Teardown and Rebuild

[TFaoro]

Now for the pistons! As you can see the second compression ring on the marine pistons sits a lot higher. It's close to the first ring, and there is steel reinforcement on all faces of the compression rings. The stock ones don't have that. 

It appears as if the bowl is slightly larger but I'll have to mic them to see. The ceramic coating on the marine pistons is obvious as well. 

 

Stock

 

Marine

 

Bowls

 

 

Marked for the correct hole.

[TFaoro]

Machined parts. 

 

Block mounted and clean

 

Cylinders

 

Clean block. Should be easy to prep for paint.

 

Head. Lots of new stuff in there

 

This shows the O rings. I'm not taking it out of the plastic until it's time to bolt it down.

 

Just in case anyone was wondering how much the head weighs. 151lbs dry

[CSM]

Nice.

[AH64ID]

Very nice!!

 

Is the ceramic coating from Cummins or the machine shop?

 

The QSB HPCR pistons are not coated and don't have that ring arrangement. What HP motor are those from?

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

thats some purdy stuff there!

[Greenlee]

I just finished looking at your photo bucket on your Dodge. Impressive, is there anything left on your 2500 that you have not taken apart yet? How did you keep up with all the hardware and where it goes back? Makes me want to pull mine apart or the next one apart and rebuild everything.

 

Anyone could use your photos for reference when having second thoughts about pulling a truck apart.

 

Was your Dodge in bad shape when you bought it and you did the interior, paint and body, mechanics, and so forth? As long as you are in good physical shape and have the mechanical ability, it would be like getting a new rebuilt Cummins like John the Diesel Man claims to be doing. Did you paint it? Thanks for the great pictures.

 

I will end up putting on a coolant bypass. It will run from the back of the head through a thermostat or pressure relief then into the top of the existing thermostat housing.

 

Power will probably stay right about the same as it was before 500hp 1215ft-lbs of torque until I can afford a clutch and input shaft. Then it will get twins and larger injectors.

 

When I'm out of school I'll buy a rebuilt trans with hardened gears, fully splined and cryoed main shaft, cryoed 1 3/8" input shaft and a south bend dual disc clutch. That should handle everything a VP can put out.

 

I actually plan on straight piping it as long as the drone in the cab isn't bad! Videos will be up when it is back together though.

You have a great deal of knowledge on the Cummins as well as engineering, did this come from experience or school?

[rburks]

Seals are only about 10 bucks from Cummins.

 

 Make sure the One's from cummins is the double lip seals. this Guy was the one to address this issue with vacuum pumps on the 2nd GEN's. 

He used to run Dodge CUMMINS DRW Hauling cars coast to coast. Very interesting Gentlemen to talk to and Has a vast knowledge of these trucks.

He told me that Cummins came to him after hearing of this seal he was having made to solve his issues, and now they are offering the same seal but you have to ask for it cause some cummins shops may steal have older stock

 

here is the Link to his site

 

http://www.fixinrams.com

 

 

P/S he was offering the seal kit with tool and VID./DVD instructional.

[TFaoro]

Very nice!!

 

Is the ceramic coating from Cummins or the machine shop?

 

The QSB HPCR pistons are not coated and don't have that ring arrangement. What HP motor are those from?

Nope, the ceramic coating comes on the pistons stock. I honestly don't know what HP motor. Do you have any idea what hp options were available?

 

thats some purdy stuff there!

Thanks!

 

I just finished looking at your photo bucket on your Dodge. Impressive, is there anything left on your 2500 that you have not taken apart yet? How did you keep up with all the hardware and where it goes back? Makes me want to pull mine apart or the next one apart and rebuild everything.

 

Anyone could use your photos for reference when having second thoughts about pulling a truck apart.

 

Was your Dodge in bad shape when you bought it and you did the interior, paint and body, mechanics, and so forth? As long as you are in good physical shape and have the mechanical ability, it would be like getting a new rebuilt Cummins like John the Diesel Man claims to be doing. Did you paint it? Thanks for the great pictures.

Hmmm I think the only parts I haven't been into are the rear differantial and the transmission. The transmission is coming apart soon though.....

