Summer of upgrades, and then a problem

Fellow IDIT'arians
It has been a rewarding summer, though the fates kicked back right at the end.

In June I installed the Hypermax cold air hood scoop kit for the van. It was a pretty easy installation. What finally made me pull the trigger on this kit was zip tying a temp probe to the old air filters, which with the Hypermax Van Turbo Kit sit atop the valley. They reliably read 160 - 180 in the summer even at highway speed. After installing the new air intake kit I attached the temp probe to the new air filter location, and it functioned as an outside air temp gauge, like you'd expect.
To mark the occasion I turned the fuel delivery screw up 1 1/2 flats.
I took the rig up US 285 Turkey Creek Canyon out of Morrison CO, and noticed a big difference. The EGTs were much more controllable. I could stay either a full gear, or a Gear Vendors split, higher compared to the last time i drove up the grade.
Turning up the fuel caused a small puff of black smoke when I floored it under load, otherwise the exhaust ran clear. Prior I never produced smoke.

In 2012 my C6 failed on a road trip to visit the in laws. I went to AAMCO and they replaced it. Well, it turns out they put in a torque converter with a stall speed of 1900. So in July this year I had a Hughes Performence F43XFM stall speed 1200 rpm TC put in.
To mark the occasion I ordered a Wicked Wheel 2 compressor wheel from Justin and had it installed and balanced by Central Motive Power in Denver. And since the missus is already calling the rig her kitchen, as in their went the money for a new kitchen, I had the exhaust headers and up pipes and down pipe ceramic coated by Luftkraft in Colorado Springs.
The vehicle feels woke up now. At 65 mph the tach is about 300 less than with the old TC. Now grades where in the past I reliably had to downshift due to ever climbing EGTs and engine temp I was able to just chug up in third. The system just sat at 1100 EGTs with trans and engine temps stable.
With the WW2 compressor wheel the exhaust cleared up, and now there is no black smoke even under heavy load.

Well, I am starting to think AAMCO just took a stock C6 off their shelf back in 2012, even though I specifically asked for a heavy duty one suitable for a small diesel RV. Driving back from the Lake Tahoe area last week I started to notice a problem on the steep uphill grades where I still had to downshift to second gear. The transmission temps would rocket till the needle was pegged at max. Atop the pass or summit I would smell burning. But if I could stay in third, or if I had to drop down to first or one over, the transmission temps would stay under control.
I think I am burning out my second gear clutch pack. I am thinking that all the upgrades have upset the equilibrium that existed since the C6 was installed. (the engine was already turbo charged)

1989 Ford E 350 Born Free "President" converted to 4WD.
7.3 IDIT - C6 with Derale cooler - NP205 - GV - 3.54 - Hercules Terra Trac AT ll 285/75 R16 E Dia 32.60

Weight total 10,300 with water tank full
Front axle 3640
Rear axle 6660

I have read up on C6 upgrades, a lot on this site, and have come up with the following.

http://www.ckperformance.com/List/C6/Ford-C6-Competition-Components?sort=featured
EXTREME DUTY LOW DRAG WIDE RATIO 6 PINION PLANETARY GEARTRAIN ASSEMBLY
C6CC/EDWRPGA
This gear set upgrades the C6 to wide ratio specifications changing the first gear ratio from 2.46:1 to 2.72:1 and second gear ratio from 1.46:1 to 1.54:1 for a brutal increase in torque multiplication for faster acceleration in first and second gears. Expect better 60' times at the track and quicker acceleration in off road and pulling applications. This assembly is a must for all extreme duty C6 applications. The Included OEM 4R110W front and rear six pinion steel planetary carriers offer double the torque capacity of the OEM C6 three pinion type. All failure prone thrust washers are replaced with high capacity thrust bearing assemblies for increased durability and friction free operation.

https://www.oregonperformancetransmission.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OPT-C6-RBHP
C6 HP Rebuild Kit C-6 Transmission Master High Performance Overhaul Box Set Raybestos Stage 3
OPT Product Code: OPT-C6-RBHP
$209.99


Is this a good direction to go?
Does anyone know of a tranmission shop in the Denver area that could reliably take on this re-build?

