Where did you find the 3.3BT? I've been browsing passively with interest in putting one into a 4runner or Toyota Pickup. Haven't had much luck finding one, yet....

 

Back in one of the first posts I mentioned I bought it new from the local Cummins dealership. ~$3800 with a 2yr/2000hr warranty (which I promptly voided by altering the engine). It came to their dealership on a crate and they loaded it into my truck and I drove it home.

 

Thanks.

Page 8 post 109 has some $ info. I'd say with the new engine, adapters, intercooler, new modified injectors, intake grid heater, turbo exhaust clamp adapter, 3 in exhaust, electric brake vacuum, electric radiator fan, nuts/bolts/hoses, etc. I would be in the neighborhood of $5-$6k. Finding a used/remanufactured B3.3T and not buying a new set of injectors would significantly reduce the cost.

Regarding time it's hard to quantify for certain. It's not something you should plan on knocking out in a weekend. Also, expect to encounter some snags -- that way when they happen it won't be so aggravating.

The Cherokee would give you a much more practical conversion and better mpg's since the aerodynamics are so much better. I'd love to hear about it if you get the conversion done.

 

Keep the updates coming.
So far, just oil changes and fuel fills?

 

I've tried to keep the thread up to date but I'm afraid its become so long that some of the info is hard to find.

The engine itself has been flawless and besides modifying the injectors, adding an intercooler, turning up the fuel and rpm limits, has only had the normal maintenance: oil, oil filter, fuel filters.

At this point in the project it's down to just being a daily driving vehicle and I'm not planning any additional mods. If anything unusual happens to the engine I'll come back and add that info.

If I only had more garage space I'd like to get another B3.3T and put it in an older car . . .

 

What type of car? '70's Corvette?

I'd be curious to know what kind of mileage you could get out of something with better aerodynamics.

 

Probably not a corvette

Don't actually know enough about old cars and I don't have any garage space so I haven't gone beyond the dream stage. It would need to have some good engine bay space and sturdy frame rails to support and hold the engine.

Since the BSFC is only slightly less than what my VW 1.9 ALH engine is capable of I'd estimate getting into the lower/mid 40's would be attainable.

 

Work slowed down a little this week and an email from a friend who's a diesel fanatic got me thinking. One area I hadn't tweaked yet that is commonly done on the older VE pumped 3.9 and 5.9's is advancing the injection timing by slightly rotating the injection pump. Since the B3.3T was a Tier II compliant engine without using EGR I'm guessing it's injection timing is fairly retarded stock.

By advancing the timing I'm mainly hoping to eek out a little more efficiency, a little more top end hp, and also improve the white smoke on cold startup.

There's lots of good information on this sight in the 1st gen section on those who have done this mod. Found it very helpful.

There's a few differences with the B3.3T from the 4bt and 6bt VE engines. These include:
12mm bolts instead of 13mm.
No S wrench needed to access IP 12mm bolts (the back one I needed a long ~ 16in extension to reach).
An extra mounting bracket under the pump (two bolts - one 12mm other 14mm)
And the most irritating part is a special anti-tamper bracket that locks the IP in place and requires a special tool.

I thought this last bolt was a Torx TR (tamper resistant) as that's what it looked like. Called the Cummins shop and talked with my friend there and he sent me the shop manual section that describes removal and timing setting of the IP. It didn't mention this anti-tamper bolt and bracket in the writeup.

I tried T30,35,40,45 tamper resistant wrench sizes on it and none fit. My micrometer measurement showed the teeth spacing being a little more than the T40 and less than the T45. However the stub in the center was too big to fit into the hole of the T40 TR head. Tried drilling the hole bigger to no avail. Finally I just got out my cutting tool and cut some groves in it and used these for grip and removed it that way.

After removing that part it was very similiar to the writeups for the other VE pump adjustments. I also had to add some marks for the reference position since I couldn't see any.

The other writeups I read seemed like people were rotating anywhere from 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch. Since I had no reference for other B3.3T owners I went a bit on the conservative side at ~1/16.

