Well, I snuck out for a couple hours this weekend and got a couple things done. Actually, I got nothing done. I bolted a few parts on and stared at them, but that is progress, right??
Anyways, from a previous post this pic might look familiar:
The situation is, even with removing the flared portion of the frame rail, the water inlet was still obstructed by the frame rail. Another issue present with this setup was A/C compressor clearance. Most people who put a Cummins in a GM frame need to notch the upper portion of the frame rail for compressor clearance. I have the motor set so low that I was going to have to notch the LOWER portion of the rail. I did not think that would be so cool having the compressor free-balling it down below the frame and coupled with the water inlet fitting issue I decided something else was needed. This is what I ended up with:
I'm not sure of an application. It *might* be off of a Kenworth chassis, but I do not know for sure. It is brand new, but got moist during an event where water was falling out of the sky and it developed the reddish coating on it--I think it might be called rust and the cause of it might be called rain--not sure though ;-). Anyways, it has a separate fitting that mounts onto it for the water inlet. This is great except a fitting is not made that will work for my application--no surprise there. I have my flange made and it is mounted on the housing. I am going to make the nipple for it out of a piece of heavy wall, mandrel bent exhaust tubing to clear the frame rail. The top of the housing will mount a bracket for the bottom of the alternator. This unit mounts the A/C compressor directly above the water inlet fitting up and away from any frame rail interference. Of course with this I needed yet ANOTHER different water outlet fitting (thermostat housing)--I think this is number four. The machined flange on the water outlet fitting will not be used. It looks just like this:
Part of the reason for needing another different water outlet was because a bracket for the top of the alternator was needed. It looks like this:
It is going to get a slight modification later on for reasons relating to lack of space for another part, but that is s story for another day. Now, with all of this, I get to use a different alternator. I decided to go with a nice hefty medium duty truck unit. Dodge alternator on right, MD truck is on left--slight size difference:
Here it is mocked up:
I just went over to Russ's (BadDog) house this afternoon and picked up a part he machined for the lower mount. Cummins makes what I need, but I ordered one several months ago and still have not received it. I guess they are still doing a survey to see if there is iron ore where they want to start mining. Then they will have to start the mining operation, process the ore, get it to a steel mill to be made into a part that I ordered. That being the case, I decided I will make one myself. I also dropped off some raw materials while I was there for him to machine into something REALLY cool that is going to help me deal with another issue that pooped up, but, once again, that is a story for another day.
I was a bit nervous about clearance for an accumulator to fit near the intercooler tube, so I dug out one that I had here and did a test fit:
By the looks of it, I am guessing my eyes were in calibration when I laid it out because it looks like it will fit good. The pic does not illustrate it too well, but there is a decent amount of clearance all the way around it.