I also like they have a place for the bolts to go on top as well.
02' LB7 Tow Pig Build
- Thread starter Bdsankey
- Start date
So how's the progress???? 
Slow as ever, ordered a bunch of fittings to tackle the feed line to the CP3 and thus far none have worked including getting a fitting made incorrectly from Holley. I ordered their M12x1.5>6an 90deg fitting and the one end certainly is not M12x1.5. It will not fit in my die and it does not align thread wise with the 2 other known M12x1.5 fittings I have here.So how's the progress????
This weekend should be a pretty big push.
Thus far the engine/trans are fully bolted in, exhaust manifolds are on, one up-pipe is in, pedestal is in, y-bridge is in, all hardlines are on and tight, modified the return lines on the engine for cleanliness and ease of use.
Nice!!!
Any closer to making this bad boy run?
Negative ghost rider. Gotta pull the trans back out as I think I ordered the wrong separator plate and didn't look thinking the vendor listed the proper PN................ That won't happen again.............
Other than that it's a solid 2-3 weekend push to driving. Goal is next weekend to have the trans fixed and everything buttoned up to get first fire by the end of June.
Well at least you have some goals and your nearing the finish line.
Well got some more things bolted on over the last week. I ordered 4 fittings from Holley (M12x1.5 -> 6AN 90) and all 4 had issues of which 3 were bagged wrong and one was missing an internal o-ring so it was very unstable/leaked. The truck is about 30min from starting so this is extremely aggravating......
Please ignore the bluetooth traction bar mounts, they're currently on my LLY chassis as it has been cannibalized for parts including the rear axle that is now under my LB7 as it had some real nice upgrades.
Up next I need to figure out the suspension. The truck currently sits too high and has always ridden quite stiff for my linking since someone replaced the rear leaf pack with springs from "Super Truck Springs". To put into perspective how stiff they are, with 7100lb on the rear axle it was just about level when we went to Denver and back for DPC 2019. I've thought about going to coils in the rear behind the axle with a single leaf and bags for weight carrying but I am worried that the shocks will not take the abuse as it will be a daily driver in the warm weather months.
Remaining tasks are to make a few fuel lines, add heat sleeving to a few hoses/wires, change the lift pump, put in the front driveshaft, put in the cooling stack, change brakes/hydroboost/steering box/steering parts to my PPE 7/8" setup, and lastly I need to add James's dual rad/oil cooler kit to it. I will add the cooler once the engine is past initial break-in to avoid potentially putting any unneeded debris into the large oil cooler.
Please ignore the bluetooth traction bar mounts, they're currently on my LLY chassis as it has been cannibalized for parts including the rear axle that is now under my LB7 as it had some real nice upgrades.
Up next I need to figure out the suspension. The truck currently sits too high and has always ridden quite stiff for my linking since someone replaced the rear leaf pack with springs from "Super Truck Springs". To put into perspective how stiff they are, with 7100lb on the rear axle it was just about level when we went to Denver and back for DPC 2019. I've thought about going to coils in the rear behind the axle with a single leaf and bags for weight carrying but I am worried that the shocks will not take the abuse as it will be a daily driver in the warm weather months.
Remaining tasks are to make a few fuel lines, add heat sleeving to a few hoses/wires, change the lift pump, put in the front driveshaft, put in the cooling stack, change brakes/hydroboost/steering box/steering parts to my PPE 7/8" setup, and lastly I need to add James's dual rad/oil cooler kit to it. I will add the cooler once the engine is past initial break-in to avoid potentially putting any unneeded debris into the large oil cooler.
Attachments
Looking good!
Those whirlie birds look snazzy like that!
Well finally got it running. My dumb ass forgot it was an LBZ block and left the oil galley plug out where the oil pressure sensor was....................................... Needless to say 4qts of oil ended up on the ground when we were cranking for oil pressure. Obviously it's still a work in progress but this was a major milestone and a huge win for me.
I also did have a brand new GM LBZ rail pressure sensor fail on me and start leaking fluid through the connector so that was fun.
This video is maybe 5-10 seconds after it fired up. After realizing it was in VATS for a minute of cranking (thinking it just wouldn't prime the pump/rails) and doing a quick EFI relearn if popped off within 10-15 seconds. Cold idle it's 70-75psi at idle but who knows what that will turn into warm. If it's too low I'll weld up some of the ports on the relief since it has LML cooling nozzles in it.
Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/kFrXfEJATCQ?feature=share
I also did have a brand new GM LBZ rail pressure sensor fail on me and start leaking fluid through the connector so that was fun.
This video is maybe 5-10 seconds after it fired up. After realizing it was in VATS for a minute of cranking (thinking it just wouldn't prime the pump/rails) and doing a quick EFI relearn if popped off within 10-15 seconds. Cold idle it's 70-75psi at idle but who knows what that will turn into warm. If it's too low I'll weld up some of the ports on the relief since it has LML cooling nozzles in it.