To keep track of things - I know where all of the parts go, and if I felt like I wouldn't remember exactly how it went I took pictures. I have twice as many pictures as I've posted here. The bolts all went into ziploc bags and were labeled with a black marker. All I can say is if you're taking yours apart don't let it snowball!

 

It was actually in really good shape when I picked it up. The hood and top of the cab were starting to oxidize, so I had to have the cab painted. The rest was pretty good except for the typical things - small tear in driver's seat, cracked dash, and a few minor leaks.

The cab has been painted, and the bed is in paint right now.

The engine will be painted gloss black. The bell housing was my test piece.

 

You have a great deal of knowledge on the Cummins as well as engineering, did this come from experience or school?

Most of it came from personal experience. I started out rebuilding small 5hp engines, then moved up to a 1952 McCormic W9 (350 cubic inch 4 cylinder), then moved up to an international 1466 turbo diesel tractor. All of that experience plus the farming gave me the ability to tear things apart and rebuild them. Engineering school has helped me understand why things are the way they are, and why certain aftermarkets make things better.

[AH64ID]

Nope, the ceramic coating comes on the pistons stock. I honestly don't know what HP motor. Do you have any idea what hp options were available?

 

 

 

 

I don't have a clue on the VP marine motors. 

 

My pistons are from a QSB 480hp enigne and are double heat treated and 30% stronger than the non-HO marine pistons. 

[notlimah]

I'm so jealous man! If I could do this I totally would! Keep up the good work, and appreciate the updates!

[Kevin York]

Hello Gents....First poster here, Tyler suggested I come over from the Cummins Forum and take a peek. Looks like there are some pretty fart smellers....I mean smart fellers, in the room so I am just going to keep on reading and try to learn from someone else's mistakes. Great thread Tyler, keep up the good work and awesome pics...

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

welcome DJ, ask as many questions as you want there are no stupid questions. this place is a great place to discuss and learn. I have never had an issue with anyone here!

[TFaoro]

I'm so jealous man! If I could do this I totally would! Keep up the good work, and appreciate the updates!

Thank you for the kind words! I try to keep this as up to date as possible!

 

Hello Gents....First poster here, Tyler suggested I come over from the Cummins Forum and take a peek. Looks like there are some pretty fart smellers....I mean smart fellers, in the room so I am just going to keep on reading and try to learn from someone else's mistakes. Great thread Tyler, keep up the good work and awesome pics...

Glad to see you made it over here! Just like CUMMINSDIESELPWR said, there are no dumb questions. Read around and get some base knowledge, then make your own thread with questions about anything and everything.

 

 

** Made an edit to the piston photos. Now you can see the two types of piston side by side.

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

oh TF, i dont know if you have rebuilt stuff before but a head up on the wrist pin insertion...

 

the tolerances are beyond tight to the point that its best to lube with machine oil and slip them into the piston by hand gently and slowly as they will bind easily until they align in the bore and slide in.  be gentle as you dont want to score anything. Mine came pre assembled from  the manufacturer so i just slid them half way out to insert rods. i did take one all the way out and kinda panicked that i almost couldnt get it back in lol.

Edited June 23, 2015 by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

[AH64ID]

I learned somthing today about the VP vs CR pistons. I knew the piston oil cooler was different on the CR motors but I didn't know that the piston design for the cooler was different. The CR pistons have a opening where oil in squirted into the piston whereas the VP pistons just have oil squirted on the bottom. This is most likely why the VP marine (industrial is the same) pistons are coated and the CR ones are not. So it sounds like VP pistons run hotter. 

[CSM]

Does the oil run through the rod?

[AH64ID]

No the piston cooling nozzle is different and called a "J-jet" that squirts oil into the piston. 

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

vp piston cooling jets vs cr cooling jets and direct squirts

 

the vp piston coolers not only give coating to the bore but also aid in cooling the underside of the pistons and skirts.  the cr piston coolers actually spray into a orifice into the piston especially on the bottom end of the stroke and also have the cooler nozzles as the vp pistons so they get twice the cooling ability.

Edited June 24, 2015 by CUMMINSDIESELPWR

[CUMMINSDIESELPWR]

here is how they line up

[Mopar1973Man]

Sad part is this thread has so much good information about engine building but will most likely get lost in time. I wish you guys would start creating even small article about this. Like the piston differences that is so cool to see this kind of comparing of parts and how they work.