blu_by_u's P-pump swap

I actually started this project on June 22nd but have been taking pictures and my sweet time appearantly.

I decided that it would be best for me to pull the engine out of the truck since I wanted to also replace several gaskets and seals during this opportunity. Plus it would also allow me to paint the engine much easier.

Here is where the truck will be sitting for a while now. I'm already draining the coolant in this pic.


The engine as it looks with the VP44.


It's hiding in there, hoping that I can't find it and exterminate it but I know exactly where to find that pesky little VP44


Off comes the bumper.


Next the radiator, charge air cooler, and move the freon condenser off to the side.


Close up of the exposed engine.


The next day arrives with help to actually pull the engine out.


After being "sure" countless times that I disconnected all of the harnesses, wires, cables and hoses, the engine is FINALLY free of the truck!


Here the engine is sitting on the floor. I'm not crazy about it just being a stack of lumber that the engine is sitting, though.


Empty engine bay.


A good friend of mine taught me that these engines sit nicely on the flywheel housing. This is EXTREMELY helpful for a couple of reasons.


The first and obvious reason that this is helpful is to be able to pull the oil pan off easily to inspect the main bearings.


I pulled the #4 mian cap.


I couldn't be more happy with what I see at almost 200,000 miles. So I put the cap back on and didn't even touch the rest of the mains and rod caps. I feel like I would be running into a greater risk of causing damage by changing bearings when I didn't need to.

Since I want to paint the engine before I'm all done, I need to get as much of the grease and chipped paint off as possible first. So off to the car wash we go!


Back from the car wash I actually took the time to assemble some sort of crate to sit the engine on.


The first thing I did to the engine was to tackle the rear freeze plug. I don't really intend to run a lot of rpm with this truck, the fear of this freeze plug leaking on me while in the truck worries me. So I bought a billet rear freeze plug from eatsoot.com that shouldn't leak at all. Plus this lets me install a coolant bypass later if I decide that is needed.


Simply tap out the original freeze plug....


Then a light film of grease on the O-ring and bolt in the billet freeze plug. I'm really impressed with the quality and price of this piece.


Then I replaced the rear main seal.


Next I decided to get the 12valve gear housing ready by removing the TDC pin from the housing.


Then I bolted the cam sensor relocation block in place of the TDC pin.


You can see how much material that you have to remove in order to place the cam sensor properly. I simply followed the instructions which tell you to mark the area that needs to be removed and grind it away. Again, this piece is from eatsoot.com and am impressed with both the quality and price of this piece.


Now I'm ready to start tearing the engine down! So back up on the flywheel housing it goes. I rotated the camera to make the engine look like it was sitting normally and wasn't hard to look at.


Oh no, now my warranty is voided! I couldn't resist taking this picture.


First off come the injection lines.


Then the fuel filter.


Then the VP44 injection pump.


Then the ECM and the wire harness.


Next the tappet cover comes off.


Then the valve cover, along with the push tubes and rockers.


Here's a picture of the entire engine at this point.


Focusing on the gear train.


No need for the VP44 pump drive gear anymore. Now I'm ready to pull the cam out. I've never done any of this (but have wanted to ever since I can remember) so I'm really anxious at this point.


First I have to unbolt the cam retainer.


Cam coming out.


Cam is out!


"Look ma, no dowel rods!" Here's probably the biggest advantage to sitting the engine on the flywheel housing to do this job. I don't have to worry about the tappets falling because gravity isn't pulling them down.


Next I take off the 24valve gear housing. I ended up taking the oil pump off too so that I could scrape the old gasket off better.

At this point I'm waiting for more parts to show up, so I decided to tackle a few other things. I noticed the oil cooler was leaking.


Looking at the old gasket I can see easily that the gasket had failed.


Close up of failed gasket.


Then I masked off and painted this side of the engine, along with the front.



After doing about all that I could think of to the engine before parts started showing up again, I decided to begin removing my Walbro pump to make room for my new AirDog 150. Sorry for the glare/poor picture.

I need to empty the 3/4 tank of fuel some how. This container was about the best thing I could find in my garage. We probably won't use it for dog food anymore - haha. The bad thing is that the container is now full and I have plenty more fuel in the truck's tank.


After coming back from a friend's house/shop with a nice press, I'm back to work on the engine. On the left is my new Big Stick cam from Colt Cams. The cam on the right is my stocker. I bought it through Source Automotive and will tell you that their customer service is excellent.


Here is one of the biggest reasons I decided to buy a cam, the cam gear retainer. Maybe it's not too tough to drill and tap a hole for the retainer, but I thought this might be a good excuse to buy one.