After rotating The IP I couldn't get the tamper proof bracket back on without increasing the bolt hole size. Guess they didn't want people to tamper with the IP location.

I'll add some pics to the photo link in the next couple days.

 

How's it run since you did it?

 

Hard to tell for sure. It's really cold here (0 F air temp) and the roads are still partially snow covered so I wasn't able to test it very well. The temps are supposed to max out at ~11-12 F so when I start it this afternoon after sitting outside in the cold I should get a good idea about the white smoke on startup.

The sound of the engine when I first turned it over this morning (it lives in an attached garage) seemed about the same as before, perhaps a little smoother. But this could just be wishful thinking on my part as I don't have a good way to quantify the sound. It didn't sound like it was advanced too far from what I've read about in the other threads where they've bumped the IP timing on the VE pumped engines.

 

awesome sounding rig man. thanks for the info i will continue to read it through!

 

Yesterday afternoon was a good test for the white smoke at startup after advancing the IP timing. Air temp was ~0F in the morning and warmed up to ~11 to 12F air temp in the afternoon when I left work. Ran the grid heater for 10 seconds and the B3.3T fired right up with just a puff of white smoke.

Comparing this to a similiar temp on Monday (day started somewhat warm in the mid to upper teens in the morning and fell to the lower teens by the afternoon when I left work) with the stock IP timing and running the grid heater for 10 seconds the engine took about 7-8 seconds for the white smoke to stop. So I can quantify a significant startup improved from the advanced IP timing.

The roads were also better in the afternoon when I came home so I was able to give the engine some more fuel than the drive into work in the morning. It felt strong and sounded good, but I have not tried to quantify if there's any improvement in top end hp. I'll track mpg's over the next month or so and see if it improves.

 

TDIwyse,

thanks for the great posts and info. I am in the process of converting my 1990 Cherokee to the Cummins 3.3 after reading your post. I bought a 3.3 off Ebay several months ago and had to change out the flywheel housing because it was too short. Ready to pull the Cherokee engine hopefully this week and order the adapters. I hope you stay acitve we can use your resources. With all the interest, maybe a new thread should be started with Cherokee owners. How about using a electric power sterring unit from a Toyota MR2? http://www.driveev.com/jeepev/convpgs/psteer.php This is what I plan on doing.

Chris
AKA: BigBlue

 

Thanks.

Updated the photo site with the VE pump timing adjustment.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10201173@N06

Good luck with your project and I hope it turns out well. If you go the electric power steering route it might be worth your time to upgrade the alternator from the little 60amp unit or go to a dual battery setup. In the winter when I'm running the heater/defroster fan, lights on, whippers going, fuel heater running, and the electric vacuum brake pump kicks on my electrical system dips into the battery for amperage help.

I'm curious about your flywheel housing comments. What housing came on it stock and what did you change it to? Was it another Cummins housing with a different length? How much longer was the new housing? Are you using the Pheonix Castings SAE to GM adapter set or did you make your own?

 

I had to switch to a longer Cummins flywheel housing. The original flywheel housing didn't even cover the original flywheel - it was short by .25 inches. I will be using the Phoenix Casting SAE to GM adapter and probably the Advance Adapter to the AX-15. I've already been in touch with Phoenix.

I am also looking at Novak Conversions: http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/xj_swap.htm. It looks similar to Advances system, but uses a GM Hydraulic Clutch Slave instead of a Toyota as Advance does. Did you look at the Novak system?

I know I am going to have to upgrade the alternator and a dual battery system because I want to run an electric 3 fan system on the radiator and possibly a Bosch electric water pump, bypassing the pump on the engine. I am going to need airconditioning for the hot California summers - any suggestions? I don't see any practical place to mount airconditioning on the engine. Maybe a 2hp DC motor driving the pump or a hydraulic motor off the PTO? I'll have to check with Cummins to see if a power steering option was available - maybe I could utilize the bracket or mounts.

Chris