1991 200TDI to R2.8--couple remaining questions

dkemm

Well-known member
No update from Quickdraw since 5/11. I asked about a week or two ago but if they haven’t responded by now…. It’d be nice to know as I’m trying to plan some vacation in August— but I’ve given up on June (obviously) and am 50/50 for July. Not blaming QuickDraw or anyone— we are living and recovering from a unique supply chain situation in the world, and many of my hours in a day are coordinating construction delivery schedules and issues in my work (I rep commercial lighting). So I get the delay, just wish a little more communication as I still have to be available for deliveries and it’s vacation time of the year.

I am getting close to pulling in garage and starting disassembly. I’m no longer in a hurry as It won’t be ready for summer. Maybe fall…
I heard back from Kerrie last night: still no answers from Brittany @cummins. My industry is facing product shortages too!
Kerrie also mentioned labor shortages too... Which makes me think late July at this point
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
So I survived the wrath by the grace of the gods and many a bottles of whiskey…. So the build continues. Just don’t want to start another thread…so…it continues…
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MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Wall art will happen. All 4 sides and top are stenciled so I’ll figure that out someday not soon, lol. I have most every part necessary except the cooling package which is being built. Engine in its temporary resting place as I start to fiddle with it. I’m swapping the front cover for the spin-on filter (eliminates the remote oil filter) and moving the AC location to where the power steering is and dropping power steering lower. I’ll then figure out what I want to use for aux sensors and get them installed like oil pressure sender and such.
My game plan then is to mount the R380/LT230, lift it in, mount the back, raise the front into best position, fab the mounts and tack in place, remove everything and burn mounts and fancy up bay. I’m no longer in a rush cause winter is coming. Took too bloody long to get the engine from Cummins…
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But I also will probably reassemble the axles first… get them out of the way…
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Sals set up with Detroit Locker, new hearty ARB diff cover just ‘cause their oil path diversion was cool. stubs done, assembly underway. Very…slowly…and the engine is right….there…..
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donb

Well-known member
Sals set up with Detroit Locker, new hearty ARB diff cover just ‘cause their oil path diversion was cool. stubs done, assembly underway. Very…slowly…and the engine is right….there…..
Very nice looking axle!

I know your pain. I had my R2.8 sitting in my garage for close to a year before I could get started on it. Started a few months ago and I still haven't driven it but it's really close (test fire felt awesome!).

Document the build with pics and make lists and check them off even if it is small. The little things take a long time (the gas pedal alone took me 2 days and lots of thinking) but are worth it and give you motivation when you look back at the completed lists.
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Thanks--I always appreciate the advice. I bit the bullet and got the throttle relocation kit from Quickdraw so I am using the stock pedal. Should come in the near future. They are a little backed up but it gives me an excuse to talk with Kerrie--she is really nice and it is always a mixed blessing to be really busy and to...be really busy.... especially in supply chain issue times.

I am partially pleased with the Cummins engine. I am glad it is here and they did a lot of things right. But a lot of plastic. My aluminum oil pan is on order too (along with the plug and dip stick you will need. 12 week production lead time, fyi) so that will get rid of that bit. And the harness is alright--I wish it wasn't this black split loom--I have been debating nixing that all together and re-wrapping but that is a daunting task. However, the plug to the Alternator? What, did they just give up? You have a bare wire coming out of the loom, going around a 90 degree angle, exposed. just fricking janky!
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Seriously? Ridiculous. Searched around in my spare parts and found a spark plug 90 degree boot, disassembled the pin from the plug, removed what looks like black duct tape, and crammed it on and reassembled. Rerouted the harness to go under and not over the other wire (see red arrow below). Much better.

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dkemm

Well-known member
Very nice looking axle!

I know your pain. I had my R2.8 sitting in my garage for close to a year before I could get started on it. Started a few months ago and I still haven't driven it but it's really close (test fire felt awesome!).

Document the build with pics and make lists and check them off even if it is small. The little things take a long time (the gas pedal alone took me 2 days and lots of thinking) but are worth it and give you motivation when you look back at the completed lists.
Don,
Chris and I have been working in tandem but remote!!! We got our engines at the same time.
Did you use the Cummins pedal? I thought about custom bending my own 5/8 rod so the pedal fits. Still an option, but I also got the TPS from QuickDraw on order
 

donb

Well-known member
Don,
Chris and I have been working in tandem but remote!!! We got our engines at the same time.
Did you use the Cummins pedal? I thought about custom bending my own 5/8 rod so the pedal fits. Still an option, but I also got the TPS from QuickDraw on order

I had the QuickDraw pedal on order but for the cost and wait time I just made a bracket that bolts in the stock location and fits the pedal that came with the kit. I haven't driven it yet but I like the size of the larger Cummins pedal. Took my like 3 days start to finish tho!