Since I've never put an engine together, I wasn't sure what would be the best engine assembly lube to use. I went to the local auto parts stores and the products they had just didn't impress me for some reason. I really wouldn't know what makes a good lube and what doesn't, but something didn't seem right with their products. So I went to the local John Deere dealer (I like to support them when ever possible since I work for the company now). They suggested to use Lubriplate 105 so I bought a tube. Then when I got home I read through the Cummins manual and it recommended the same thing! I was pretty happy with my purchase! Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I probably used twices as much as needed.


Here I lubed the lifters where they slide in the block and where the push tubes ride in the cup. This is also another view of how the lifters stay in place when the block is sitting on the flywheel.


And of course I lubed up the face of the lifters pretty liberally.


Here's a pic of the new cam after lubing every journal and lobe. I even lubed the lift pump lobe, which I won't even be using - haha. I also made sure to put a generous amount of Lubriplate where the cam retainer holds the cam in the block.


And there it is, the cam is in!


With all of that done, I cleaned put in my P-pump drive gear. Then I installed the front gear cover with a new crank seal. I sure hope the new seal doesn't leak!

This is how I started the next day... I found a place to put the fuel from the truck! I wonder what the neighbors thought - hahaha


I installed the oil pan next. I completely ruined the oil pan gasket three ways: over-torquing, using the wrong torque sequence, and by using too much RTV. I found a nearby store that had two oil pan gaskets in stock and bought both because they were only open for another 2 hours and wasn't going to risk halting progress if I messed up a second gasket.


I installed the 12 valve tappet cover that I bought new. Looks like there is a hole in the block that I need to cover up since I won't be using a mechanical lift pump and need to remove the original lift pump bracket.


And just like everyone says, a cheap Chevy big block fuel pump block off plate works like a charm! Also adds a little bling. I just hope it doesn't limit my power output any (sorry Chevy fans, I couldn't help myself)


With all of that done, and getting near the end of the day, we couldn't resist placing the P-pump on the engine, along with the Tunnel Ram that I bought, and the conversion lines.

Looks great Craig! Like you said though you probably went a little overboard on lubing the cam up for install.

CSnyder said:

Looks great Craig! Like you said though you probably went a little overboard on lubing the cam up for install.

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Thanks! Yeah I was pretty sure I did, but I figure that stuff is cheap compared to an engine with galled cam journals.

I've seriously been thinking about cutting a hole in the wall to put an AC unit in the garage. This heat is nuts!

blu_by_u said:

Thanks! Yeah I was pretty sure I did, but I figure that stuff is cheap compared to an engine with galled cam journals.

I've seriously been thinking about cutting a hole in the wall to put an AC unit in the garage. This heat is nuts!

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it doesnt take a pro carpenter to frame in a hole and once you cut the humidity out of the air its comfy in any temp to work.

Build looks good so far!

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Looks good! I prefer BG pre lube but a lot of old school guys swear by lubriplate. Also I silicone the oil pan. Just easier. Kinda sucks to scrape it all off if you ever have it apart again. Doesn't leak though. Good work!:clap:

i used the same tps kit on mine. one tip for ya. put a nyloc nut on the back side of the throttle linkage on the firewall end after you get the idle set. mine would back completly out and fall off until i done that

Where did that tps kit come from?

Crazy carl

Sent with a Droid RAZR in one hand and 14,000 volts in the other.

Or you can build your own TPS kit like I did.

Did you have trouble drilling the TPS for the adapter? I had cobalt bits that would hardly even scratch that piece. Long story short I had to take it to a machine shop and the guy there said he broke the tip off his carbide bit three times trying to drill those two holes.

little6cylinder said:

Looks good! I prefer BG pre lube but a lot of old school guys swear by lubriplate. Also I silicone the oil pan. Just easier. Kinda sucks to scrape it all off if you ever have it apart again. Doesn't leak though. Good work!:clap:

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Fel pro oil pan gaskets are cheap and gotta be easier than using sealant.

rockytopcummins said:

Did you have trouble drilling the TPS for the adapter? I had cobalt bits that would hardly even scratch that piece. Long story short I had to take it to a machine shop and the guy there said he broke the tip off his carbide bit three times trying to drill those two holes.

Click to expand...

Yes I did. I ended up using a uni-bit and that thing squealed like a mofo but it cut through it.

nice writeup!

Thanks for all of the comments.

I completely ruined a new 3/16th" bit on the first hole that I drilled in the TPS. I think the 2nd bit that I used on the 2nd hole is probably trash too.

I read in the manual that it calls for using RTV on both sides of the oil pan gasket. If I had known that I could have just used straight up RTV w/o a gasket, that sure is the way I would've gone! Oh well, maybe next time.

Last night I put the flywheel on and took off the P-pump, lines and Tunnel Ram because I still need to adjust the valves and time the pump. So no point in having all of that on. Sure does look like I took a few steps backwards, but I know different.

Tonight I set the valves. Broke a 5mm hex driver in the process. I was going to install the clutch but I think I want to see about pressing in a new pilot bearing first. It doesn't feel smooth when I turn it.

Might as well do it while your there!

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