The Cowdog is up to 3,000 miles now. I had an oil leak at the front of the engine that I traced back to the turbo oil return hose. I ended up buying a foot of the stuff online and just replacing what came with the Banks kit. Their instructions say it is a silicone 3/4" hose. But, the blue turbo oil return 3/4" silicone hose I bought feels different and hasn't leaked yet. Only needed about 2" to do the job.
I am only getting about 1500 miles to a quart of oil as well. Very high usage compared to all my other 6.2 engines. New CDR from the first start on this engine as well. I haven't figured that out yet. No smoke of any kind at any time. I did switch from a sealed oil fill cap to a vented one the other day and will see if that makes a difference.
I dropped the thrown rod GEP 6500 crank off at a local one man machine shop back in May and told him no hurry. I would stop by and visit every few weeks. He finally called last week. He had cut .030 and it still wasn't smooth. That will give me two bad 6.5 crankshafts. Any suggestions on what kind of decorative art I should make with them?
The machine shop though has a 1995 GM 6.5 with a busted starter mount boss on the block sitting in the corner. All the turbo stuff, serpentine stuff and exhaust cross over is there. The DS-4 IP is gone, but it was running he claims when the starter broke off. He just wants it gone from his floor so I will get that sometime soon. I won't know until I actually look at how bad the block is broken whether this will be a braze fix like the other 6.5 I got from Warthog or a crank shaft donor engine for the GEP block. I am thinking I need to mentally go into it as a crank shaft donor engine. Everything I have read about the early 6.5 blocks being bad compared to the GEP casting keeps flashing through my mind.
Through that machine shop though, I finally found a shop to rebuild a DB2 IP for a price I think is reasonable. I called them up two weeks ago and talked to the owner. I told him what I had and that I wanted a pump with 4911 specs for flow when all was done. He said no problem. They close at 5:00 and I get off work at 4:00 every other day. Apple maps calls it a 1:04 drive with no traffic.
I called again on the day I was planning to go. Two days before Harvey hit Texas. It is a father/son operation. I got the son. I had talked to the dad the first call. "We close at exactly 5:00, no exceptions." I had the Cowdog rolling and got there at 4:56. I drove that just so they could see what the pump was going in and my set up in case they needed, which they shouldn't. Plus, it is fun to drive. Anyway, I walked in with the IP from the broken crank GEP engine which numbers out as a 1998 6.5 NA pump. I carried a 12 volt top cover in with me. The son looks at the IP and just stares at the Packard electrical fitting. "What is this?" I tell him don't worry about it and say I want this cover on when you are done. Oh, ok. I then give him my contact information and say I want it to flow like a 4911 when done. He actually did a head tilt like a confused dog does.
I called last Thursday, a week after drop off, and got the son. "I told you we would contact you when it was ready." I tell him I was just calling to make sure things were going ok and if by chance it was done, I could come on Friday and pick it up. Otherwise it might be another week before I could get there. "Oh, well......there are some things on your pump I can't do without my boss here. He is stuck in Houston."
I don't know about everyone else, but this is the 4th or 5th good business run by a knowledgeable and honest person I have dealt with in the past few years that is just going to collapse when the idiot son takes over. Honest craftsmanship is slowly going away. Anyway, I will call again this week and hopefully the dad got out of Houston.
Some of you have been to my house. I have a 30' x 40' metal building I call my shop. When built 15 years ago, I welded up drill pipe shelves to fit around my current equipment and what I thought was waaaaaayyyyyy excessive storage capacity for future stuff. That was back when I only owned a M715 and the Mini. Before I even finished building the shelves, my grandfather died and I got all of his stuff. He owned a 5 bay vehicle repair facility in Houston for several decades. He never threw anything away. I just pilled his things anywhere they could fit thinking I would come back and organize later. I didn't. Colton got old enough to work on stuff, I repainted the Mini, took apart, redid and put the M35 Gasser together with a parts truck, several CUCV trucks, the Cowdog, etc....
I actually had 5 vehicles in there during a hail storm back in 2002. I can barely get 2 in there now. Colton went off to college last month and for the first time since built. I am the only person using the building and tools. I can organize like I want and be pretty sure where stuff is! I needed to start with tools. Between my stuff, my dads stuff, my grandfathers stuff and things I have picked up over the years. I was doing a lot of walking between tool storage areas to do some simple work a lot of times. I needed more tool storage capacity.
Not trying to start debates here. I wanted a 4-6 foot tool cabinet that was no more than waist high. New, there are a lot of places to get them for a lot of money. Only a few are US made though. They are a lot more money. Used brings things down to almost affordable. Yet, used really shows the difference in who made it and where. I have had Craftsman boxes of different sizes for years. But, they don't warranty the boxes if you can find a store these days. I started searching vintage Snap-On chest and roll cabs. Since they do warranty the slides and castors still. Ball bearings slides would be nice, but not at the price premium those things go for. I have survived on friction slides my entire life and can continue to do so. I narrowed it down to a pre-1988 Snap-On since that is when the ball bearings started showing up.
Lots of research and Craigslist looking narrowed things down even more. I wanted a "Taco Wagon". Officially, a KR562 Rolla-Bench. They were made for aviation uses. Spring suspension on the wheels, landing leg brake, tow bar hook up to be pulled behind an airport tug, solid rubber tires and the weirdest drawer layout I have ever seen. Some drawers on one side, some on the end and a cabinet on the back. Perfect if you are working in the middle of a hanger on a plane. Terrible if you put it up against a wall in a car repair place. That means they are cheap! My favorite.
When they came out around 1976, with the tow bar they looked like what people sold tacos out of in Mexico so that is how they got the name. I had found one at my price point before the hurricane. Then I got flood road blocked and the guy that had it was on an island for most of last week. I was able to go get it last Friday. Cowdog pulling a M101. Running the speed limit I topped off before I left and again when I got back. 16.01 mpg. I can handle that pulling the trailer.
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