192º Thermostat - Parts Diagram/dimensions added page 1

kapalczynski · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 9:14 am

DOC4444 wrote:

I finally now have all the parts/tools on hand to do the timing belt etc. etc. service. Plan to get to it in the next couple of months. I will then have a core thermostat to send to you. Hope you do another production run down the road.

You are providing a priceless service to the KJ CRD community.

DOC

Thanks, as of now I still plan to do more of them. I did put my name in the hat for an assignment in Australia though...probably a small chance I get the assignment, but Wife and I are ready to travel so gotta try.

Not sure on production after that...alot of questions: Can I bring my lathe/mill with me, shipping costs of materials to me, shipping costs of units to the states, etc may not all be worth it. The local population w/CRD's may want a piece of the action over there though, so who knows. Its a 4 year assignment if I get it and it wouldn't be until Oct.

racertracer wrote:

Kap,

I commend you and thank you.

Question: what is your lead time now?

I am getting ready to do my timing belt and thermostat service and want to plan ahead.

Not sure, but I will have a pretty good time frame estimate after this batch is complete. We can use this batch for a reference to future batch turn around times.

Bigger batches does cut down time a lot, but annother thing for me to consider is if the batch gets bigger, so does the $ for parts I have to front to make the big batch (all the parts x15 units in this case) and the availability for 15 parts may be delayed if I order them all at once.

- Mark

fastRob · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:14 am

I would be happy send in the fee plus core charge if you could use the money and I am any where near getting a thermostat in the next month or 2 or 3.
You have spent quite a bit already.
Please indicate how much and where to send the money order or bank check.
The check is in the mail, well, it could be, please let me know by pm.
Your organizational skills are incredible.

bugnout · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:27 am

i'd be more than happy to send money to you.

kapalczynski · **Posted:** Wed Feb 16, 2011 2:41 pm

I know, you guys are great and I've had the offer for people to front the money SEVERAL times.

I just don't want everyone throwing $$$ at me...as much as this sounds good, :ROTFL:

, it could turn into a hassle:
I have to keep track of who paid, who didn't, who paid how much, did they pay for the extra thermostat if they got one, did they pay for the brass, etc, etc, etc.

I'd rather front the money myself since its nice for you guys and easier for me to keep records straight. This way don't have $ out there and have no unit in their hands. That's always an uneasy feeling, if people get tired of waiting, etc and want it back, that can be a huge hassle, especially if it is spent on parts already.

Since I've already fronted the $ so far, as I get paid for the next couple units I will have the full amount of $ from them to throw back into the project, etc.

I also already have enough gasket material for several several units (bought in bulk) and almost 2 feet of the material for the bypass port insert (makes a lot of units), have about a foot of the intermediate plate material (makes several units), have several brass ports left still (makes a few units), a couple thermostats, stainless nuts and washers and threaded rod (enough to make at least this batch I think on stainless hardware), etc so I will not need to front all the costs since a lot of the materials are purchased already.

Not too worried about it yet, I still have to get the units to the stage where they need the parts, right now I have 15 that all need to be fly cut and it takes a while to get each unit setup to be level and fly cut them and drill/tap them before they are even ready for following stages.

Another thing I thought of is I can build the units all ready to go except the top water outlet (most expensive part) and the thermostats to save on overhead. Then request payment at that point knowing it is ready to go pending parts arrival and assembly/pressure testing which would be fast.

I learned fast that keeping vast amounts of records bogs down my time and I have less useful time to get things done in the garage. The waiting list has proven into the most useful tool to just know who is up, who sent a core, if I shipped theirs, if they returned a core, and everyone has access which is nice. <-- this takes enough time to keep updated, but is manageable and necessary for keeping things organized and worth my time. I also have access to the list at home, a friends house, etc and can update it from anywhere.

With everything else: names/usernames, phone numbers, addresses, etc, I don't post on the waiting list for obvious confidential reasons. I think its best to contact you guys when your unit is close to being ready, get a phone number/address, and call you if I have questions like what options you want, etc.

Thanks for all the encouragement, help, EVERYTHING you guys do for me, this project, and CRDr's in general--I couldn't imagine a better group of people. The CRD community specifically is so amazing at helping each other out, coming up with solutions to problems, and just generally being a fantastic quality group of people. I really mean that, you all are great. You are more like a family of friends than a random group of car guys.