I'll take a pic of the finished setup next time I'm in the garage but these are during the process. If anyone is interested in the 1st iteration (painted black and to the right of the welded one) let me know. It's a combo of some scrap 1/4" plate and the Cummins plate cut and welded to it.
 

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donb

Well-known member
Thanks--I always appreciate the advice. I bit the bullet and got the throttle relocation kit from Quickdraw so I am using the stock pedal. Should come in the near future. They are a little backed up but it gives me an excuse to talk with Kerrie--she is really nice and it is always a mixed blessing to be really busy and to...be really busy.... especially in supply chain issue times.

I am partially pleased with the Cummins engine. I am glad it is here and they did a lot of things right. But a lot of plastic. My aluminum oil pan is on order too (along with the plug and dip stick you will need. 12 week production lead time, fyi) so that will get rid of that bit. And the harness is alright--I wish it wasn't this black split loom--I have been debating nixing that all together and re-wrapping but that is a daunting task. However, the plug to the Alternator? What, did they just give up? You have a bare wire coming out of the loom, going around a 90 degree angle, exposed. just fricking janky!


Seriously? Ridiculous. Searched around in my spare parts and found a spark plug 90 degree boot, disassembled the pin from the plug, removed what looks like black duct tape, and crammed it on and reassembled. Rerouted the harness to go under and not over the other wire (see red arrow below). Much better.

Very well done on the alternator wiring. I was thinking the same thing on mine and may go back and do a fix like yours. Almost all of the other connections are really good from Cummins.

The whole loom overall seems "chunky" If the installer is welding in engine mounts and custom pretty much everything else then why is the wiring so bulky. I'm guessing it's off the shelf stuff and know to make sure the engine will run. I ended up doing a lot just to clean old sections and make it tidy with the new Cummins wires but I will probably go back once things are all done and try and shorten most of the Cummins looms. I just ran the main gauge and throttle wiring thru a couple of existing holes so there is a bunch of wiring looped around in the LH fender.
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
PSA: Check your flywheel bolts. My engine came from Quickdraw--they put on the flywheel but they didn't tighten the bolts. No biggie, but they don't so make SURE you check the flywheel bolts. Tighten them down to 30nm in a star pattern, then back them off. Then retighten to 30nm then hold the flywheel from turning with the "special tool" (more on that in a second) and then tighten them again 90 degrees. That is straight from the Cummins manual. Now, in regards to the special tool to hold the crank from spinning--yeah--I don't have that and I'm not getting one. However, I just ran a couple bolts into the flywheel and the rear of the engine and just connected them with string. Worked perfectly. I don't have a degree wrenchy thing, so I used my magnetic degree indicator on the breaker bar. It is also a good idea to mark the bolts as you tighten them so you don't miss any. Flywheel tightened.
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Now, there is something satisfying digging into a brand new motor. No broken bolts, no messy 20-year caked on grease... But it is also daunting ripping the cover off a perfectly good engine... And the work continues! I am waiting my aluminum oil pan--so I may have to do that once I put in the engine (back ordered several months). But I am swapping out the front cover for one with an integral oil filter. I also am switching out the alternator/power steering bracket to move the power steering pump down and put the AC in between the alternator and PS pump for better accessibility of the AC hoses.

A couple notes on the AC High Mount bracket, Cummins#5286671. When you take out off the original bracket, you have 4 bolts---2 that are 60mm and two that are 45mm long. Those won't work--they are too long with the new bracket and bottom out. What you will want to get are Qty:4 10.9 M10x1.5x40mm Flange head hex bolts. I also need (2) M10x1.5x110mm bolts/nuts for the alternator mounting. I used flange head on those too, but use whatever you would like. Also, the above bracket does not come painted, so you may want to paint it (what your removed is black, but knock yourself out with whatever color...).

The swapping of the front cover is going smooth--no surprises. What is a little surprise is that so far, all the bolts that I have taken out are the same length for within each component. All the water pump bolts are same length, all the front cover bolts are same length...it is just nice as you don't have to remember which are which.