Thanks

Rolf

As I found my second gear causing big transmission overheating, I wanted to maximize my ability to get home over Vail Pass and the Continental Divide.
Last year with exactly the same load I had to crawl up Vail Pass in first gear with the transfer case in 4 lo. I was doing 5 mph on the shoulder. That experience let me to question if something wasn't right in my drivetrain, and led to figuring out that I had a torque converter more fit for a gasser.
I stopped at Ghost Rock rest stop on I 70 in Utah and rigged a field expedient pre air filter water fogger to make my air intake temps as good as possible. I happened to have with me all the parts for Rob's water injection system, though I didn't have the tools to drill and tap the air intake hat for a true post turbo water injection. (Also, I want to bench test the sprayer more.)
Here are the pix, and a short vid showing what it did to air intake temps.
Long and short of it, with the summer time mods of the Hypermax hood scoop kit, the fuel delivery turned up 1 1/2 flats, a wicked wheel 2 compressor, and the Hughes 1200 rpm torque converter, and with regular squirts of the water fogger, I was able to make it up Vail Pass in one over doing about 30 mph with EGTs / trans temps / engine temps under good control.

Cool rig!
that's quite the field install. Cool how it worked as a pre filter setup I wouldnt imagine that would be the ideal spot for a permanent setup though.

here's a short vid of the temp unit upon a quick hit of the fogger

Thanks ShadetreeV. I have been reading a little about pre turbo water injection. It seems risky. I was willing to try it out on the last leg of my journey, especially as the filter I figured was going to protect my compressor wheel from being hit by droplets.
I am thinking the oil soaked cloth K & Ns are probably better at withstanding some mist.
This has, though, got me thinking about a low flow rate high pressure well atomized mister pre turbo, to reduce temps on hot summer days in the dry west, and then a real water injection post turbo.

You only want high pressure low volume, doing it pre turbo is risky and not as effective. If you have it post turbo a lot of the water will vaporize from the heat which brings the temperature of the air down drastically, just like with a carburetor. Doing a 50/50 mix with methanol is much better than straight water as well.

What do you think of propane injection pre turbo and water post?

DuRolf said:

To mark the occasion I ordered a Wicked Wheel 2 compressor wheel from Justin

With the WW2 compressor wheel the exhaust cleared up, and now there is no black smoke even under heavy load.

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I just put one of those WW2's in my hypermax van turbo and it's outstanding. Extremely underrated compressor.

DuRolf said:

1989 Ford E 350 Born Free "President" converted to 4WD.

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Holy balls. that is one sweet IDI van/RV. Who did the 4wd conversion?

DuRolf said:

You must be registered for see images attach

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I've considered running that Hypermax cold air setup, but like the van banks turbo kit, it takes up too much real estate in the front of the engine bay. If I run a cold air system, I'll custom fab it up in one of the battery trays, and move my 2nd battery to the frame.

DuRolf said:

What do you think of propane injection pre turbo and water post?

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You don’t need to complicate it more, with a proper water **** setup you can manage your egts pretty well. Propane is a fuel and it will just increase your egts.

Billet wheels are fine, but I wouldn’t install them without rebalancing your turbo with the wheel. Slapping on a chunk of aluminum disturbs the balance of the turbo and shortens it’s lifespan in many cases. I will not install them without rebalancing the turbo at my shop, which has upset some people in the past that were expecting to just buy the wheel and run it.

Thewespaul said:

You don’t need to complicate it more, with a proper water **** setup you can manage your egts pretty well. Propane is a fuel and it will just increase your egts.

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I partially agree with you here. If you are injecting propane vapor, yes. However, if you do liquid propane you get the added benefit of the heat of vaporization of the propane as well. Is it worth it?? That I can’t say. Wet kits are much more involved due to the pressure requirements in the system to keep the lp liquified.

laserjock said:

I partially agree with you here. If you are injecting propane vapor, yes. However, if you do liquid propane you get the added benefit of the heat of vaporization of the propane as well. Is it worth it?? That I can’t say. Wet kits are much more involved due to the pressure requirements in the system to keep the lp liquified.

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I have no personal experience with the wet systems, but they would definitely help egts more than the dry kits. I saw a big increase in egts running propane

Genscripter, you are actually the reason I put in the Wicked Wheel 2 compressor wheel. I figured, who else has a same generation van with a 7.3 Hypermax IDIT - C6 - GV? Your glowing report on your website got me to pull the trigger.
My rig was converted by a local mechanic. We took the NP205 off an old 4WD ambulance, and found a 3.54 Dana 60 front on junk yard sites.


Thewespaul and Laserjock, it seems like vapor propane injection is a lot easier to run than liquid propane. Your point about higher EGTs is well taken. That is what got me thinking about water injection too. The pre filter injection at a low rate, just so as to not leave 30 F on the table in the summer. Add in propane vapor post filter pre turbo. Then water post turbo.