How to install a smokestack?

The first step is two bore a hole in the bed that is directly strait from the exhaust pipe. Then you need to remove the original exhaust pipes, leaving a little pipe from the muffler. The third step is to weld the flex pipe to the cut end of the pipe that comes from the muffler, and clamp the flex pipe to the pipe coming from the muffler with a stack clamp, for extra durability.The second step is to weld and clamp a 90 degree elbow pipe. Then you weld and clamp a strait pipe to the elbow pipe and screw a bracket to the truck bed and clamp the the bracket to the strait pipe at the bottom and top, this is for a single stack. Lastly you weld the stack tip on top of the strait pipe. The stack goes from the original exhaust diameter to the stack diameter. If you are doing dual stacks there would be a pipe that looks like two 90 degree elbow pipes where fused together. Of course the pipe would be clamped and welded. Then you would need to clamp and weld a strait pipe to the pipe that looks like two elbow pipes were fused together. Also you would screw a bracket into the truck bed, and clamp the bracket to the strait pipe. Then on both sides elbow pipes would be welded and then at the top of the pipe it would clamped to the bracket you just screwed into the truck bed. Lastly weld on the stack tips. Like I said before the stack has the original exhaust diameter at the bottom and expands to the stack diameter. Sometimes you can pay extra extra to put in a internal stack muffler to reduce noise levels. One interesting fact about smokestacks is they slightly increase fuel economy, because the heat exits faster than with the original exhaust pipe which allows to save fuel since it is not having to be cooled down as much.


Single Stack\



Dual Stacks


Quad stacks for people wanting to go the extra mile, same concept as installing dual stacks, but there is a 90 degree elbow the has two openings


Hood stack, another way of adding stacks

what is gear ratio?

Gear ratio is really just a speed ratio in a vehicle. The speed ratio is the ratio of angular velocity to the input gear and the angular velocity of the output gear in vehicles. You can calculate gear ratio by the number of teeth on the gears in a gear train. Torque ratio in the gear train is known as the mechanical advantage, which is determined by the gear ratio.


Gears in a automotive transmission

What is a vibration damper in a diesel engine?

A vibration damper is a device in a diesel engine. that is used to suppress wind included vibrations on taut cables such as a power line. This dumbbell looking device consists of two masses at the ends of a short length cable or flexible rod which is clamped at its middle to the main cable. The damper device is designed to dissipate the energy of oscillations in the main cable to an acceptable level.

What is a fuel separator?

It is basically a fuel bowl that separates water and fuel. Since water is heavier than fuel, the water will just separate from the fuel. The separated fuel will sit at the bottom of the filter. This system works until the filter becomes full of water. When the filter fills all the way up with water, water will travel with the fuel into the carburetor or the injection system.

Air compressor

A air compressor power tools like pneumatic guns, impact wrenches, sanders, drills, staplers, and spray guns, etc. The air is made in the compressor by having a fan run when the tools need more air. The air then gets compressed when it goes through the tube that connects to the tool, because the diameter of the the tube is smaller than the diameter of the air compressor tank. A important thing to remember with air compressors is not to put bottled gas in the compressor, because it will make the compressor blow up.

Places to go

Hershey Park - Hershey, PA off of I-76W

Indian Echo Taverns - Hammelstown, PA off of I-76W

Saratoga Springs - Saratoga, NY off of I-90W

Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom - Allentown, PA off of  I-81W

What is a transmission?

A transmission is basically just a gearbox that uses multiple gear trains and gears to supply the vehicle with speed and torque from a rotating power source to another device in the engine. There are two kinds of transmissions, a manual one and a automatic transmission. In a manual you have to shift the gears yourself, while in a automatic the gears shift for you.


Transmission

What is a electro-thermal heater controller?

This system was used in 1982 to 1984 6.2 liter diesel engines. This electro-thermal heater controller threads into the water jacket, which senses engine coolant pressure and contains some tiny electric heaters to help assist three bi metal switches. Inside the controller there are four electric heaters that alternately heat up and cool down, that cause the bi metal switches to  open and close the glow plug relay circuit.

What is a turbocharger?

A turbocharger is a device in a engine, that gives a engine more torque and horsepower. So with a turbocharger you could have a small car engine be as powerful as a large car engine. Usually engines that have a turbocharger are more energy efficient than a engine without a turbocharger, because the turbine forces more air,and proportionally more fuel into the combustion chamber of the engine more than atmospheric pressure alone.


Air Foil Bearing Turbocharger

What is the Housing Pressure Altitude Advance (HPAA) system?

The HPAA is a system in a diesel engine that regulates the housing pressure in accordance to the altitude. The Housing Pressure Altitude Advance system is located in the fuel return line of the engine. When HPAA solenoid is on, it has a glass check ball that is seated and regulates pressure at 5 psi. When this system is off it gets moved off its seat, and does not regulate the fuel return line.

How does a fuel heater work in a diesel engine?

The fuel heater in a engine gets activated by the glow plug cycle. The heater always has 12 volts of electricity on it. The heater in the engine is usually mounted on three or four pads. These pads have a temperature sensitive resistor. One thermistors is connected to the ground through the mounting of a metal heating plate, the heater part of the thermistor is connected to the other side. The 12 volt is always the heater side when the ignition key is turned on, and it heats the heater. The mounting pads start at a low ohm with low voltage, and go to a high ohm.