- Mark

kapalczynski · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:59 am

**UPDATE**

I oficially got notified...Just wanted to let you all know...I got an assignment to Australia. The report date is 10 Oct 2011 and is a 4 year assignment. I am not sure on the leave date. This may be the last batch I do before the move as I need to start moving things to storage to stage our house and sell it. I am not sure about production over seas. There are a lot of complications such as electricity itself (230V and 50Hz instead of 115V/60Hz) and shipping costs from Australia, etc. The motors on my lathe and mill are industrial and may be able to operate at different voltages so I will check into that possability. I will get as much done as I can before I go, but can't make any promises beyond trying to get this batch done. Keith at GDE donated an extra core along side his he sent me and I may have a couple loaner cores done w/ this batch to fufill a few more orders besides the cores sent to me already. Also, if anyone needs a temp sensor, Keith sent me an extra one w/ one of his cores so its free for someone if they need it.

I started on surface cutting the cores today. While feeding, I noticed the lead screw on the lathe was not turning at a constant rate and jumping around a little bit. Turns out a roll pin for the lead screw had sheared off! Gonna make a trip to the store and should be back in working order hopefully. I was wondering why the feed seemed uneven, it was allowing some movement that shouldn't be there.

Well, now that I have that figured out, we should be up and running again soon. :pepper:

I'll keep you all posted as usual.

- Mark

bugnout · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:05 am

Congratulations Mark!!

Choice assignment :pepper:

I was sent TDY to Sydney a couple of times, and I loved it.

Roostre · **Joined:** Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:57 pm **Posts:** 195

Congrats on the move Mark! I've often dreamed of seeing that part of the world!

:rockon:

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:54 am

Nice... Congrats! Now the brethren down-under don't won't have to pay crazy fees to get your design shipped to them (there are a lot more CRDers there, yes?).

Dan

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:02 pm

Congratulations!
start checking out the LOST Downunder - they have great trips
look at Fraiser Island (if it's close, Australia is ~ the same size at the Continental US)

and lots of KJ CRD's - they just call them Cherokees.....but they do have the new ones
probably a CRD Wrangler too.

racertracer · **Posted:** Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:43 pm

Congratulations..... But now that you’re leaving, a question remains: who are the lucky few that will be the beneficiaries of your modified Thermostat?

painemann · **Joined:** Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:02 pm **Posts:** 607

Congrats!! I guess I'll just order the OEM tstat with the rest of the t-belt stuff. Good luck.

GreenDieselEngineering · **Joined:** Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:10 pm **Posts:** 1111

Mark,

We have a tune for the Wrangler CRD in Australia. Fun to drive and great off road with the low end torque and precise throttle control for rock crawling. Or maybe the Grand Cherokee CRD, we will have a tune for that rig in a couple weeks. Many benefits down under!!

DocB · **Posted:** Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:25 am

Mark,

Can we still send in our core, or is this it?

Thanks.

kapalczynski · **Posted:** Wed Mar 02, 2011 4:02 am

Thanks for the congratz guys.

DocB - Yes, if you have a core and want it done get it to me ASAP!

I will most likely get this batch completely done and hope to get a bit more done too if I have the time. If you get me your cores ASAP, I will get them in this batch as long as I haven't gone past the point of switching from milling/drilling/tapping to lathing. Once that happens, I will be switching out the vise portion on teh lathe/mill to the tool rest and using the lathe portion to do the round parts on the lathe/mill. I guess this is the disadvantage of it being an all-in-one machine - setup time. Once I get this batch done, I will consider annother one if there is time. I just do not want to burden this batch to the point of not being sure I can get it done so I need to close it off at some point soon.

I will not however not add anyone else to the waiting list if they do not have a core to send me.

I hope that adds clarification.

Roostre, I will definately consider sharing the project with people if they have the initiative. You need a lathe, a mill, a shop press, tap's and dies, etc to make the units. I plan on taking my lathe/mill to Australia though the electricity being different will make things interesting. A transformer will let me get down to the correct voltage, however it will operate slower at 50hz instead of 60hz and I am not sure how much a transformer costs to run the lathe's amperage since it is towards the max of a circuit here in the states so wether the project can continue will be up to that.

