Custom Parts

Windage plate for the low profile oil pan

If donor engine is from a truck it will have a stamped steel oil pan, generally with the sump located at the front.

Although oil pans are mirror image and can be reversed by using different oil pick up pipe, the steel pan does not have clearance when sump is at the rear.

Luckily Dennis Dart buses use the same alloy low-profile oil pan as the marine engines.

Please NOTE, low profile pans require modification to avoid windage.

Photo at left shows the baffle plate.

Laser cut stainless steel windage plate is approximately £10.

Turbocharger-Manifold Adaptor Wedge

The main weakness in using the Bowman CM600 manifold has been that it was designed primarily for normally aspirated engines. The turbocharger has to be mounted upside-down to clear the flywheel housing! - which is not ideal as it leaves little room for the turbo oil drain (or anything else for that matter).

For some time we have been using a 20 degree alloy wedge welded to the manifold to raise the turbo up and clear of the flywheel housing. Making a permanent modification such as this to such an expensive component has its drawbacks.

We now have a new option; a 25 degree bolt-on wedge which can be removed should the manifold fail or need to be replaced for some reason. The added benefit it that it gives ample room under the turbo for the oil drain and the raw water pipework - making a very neat installation.

Here you can see the turbo mounted onto the back of the CM600 manifold along with its Manuflex Exhaust Injection Elbow.

The Turbo and Elbow heat blankets have been removed for clarity.

Here we have a test setup with the wedge. Showing the raw cooling pipework and gearbox oil cooler hiding underneath.

A kit of parts is available through the project which includes the wedge itself; two custom exhaust gaskets and all fixings needed for one engine.

Production turbo wedge kits are available at £135 plus postage.

The Thermostat Housing Spacer

Due to misalignment between the thermostat housing and the inlet to the manifold, we have developed a spacer kit which moves the 'stat housing out and down, to allow a standard silicone elbow to be used. The kit will include the spacer, custom gasket and fixings to allow the existing housing with the vertical exit and rubber 'O' seal to be used along with your preferred thermostat.

Early indications suggest that the spacer will do what is asked of it, but we will be doing further testing at high power output to ensure it will pass enough water to cool the motor correctly.

July 2016: We have made a couple of small modifications to the spacer. The NPT plug has been replaced with a BSP radiator bleed valve. This makes bleeding the thermostat cavity a breeze. Fill up the header tank, open the valve, wait for the air to stop hissing and then shut off. So far we have not had any problems with air-locking round the thermostat. With such low hours on the engine we have not put any heavy load on it, but early indications show it may just be successful.

The second mod was to remove the custom (hand-made) gasket and use Loctite 5999 sealant. The stat spacer assembly is a very tight fit.

Bear in mind that there is a special assembly sequence, it is also important that the lifting link between the space and cylinder head is flat. We have now replaced the canted one with a straight one and the sealing between spacer and head is much better than the first attempt.

Se the project document for this custom part for the necessary assembly sequence, parts list and purchasing options.

Bottom Hose

One area which has foxed us for some time is the bottom hose to connect the closed circuit water outlet from the Bowman cooler to the Block water inlet casting.

Obtaining cost effective custom made silicone or rubber hoses has proven difficult and custom TIG welded stainless steel pipework is labour intensive due to the lack of the correct diameter tubing and elbows.

We working on a new idea to overcome the need for various tubes, hoses and pipe clips.

Once again, Watch This Space.

Gearbox Cooler Bracket

One of the benefits of the new turbo mounting wedge is that it allows the gearbox cooler - typically a Bowman EC100 model to be mounted on the aft end of the block and underneath the turbo. Leaving plenty of room for the turbo oil drain pipe. It is a simple folded steel or aluminium bracket which picks up the two M12 tappings on the back of the block and an optional strut to one of the flywheel housing bolt positions. Once the design is finalized we can either publish the drawing or supply a fabricated bracket.

Turbo Oil Feed and Drain pipe kit

Due to the aft position of the Turbocharger compared to the Automotive layout, a longer turbo oil feed pipe has been designed. This links one of the feed on top of the oil filter housing to the turbo oil feed and a pipe to connect the drain to the fitting on the block below the oil filter. In addition, your existing steel turbo drain fitting can be easily modified to be reused.

We expect this to be a kit of parts to include:-

Oil Feed Pipe in braided stainless with appropriate elbows and seals.
Drain pipe in chrome plated copper or stainless steel
Modification to your existing drain stub (Exchange)
Silicone joiner hoses x 2
Pipe clips x 4
Slimline block drain fitting.
P-clips and fixings to retain the oil feed pipe onto the cooler mounting bracket

Photos to Follow

Raw Water Cooling Pipework

This kit comprises the Left Hand pipe to connect the raw water pump to the gearbox cooler and the Right Hand pipe from the GB cooler to the heat exchanger. Also the necessary joiners and elbows along with the 1"BSP fittings to connect up to the heat exchanger and from the heat exchanger to the exhaust injection elbow.

If you just need the custom stainless pipework, then refer to the Project Bill of Materials for the list of other components to connect up.

You will also need to support the RH pipe to the heat exchanger mounting bracket with a couple of p-clips and fixings.

Photos to follow.