I finally got a little time to do some much needed work on the ol blaze this weekend. I removed the vacuum pump pod, all the vacuum lines and the old vacuum operated WG actuator from the turbo.

I had a new actuator all set up. I took an old busted GM-4 actuator out of the scrap, cut the vacuum pot off, drilled a couple holes to accomidate the new actutor and all I had to do was sandblast it and paint it. Got that done, found a tee to put in the intake manifold where I had already tapped for my boost gauge, and teed a second line to the new actuator.

I didn't know or check before hand to see at what pressure this particular actuator was set to start opening, I just grabbed one that felt pretty light. I guessed pretty good ;)

I had to tighten the linkage up a little bit, but where I have it set now, It jumps to 7psi, can't make it go higher, so no more pressure spikes like the old vacuum operated system would give you, AND, as long as you give it enough throttle to maintain speed or accelerate slowly, it never drops below 6psi. I expected it to work much more smoothly than the vacuum setup did, but I was still impressed by how accurate and quick it is to operate.

I'll shoot a couple pics of it, and my new plumbing for the air intake here in the next couple hours.

Here it is...

You don't have a pic revealing a little bit more of that "plumbing" do you? I Do not like the squashed bend on the stock air intake it looks VERY restrictive to me. But I'm a mechanical virgin so I haven't found out quite how to do something about it ayet..

Nice going Tex,

6 psi is pretty conservative tho, considering that's the stock boost level.

You don't have a pic revealing a little bit more of that "plumbing" do you? I Do not like the squashed bend on the stock air intake it looks VERY restrictive to me.
Not much to the plumbing at all, I just put a tee in the intake manifold where I already tapped for my boost gauge.

"Squashed Bend"??? I don't know what your talking about...
You must not be seeing the whole thing clearly. That's not the stock air intake either.
Nice going Tex,
6 psi is pretty conservative tho, considering that's the stock boost level.
Yeah, I was hoping it would be a little higher than that, its off a Holset Turbo, I never imagined I would find one that opened at such a low pressure.
We've got piles of them that I can sift through. Finding one that goes to 10, 12, 15, 30 whatever, shouldn't be a problem.

TGD, what is the red boot from the turbo to the plumbing?

Looks to me like Texas Diesel Guy re-did his K&N intake, using PVC elbows from the hardware store and a red rubber boot to connect to the turbo intake.

Sincerely,

Rob :)

I didn't want to say anything about PVC in case it might be a sensitive area, but, it looks good and sounds like it is doing what it's supposed to. I'm pondering some PVC myself.

The "squashed bend" I'm ranting about wasn't on your intake but the stock one in my truck. Gotto get off my rear end and do something about that soon like you have! :)

Ahh, my mistake. Actually the orange rubber boot is a spare one I scored off a Powerstroke. And the two 90* PVC elbows are indeed from the local hardware store.

I'm tossing around different ideas on how to make a box for it, or atleast something more stable to suspend the air filter. So far I haven't had any trouble with it.

I sifted through some more actuators today with out much luck. Everthing I found that was for automotive apps opens at the 5psi or less. And the off highway stuff is 25+! little more than I want to run. I'm going to try and adjust the rod on mine some more, I don't know if you can see the threads on the rod from the pictures or not, but I should be able to adjust it quite a bit tighter.

If you get an accuator from a Toyota CT-20 (2LT diesel engine) they range between 7-12 psi, I have a spare one and was toying with the same idea that you have done, but I have not had time to play with it yet....A mechanics Veh is always the last to get worked on.

Ahh, my mistake. Actually the orange rubber boot is a spare one I scored off a Powerstroke.
At least if your truck breaks down TDG, you will KNOW it was because of that GD ford part!!!:exactly: :badidea: :muahaha:

You put a Ferd Part on ya truck!??!! Your truck ought to throw you on the ground and beat ya!

Yeah, and whats worse is its not the only fxxx part on it now, the fitting I used to run the hose the the WG actuator is a return fitting of a fxxx pump!

Well, I tried cranking the actuator down some, no help, still between 6-7psi max. So back to sifting through boxes of actuators this week some time. Everything I've found so far is either as light or lighter, or WAY heavier, like opens at 22 psi, which might work great for a couple of you guys, but I'm looking for about 10-12 and haven't had much luck yet...

I could use a set-up that starts dumping boost around 25+ PSI

You were exactly the person I had in mind when I found the 22 PSI one, finding one with a short arm to work on a GM-8 will be easy. I'm working on that too, so I can slap it on this GM-8 hybrid for testing...only problem is my boost guage only goes to 15psi. But I could use a different one temporarily.

As you can see by my avatar my gauge goes to 35 PSI. I was thinking of the future when i bought it!

By future, did you mean you'd need it for the second motor ;)

I would like to try it on this motor now, after further thought if it did blow apart i don't see the shrapnel going past the IC anyways. So then you'd just be on the hook for an IC instead of an engine if it failed.):h

Just curious, why did you go with a vacuum system instead of mechanical setup to control boost pressure?

They are talking about a Pressure type actuator, it is not vacuum controlled. as soon as the intake manifold pressure reaches a set psi, the actuator opens the wate gate. I guess it is exactly like a turbomaster in some ways, except that when the actuator fails it stays in the closed position. My .02$Nick

I noticed the other night driving on the highway, that under heavy acceleration, I had a light but steady haze of smoke from the exhaust. Its so light, that it was only visible driving at night with some one following me so their headlights would illuminate it. My actuator was holding at only 6-7psi and I figured that with a couple more PSI, I could clear up that haze.

Turns out I was right. I added a helper spring (7.3 mech pump throttle return spring). I slid it over the actuator arm, hooked it on the mount of the actuator and on the WG arm and now I am sustaining boost in the 9-10PSI range, spiking only to about 10.5 max. Worked like a champ. Now Under full load the exhaust is crystal clear and there's considerably MORE turbo spooling sound now (added bonus).