My main concearn is quality of the products if I let someone else make them. I have no doubt about other peoples abilities to do the work, just concearned that everything gets finessed correctly to all work out right. Getting the holes for the studs drilled/tapped in the exact spots necessary is mostly done by hand guestimating a little bit using the adapter plate to ensure correct spacing, marking the holes and driling, etc. The stud spacing needs to be exact for the plate to fit correct, etc. I have learned alot and had to adapt alot to do this project and know the learning curve will be a bit steep for someone to pick up the project. If anyone can do it, one of us CRD'ers can though. I think we are all smarter than the average guy.

Roostre, I have no doubt you have the abilities to do this if you have the time, etc. I am no more than a hobbiest machinist myself. If you want to take the reins on this project give me a call so we can talk about what all it takes to get one of these little things produced. I'll shoot you a PM with my #

- Mark

fastRob · **Posted:** Wed Mar 02, 2011 8:49 am

Great bit of luck old Chap.
Fosters beer in generous sized cans, kangaroos, Diesel Wranglers, Lots of Outback
The opportunity of a lifetime! :BINGO:

taroo · **Joined:** Sun Apr 27, 2008 2:14 pm **Posts:** 292

Congrats, Mark....you will have a blast.

So, wonder if a group of LOST CRD owners could gather at your house before you packout and whip out the entire lot of T-stats in a weeknd assuming we could get enough cores there? Hmmmmm

dgeist · **Posted:** Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:48 pm

Colorado Springs is pretty central for everyone, right? :wink:

Dan

stoutdog · **Posted:** Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:40 pm

Hey all,

I received Mark's new tstat the other week and finally got a few free hours to get it installed (that turned into a two-day event, when I discovered that my airbox-to-turbo hose had rotted through from CCV oil, but that's another story). I ran the Jeep out to the mountains east of here today, which included about 30 minutes at 75mph. The needle stands almost straight up now, and certainly higher than before... right about where 192* is supposed to be! And it never went over.

The new brass ports are wonderful and there is no issue sliding the hose over the slightly larger port. You will, however, need to purchase a worm clamp (the original spring clamp will not fit over the lip on the larger brass port).

Just a few random thoughts:

- I drained the coolant and threw a towel over the bucket to keep debris out. This kept coolant spillage to a minimum. The 10mm drain key works wonders here, with a ratcheting wrench.
- I'd recommend removing not just the airbox, but the airbox-to-turbo hose. Gives you much more working room
- You should be able to get by with only undoing two hoses not connected to the tstat - only the CAC hose and the second hose to the unit in front of the tstat (the viscous heater, I believe) need to be moved out of the way
- Get an extendable magnet, it works wonders for getting those tstat bolts out without dropping them into the engine. Just unscrew until they are loose and stick the magnet back there.
- I used an exacto knife to scrape the old gasket off the engine block - took about 10 minutes. Definitely plug the hole with a paper towel first.
- I used a little Ultra Black Silicone gasket maker on the new gasket, just for paranoia's sake.
- For getting the bolts in and out, I found a 6" wobble extension for a 1/4" ratchet to work fine, with a long socket. If you have a 1/4" to 3/8" drive adapter, I'd use that... the original bolts are torqued down quite tight and the little ratchet doesn't have much leverage.
- Mark supplies you with some hose grease - use it. Both ends of the upper radiator hose and the hose that goes over the larger brass port need it.
- The new upper radiator hose needs to be trimmed back a hair. Measure first, but I ended up taking about 1/2" off.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Enjoy!

-Will

painemann · **Joined:** Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:02 pm **Posts:** 607

stoutdog wrote:

Hey all,

I received Mark's new tstat the other week and finally got a few free hours to get it installed (that turned into a two-day event, when I discovered that my airbox-to-turbo hose had rotted through from CCV oil, but that's another story).

-Will

Mine did the same thing, not a good design, I'm guessing a bunch of others have the same issue but are unaware! Check them!

--- wish I had a sweet thermostat! Looks like I never will seeing as he is moving, I am in Colorado for business right now too so if anyone want's to give me theirs let me know I can go pick it up! HA

Roostre · **Joined:** Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:57 pm **Posts:** 195

192º Thermostat - Parts Diagram/dimensions added page 1

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