Glad to see you got it running!
Could be worse... The LMM I went to help with last week was 2 gallons because someone didn't tighten the oil feed to the turbo...
Could be worse... The LMM I went to help with last week was 2 gallons because someone didn't tighten the oil feed to the turbo...
Oooffff.
I felt like an idiot. I remember even thinking “man I should really put that plug in before I put the oil cooler in.”
Never did like a jackass.
Oh well. I’ll be curious to see what oil pressure drops to at warm idle. I’m guessing 35-40psi area which would be awesome. I don’t want to weld the relief valve.
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Heck, I did the same thing when I built my motor. Doing the cranking to prime the fuel and oil, and my brother yells out STOP! Pumped half a gallon of oil onto the floor out of a gallery plug I forgot to install.
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Well, It takes a real man to own up to your mistakes! Shit happens... We have all had those types of things happen.
Just ask Jason-2004LB7... He broke his new LLY yesterday. Luckily it was a simple oversite and it's back in business.
Just ask Jason-2004LB7... He broke his new LLY yesterday.
Luckily it was a simple oversite and it's back in business.
Except my mess was easier to clean up ?Well, It takes a real man to own up to your mistakes! Shit happens... We have all had those types of things happen.
Just ask Jason-2004LB7... He broke his new LLY yesterday.
On a different note, this is my first time buying real pricey AGM TPPL batteries (think Odyssey). These are X2 power which are rebranded Northstar/Odyssey sold exclusively Batteries Plus. The pair of them, paired with 1/0 OFC battery cables, and a brand new GM starter has this thing spinning over quicker than any other Duramax I've had.
This motor is still 16.8:1. After ~3min of cranking total (priming oil, fighting VATs etc) it lost ~10rpm of crank speed when averaged in a datalog. I have absolutely zero complaints and will definitely be using this combo on many more trucks in the future.
This motor is still 16.8:1. After ~3min of cranking total (priming oil, fighting VATs etc) it lost ~10rpm of crank speed when averaged in a datalog. I have absolutely zero complaints and will definitely be using this combo on many more trucks in the future.
I'd be interested in seeing how long TPPL battery lasts compared to a traditional AGM. The thinner plates are great for high currents but doesn't help with lifespan
Personally they've held up great. I have multiple friends who work them like dogs in personal and commercial fishing boats with greatly improved lifespans over a wet cell battery.
They come at a cost obviously but so far it seems to have decent gains. I will be curious like you how they hold up to a diesel application daily. Last set of Odyssey a close friend had in a daily driver diesel lasted 9yrs. If I can get that I'll be happy. The plan is to unhook one battery in the winter and hook an approved maintainer to each battery while in storage.
Brad hurry up and get this thing going . I can't wait to hear how awesome the first tow report is, this ones got me excited about updating my old turd. I've been procrastinating about updating the valley charger on mine the last 4 years. Just been dealing with the o'l-lagasaurus-rex since all it does it haul a trailer a 4-5 times a year and an occasional spirited rip. I've waited to long because almost all the pedestals are obsolete. Really only thing easy to get anymore is the PPE one, the Fleece and Turbonetics ones are gone . Curious to see how the drive pressures will be over 3000rpm, I'm probably going to get the same valley charger you have. Just trying to decide if I want to plan on adding a gate or not just incase, or if just go up on the turbine size but don't want to loose any low end since I'm at 5500ft+ all the time. I need to get the cooler towing package and figure out a way to build a totally enclosed air box. The air box deal is a real deal breaker on these twin trucks when it's hot out. It's almost impossible to keep the IAT's decent, mines usually 20-30 degrees over ambient while towing. I haul around 18k with mine, 37ft 5th wheel with a 20ft enclosed trailer behind it with a SXS in it.
. I can't wait to hear how awesome the first tow report is, this ones got me excited about updating my old turd. I've been procrastinating about updating the valley charger on mine the last 4 years. Just been dealing with the o'l-lagasaurus-rex since all it does it haul a trailer a 4-5 times a year and an occasional spirited rip. I've waited to long because almost all the pedestals are obsolete. Really only thing easy to get anymore is the PPE one, the Fleece and Turbonetics ones are gone . Curious to see how the drive pressures will be over 3000rpm, I'm probably going to get the same valley charger you have. Just trying to decide if I want to plan on adding a gate or not just incase, or if just go up on the turbine size but don't want to loose any low end since I'm at 5500ft+ all the time. I need to get the cooler towing package and figure out a way to build a totally enclosed air box. The air box deal is a real deal breaker on these twin trucks when it's hot out. It's almost impossible to keep the IAT's decent, mines usually 20-30 degrees over ambient while towing. I haul around 18k with mine, 37ft 5th wheel with a 20ft enclosed trailer behind it with a SXS in it.