Whenever I've dropped my tank, I replaced the ring and the filler neck seal. Still avail from Dodge, and I think under $20 for both of them the last time I bought them. No leaks ever afterwards.

 

Thank ya, thank ya.

I built it for disassembling the engine down to a shortblock and then eventually for transportation to and from a machine shop.

I wish I had gone with larger casters from the beginning. Not because these 4" casters don't support the weight (275lbs. each) but because it was a little challenging getting the engine bolted down and removed from the hoist. I put 3/4" plywood under 2 of the wheels so that the legs of the hoist could slide under the cart. Not too big of a deal but just a couple of extra steps to take. So while the engine is at the machine shop, I'll probably grind the welds off of and remove these 4" casters and weld on (maybe bolt instead) taller casters, say 5" or 6".

 

Great idea, BTW. I'll keep this in my memory banks for future reference, should I ever need to do my own engine a pullin.....

 

So i threw the Webasto heater in yesterday. Took me about 4 hours including screwing around & a couple beers.

I will clean up the install as far as hiding wire looms go but its a lot better than it looks ;-)

First - I picked the Webasto TL-17 & returned the Espar D5W as my local CAT dealer insisted it was more sturdy & had a more intuitive 7-day timer control that can be operated with thick gloves.



Here is the control - have to say its simple, foolproof & also offers a "maintenance mode" for the summer & a full diagnostics port + a Low Voltage Disconnect - I set this at 11.5v.



I cut & fabbed a bracket to hold the Webasto securely on the right wheel well - should last a lot longer without getting hit with the winter salt. Here it is with the coolant hoses & fuel lines mocked up -



Main weatherproof connector (fuses & diag port inside) -



Here you can see the intake tube (I put a very small motorcycle K&N breather I had laying around on the end) & the inline fuel pump is to the right of the connector -



Coolant hoses - the top one is the heated output from the Webasto unit -



I tied the heated output hose into the heater core inlet, as the old CAT feller told me the heat loss before going into the engine block is minimal -



It then returns & enters the bottom of the block, and exits from the top right back to the Webasto unit's inlet port.

I tee'd into the inlet just before the piston lift pump - I also plumbed an small inline filter into the fuel feed port before the Webasto's suction pump.



The exhaust port from the coolant heater unit - sounds like a whistling tea kettle from 40 yards away when the unit is running -



The control unit mounted next to the headlamp switch - its painfully simple & fast to set & manually override -



At around -2, the timer set to 30 minutes - coolant temp got up to about 145F, and the oil & tranny fluid were lukewarm, and there was no frost or condensation on the glass - I left the vent position at Defrost so ambient heat would trickle out - not too shabby at all.

 

That is sweet. Did you think about trying to use the unit to warm your fuel also? Just off the top of my head I was thinking that you could run a coolant line back to the "bucket" in the strainer assembly of the tank pick-up, or maybe even just route the exhaust to warm the lines & tank . . . not sure how hot the exhaust can get.

Regardless, I am all about self contained cold weather starting, and it looks as though you'll never have to plug that truck in again, no matter where you are! Very cool.

 

Hi Alec, yup, I like it, makes the grids almost obsolete ;-)

The output coolant line runs right next to the lift pump to fuel separator line, should do the trick.

If needed, I can route the exhaust tube to point at the general area of the fuel separator - it does get hot, but nothing excessive at all.

 

I could put a drawing together with some dimensions if you'd like.

 

Sounds like you should create a thread specific to this, something with regards to the "5.9 Transport Stand" or something like that in the title, this way it can be easily searched for future referencing. Repost your pictures, along with the diagram of the stand. If you don't want to get all crazy drawing up stuff, let the "Big Ragu" draw it up for you, as he seems to be quite talented at that sort of thing...

You'll be doing others a service providing it in this format.

 

Second!

 

Changed out one of my headlights again..low beam gone....since converting to the headlight relays I have burned through 3 headlights. Before I hadn't had a headlight go on me in years....so much so that I had 5 old spare headlights in my parts hoard.

My guess is it's just old headlights. Couple of them were OEM from 1993!

 

sounds like its time to can the old sealed beams!

 

Figured yall might get a kick out of this

 

2 more to go...then I can actually run "new" headlights....

 

Yeah! Jimbo, pm me your rough sketch, and I'll do my voodoo on it. Make sure to note metal thicknesses and steel dimensions
Thanks, Tman, for the recommendation

 

Badger, that's funny stuff right there- thnx for posting!