What is a vacuum pump?

A vacuum pump is a part of a diesel engine. A vacuum pump is in a diesel engine, because it is necessary to help operate mechanisms in the engine. The vacuum pump helps operate the assist brake and the cruise control.



Vacuum Pump

What is a manifold?

A manifold is a device in a engine, there is a intake manifold and a exhaust manifold. A intake manifold distributes air and fuel to the cylinders. A exhaust manifold directs exhaust to rear of the car. A manifold has several cylinders.


Intake manifold


Exhaust manifold

What is a camshaft?

A camshaft is a cam fastened on a shaft that can form an integral part. The camshaft operates poppet valves in a internal combustion engine with pistons. The device consists of a cylindrical rod running the length of the cylinder bank with a number of oblong lobes protuding from it, one for each valve. The cam lobes force the valves open by forcing the valve, or on some intermediate mechanism as they rotate.

Camshaft operating valves

What is a glow plug?

A glow plug is a heating device to help start a diesel engine. The glow plug is a pencil shaped piece that has a heating element at the end. The device starts to heat up when it receives electricity, when it retrieves electricity it starts to glow. The heat goes to cylinders in the engine to heat the block heater.


Glow plug

What does it mean when a engine is idling?

The term is used when the engine is running, but there is no pressure on the gas pedal. If it the engine is idling high, the engine is running fast, while if the engine is idling slow the engine is running slow.

What is a governor and its function in a diesel engine?

A governor is a flyweight assembly in the engine that detects engine speed. The governor helps the fuel come into the engine proportionally. There are two flyweights on the governor that are fitted to a ball head that rotates on a vertical axis driven by the gear wheel. The centrifugal force throws the weight outwards, lifting the vertical spindle and compressing the spring until equilibrium. The equilibrium or set speed can be changed by the speed selector, which alters the spring compression.


Governor

How can diesel engines have water and rust not affect them?

Well to protect against rust, diesel engines have rust inhibitors. These rust inhibitors stop the formation of rust in the injectors, and the fuel line, as long as no leaks are present in the engine. To have water  not affect the engine, just be careful where you put your fluids.

Why are diesel engines more efficient than gas engines?

The main reason that diesel engines are more efficient is they use more fuel to power the car than heat the car. Another way how diesel is more efficient than gas is diesel has more calories a gallon, than gasoline. A third reason diesel is more efficient is a higher compression ratio, diesel is usually 20 : 1, while gas is around 8 : 1.

Why diesel engines last longer than gas engines

One of the main reasons diesel engines last longer than gas engines is diesel fuel comes from a lower petroleum distillate than gasoline and it lubricates the fuel pump, injectors, which helps reduce the wear on the engine. Another reason diesel engines last longer, is they are made to driven on more, than any other engine. A third reason that a diesel engine can last longer than any other engine, is they are overbuilt so they can last.

How diesel the fuel system differs from the gasoline system

In a diesel engine the fuel is sprayed into the combustion chamber, the more fuel sprayed in, the more power the engine will produce. In diesel engines there are no throttle plates to limit air into the intake manifold, while gasoline engines have them. The only way to control the fuel injection is having a supply of unrestricted supply of air through the intake. In fuel injection systems, there are two major sub-systems, low pressure (supply/transfer) , high pressure (delivery) portion. The low pressure transfers fuel from the tank to the engine for use as a injection pump. The fuel is drawn by a lower pressure pump, through a series of screens and filters / water separators to the high injection pump. A bypass system brings excess fuel back to the tank. A high pressure fuel injection pump meters fuel to the cylinder in minute high pressure squirts. These fuel pulses are directed to the fuel injectors of each cylinder in the firing order of the engine. When more power and speed is desired, the fuel injection system sprays more fuel into the cylinder. When maximum speed is reached, a governor limits the delivery of fuel.

Diesel engine

The diesel engine is also known as the compression-ignition engine, it is a internal combustion engine that uses heat compression to ignite the fuel source that is injected into the combustion chamber. Diesel engines have the highest thermal efficiency on any standard internal or a external combustion engine, because of it very high compression ratio. A low speed diesel engine is usually used in ships, where overall engine weight does not matter that much. Diesel engines are manufactured in two or four stroke.

Diesel engine block heater

The engine block heater is used on diesel vehicles in cold weather, to keep the engine from freezing. This heater mounts directly to the engine in place of a freeze plug or a pipe plug. Engine block heaters can be installed in a hour or two. Before you turn on the heater, you should fill the engine with coolant, and test the engine. To get the block to heat the engine you plug a block heater cord into a outlet. A cold diesel engine can make the vehicle hard to start up, and it decreases your battery output amperage.

Pine Box

      This is a box that I made at school during my shop week. Overall the box was pretty easy to make. Like the the usual just milling down stock, cutting, to width, and length. The sides and ends are joined together with a tongue and groove joint. To make this joint, you install a dado set on a table saw. I installed the hinge in the back by make a dado cut, then making a smaller cut in the center of the dado. Lastly I attached the hinges on with a drill.

Tea boxes

These are some tea boxes that I made in school during shop week. These boxes were pretty simple to make. We made them out of pine, because it is cheap wood. I cut out box joints to join the ends to the sides. Then made the round profile on a edge sander. To make make the arches on top I cut them out on the band saw. I got the profile on the edge of the top by hand sanding it.