Turbo 616 powered Astro Van build

JB3

Superturbo

1,795

05-29-2013, 09:52 AM #164

tank back up-

fuel pump removed and sender unit reinstalled-

also fill neck drilled out to accept the large diesel nozzle-

Fuel lines are all run with the exception of priming needing to happen still-

return line I needed to make this little brass T to compensate for where the return used to go to the stock fuel filter top. 3/16 for the return, 1/4 for the injection pump return, and 5/16 back to the tank

Installed- I may rework this and permanently mount this nicely after I work out power steering, but for now its zip tied to the dip stick. secure there fortunately. Ive also replumbed running outlet from the lift pump directly into inlet for injection pump. I may also put a small inline filter here as well, but for now it should be fine

throttle is worked out so that it functions properly, though I might return later and simplify if possible.

I flipped over the stock 616 pivot piece related to that vacuum valve, bent a few pieces to hold the firewall throttle spring, and cut and welded the stock bracket to hold the GM throttle cable in place. The feel is a little stiff, but not because of the MB parts, the cable should be replaced. It can stand to be about 15 inches shorter as well, but a stock astro cable will work. It floors nicely, and now returns to idle position well.

I almost blew it in that I neglected to compensate for the hand shutoff lever in cable play when I first was making the cable holding bracket, but caught myself in time and that function should work now.

I have spent hours today trying to bleed the clutch. I had read this is as big a pain for GM hydraulic applications as it is for MB, which im more familiar with.

I bench bled, then pedal bled mounted, then bled to the slave, and pumped the pedal in excess of 2k times, no joke. The great thing about the layout here is that the slave is actually accessible from the hatch while pumping the pedal! I have about a half pedal now, a few more thousand pumps or 20 or 30 more bleeding sessions may take care of it. Big Grin

people have had good success pressure bleeding from underneath, so I may try that later.

Brakes fortunately bled nicely, I did break off the bleeder for the RR wheel cylinder, but should be an easy fix, need new rear brakes anyway.

Other news is fuel is completely bled, and now I can focus completely on getting this turbo hooked up and connected

turbo drain complete-

so 2+ years ago before I wrecked the donor 240, I had removed and welded this pipe thread port to the lower oil pan for a turbo drain. 10k miles later in all weather and 2+ years of sitting have put a lot of rust on this unpainted port I also never drilled out. Also any fitting I install will be too close to the subframe.

Lower oil pan is removable in vehicle without terrible difficulty, slides out to the rear reasonably. Lots of room to work with, way more than in the sedan

I ended up carefully tapping a 1/2 pipe threaded hole in the upper pan. Plan was to use a bulkhead fluid fitting, but the access above was good enough to manipulate a tap and tighten a fitting without too much risk to the cast aluminum-

Next order of business is the custom turbo exhaust and intake are a little off as far as bolt holes, and need to be ground out. and one last custom fitting for the turbo oil inlet, plus a restriction plate for oil flow. After that should be plug and play for the turbo

so im at the test fire stage now, and now ive got a few issues to resolve predictably. Big Grin

first off, my custom exhaust will not work, im going to need to remake this part unfortunately. That final hole that was brazed on will not line up, and no amount of grinding will fix it unless I grind off completely the upper side of the ears inside, which I may try later.

I installed it anyway to get everything ready to fire it.

installed everything and go my oil feed lines hooked up. Feed line is about 6 inches too long, but should be fine-

drain hooked up-

I then went in and trimmed the hole for the transmission shifter for vibration issues Im sure I will encounter when it fires-

Last thing was the vac line between the intake and the ADA. hooked that up, also have an ALDA if I want to play with it, but for now we will see what it does this way

Rotated the engine, oil and coolant put in. Fortunately this christmas tree watering tube works perfectly to put oil in the motor

Also some more good news is that I rotated in 1st gear and was able to verify that I have the 4-1 ratio first, which is the best set of ratios I was hoping to find for the diesel and pretty darn close to stock MB.

Wired it to start, and click, click, click. Big Grin

The starter will not turn over this motor, removed and bench tested, works fine. Engine turns over by hand easy enough, I may do it a few more times to lube things up, but so far I can't get this ford starter to turn this mercedes motor over. Working on it later today.

Other issues are I seem to have pinched something under the valve cover on the turbo side, major oil leak when putting oil in.

So before a test drive, the following major issues need to happen-

bleed clutch properly
figure out starter, either get this one working, or find something else
pull valve cover and stop leak

After I have to fix the exhaust, and get into the rest of the swap like power steering, alternator wiring, ect. Close though!

so got the starter working properly, but still no test fire due to killed 4 batteries and bad connections between a bunch of jumper cables. Decided to take a break, and properly build the battery box behind the passenger seat, then wire it properly first before next attempt. Most of the problem seems to have been bad connections

I turned the engine over manually several times, and after cleaning and lubing the starter, it will turn the motor over, which is good news for later.

In the meantime moved the van outside to return to this project after some consolidation of other projects in the work space, and finally have a look at how it sits from a little distance.

It really needs that 2 inch lift in the rear, and some bigger tires long term I think. the dropped sub frame is not noticable really. This is the bad side, which will get repaired eventually

This post was last modified: 05-29-2013, 09:56 AM by JB3.

1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van