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Bracket degreased and painted. Funny thing on painting the bracket--when I put it on the truck and installed the power steering pump and the alternator, I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to mount the AC compressor. I guess I masked the bracket for painting a little too well and didn't take all the masking off! Mystery solved.
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MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Although there is a oil warning light built into the Murphy Gauge, I prefer to also have a few mechanical gauges at my disposal. Therefore I will run water temperature, oil pressure, tach and a couple more that I am deciding on. For the oil pressure, I am using VDO Vision series gauge with the VDO#360-006 which is the 0-80psi version corresponding to my gauge, M10x1.0 thread. HOWEVER, it won't fit on the front cover as it is ever so slightly too large in diameter but where it hits is no big deal and I just ground off a smidge off the front cover. (I did mask the hole before grinding, of course)
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For the temp sender, again just reusing some VDO Vision gauges I have-- I am using temp sender VDO# 323-092 which is an M12x1.5 thread sender corresponding to the port in the front cover (waiting to arrive and then I will verify it fits correctly). This is a single wire sender (I couldn't find one with integral ground) so you will need to ground the front cover (FYI).

This is all just prep. I need to power wash my engine bay clean so I can get that all sorted. I have cut off the mounts, ground them smooth, but I need to ship out a few pallets that are right behind my garage door so I can get the truck outside to powerwash. I am hoping to get those out soon before the cold weather truly hits. I am going to take the advice of @erover82 and run the power washer off my hot water heater :). So no test fitting yet... Just a lot of prep.
 
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MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
It makes mounting the AC lines easier. When it is down low, you have to contend with the engine mounts and the turbo--according to the forums, some folks have had issues (particularly the Toyota guys) so I thought I would just short cut all that. Since my engine isn't mounted, I can't confirm how bad the low mount problems are, but the engine mount is right there....
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
I will also say that the high mount bracket, Cummins # 5286671 only costs $50, so it was a rather no brainer. Or, then again, you can go to Axis who make their Mega bracket which would also work. Sure, you spend $1500 for theirs (yes, I typed that correctly) which they mill out of aluminum and put their cool logo on. They make incredible stuff and I love that they engineer things--I am not bashing on that at all. I am just a little more frugal, so I took the extra $1450 and used it on some other stuff...
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
For those that are doing the relocation of their Power Steering/AC pump via the Cummins bracket previously mentioned, I think it is important to deal with the wiring loom that leads down to the Crank Position Sensor and the MAF plug. Originally, it is routed along the backside of the previous bracket and held in place with plastic tabs that are sort of a fir-tree design that go into drilled holes that are actually threaded. I used a pair of trim pliers and they popped out great. Out came the tap and die set, and I can confirm that you drill the hole with 13/64" bit and tap it with 6mmx1.0 tap (if you want to keep using those clips and have holes to spec). The wiring loom without those clips is loose and it is right next to the exhaust --both bad ideas. So I drilled and tapped the new bracket and came up with a route that keeps it away from the exhaust.

These are some of the new holes I added:
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I put green dots by the connectors...
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The bolt you see is going to be for the air compressor and I am going to have a tab on the bolt it loops around to zip tie it out further as you see so that it is as far as possible from the exhaust. Heat kills....eventually.
 
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MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Since I prefer to run -AN lines (your choice may vary), I didn’t want even the low pressure power steering pump line to be hose and barb. So I purchased the Allisport threaded power steering reservoir and (gulp) cut the nose off the brand new steering pulp. I started to just file the ridge off but that entire filed area would be out of true round and more prone to leaking. So I installed a hose clamp on the output to act as a guide as there would be very little room to spare to get the olive and connector on and it would protect the surface. I shoved a paper towel up it’s hole (hehehe) to keep contaminants out and used a hack saw and gave it a little sanding.
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Worked great and truly no room to spare— fits perfectly. Used an olive compression 5/8” to 10AN connector.
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dkemm

Well-known member
Dude, I am so glad you are right here with me!
I wondered about the file method staying true.

so strange that piece is not removable as reflected in the owners / install manual
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
Dude, I am so glad you are right here with me!
I wondered about the file method staying true.

so strange that piece is not removable as reflected in the owners / install manual
There was somewhere where (I believe, but haven’t tried) they shove a pipe in there (so it wouldn’t crush) and rotated it. I haven’t tried and it’s currently at a fine enough location that I’m not encouraged to try and move it, but I think it’s able.
 
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