SSD-3214. There flanges have slotted holes, and they fit either manifold. Also ordered there 6.5 crossover pipe, part # SSD-2230017. Its not a direct bolt on kit, since I was using a CUCV manifold instead of a 6.5, but since I only needed the belled part, and was cutting it up to fit what space I had, money well spent. Its 2.25" aluminized tube, and with alittle modification, here's what I came up with.
Far from starting, but this gets me alot closer. Had to wrap it to keep from melting wires and hoses that are in close proximity to the pass side pipe

So so does it go around the trans pan? That looks quite long.

 

[Rvitko]

That turbo rebuild kit looks right to me, I have rebuilt the turbos on Mercedes turbo diesels and I got a small parts kit like that as well as some special lube. It is not bad work if you are patient but the pieces are small and have to be just right and everything needs cleaning before you start. At least on the mercedes the only tools needed were hand tools but the clips are very brittle and getting the races and balls in just right was frustrating