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1986 GMC 3+3 dually build.- cummins swap.. Round 2, 2024 update.

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Well guys, I have been thrashing on this for about a week or so. I got the govern spring in and motor all wrappped up and front clip of. This is where the fun really begins and so far, im burned out on it, my arms are dead and i hate my driveway.

Here are the pictures cuz thats what you guys care about!

front clip off!...now where to put it...
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Next step of course was to wirewheel the frame and firewall area, oh how i love wiring wheeling.
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I didnt like these holes left over from the 2wd parts so i plated the inside of the frame and filled all the holes with weld.
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I then rust bulleted the frame and the firewall area.
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I was excited so i wrestled the motor in last night, i put it down on the stock 2wd mounts i had on the frame, they are WAY to high so back to the drawing boards this morning.


Well, the 2wd frame cross member is odd and in the way of everything, so some thick C channel welded in and then the old xmember taken out!
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This is the confusing and difficult part of this whole swap, atleast for me. I have read thousands of different builds it seems, and gone over lots of different ideas on what to do. I didnt wanna spend the 500bucks from companies that make the xmember and motor mounts, i have plenty of skill to do it, so why not!

I used 89-93 dodge motor mounts, i then cut down the mounts to make them closer to the block, this i hope will allow it to sit lower.
http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/c...93-1978-chevy-crew-cab-cummins-repower-2.html
I then copied a build i saw on another site.



i used wood to help myself mock up the xmember and I will be making the real one in the morning.. I spent most of today fighting the stupid ass heavy motor rolling around my driveway. Aka not rolling cuz our driveway is messed up. I also had many issue of the engine just twisting, but either way i am feeling better about it and i hope by tmrow I can have this mounted in the truck. Then it needs to come back out so i can cut my 2wd trans tunnel.
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This is the perk of my job though.. i get to make sure this is perfect, with the next month or so off. :)

Expect many more updates!
 
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Well im glad your hard at it! Sometimes being hard at something for a long time is tough! It has killed a lot of projects.
 
I had to remove that front cross member on my 4wd truck too. I welded in a piece of 2" x 4" in almost the same place you added the channel.

You're going to find that the dodge A/C compressor will run right into the passenger frame rail, so take it off to mock up the engine. Some guys take the lazy way out and simply notch the frame. My build was very similar to yours - I spent a ton of time and attention to the little details and wanted my build to appear factory so cutting the frame was not an option. I ended up making new accessory brackets for the right side of the engine. I mounted a sanden compressor about 4" higher than the dodge compressor location, and I used the GM 1 wire alternator
 
rompinstompinmudmonkey said:
I had to remove that front cross member on my 4wd truck too. I welded in a piece of 2" x 4" in almost the same place you added the channel.

You're going to find that the dodge A/C compressor will run right into the passenger frame rail, so take it off to mock up the engine. Some guys take the lazy way out and simply notch the frame. My build was very similar to yours - I spent a ton of time and attention to the little details and wanted my build to appear factory so cutting the frame was not an option. I ended up making new accessory brackets for the right side of the engine. I mounted a sanden compressor about 4" higher than the dodge compressor location, and I used the GM 1 wire alternator
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thanks for the tips! I did end up taking the compressor off. Right now I have been search a ton for the compressor bracket i heard of via searching that puts the compressor up top, the cummins dealership says they can order it for me, its 178bucks though! We will see!

I definitely want the 1wire alternator too, I actually tacked the motor in its final location tonight. very excited! More picture in the morning.
 
You're going to have more trouble fitting the transmission under the transmission hump than you will fitting the engine in the engine bay. 2wd trucks have a shorter transmission hump, and it isn't removeable like the 4wd trans humps are. Before you do the final welds on your motor mounts you better mock up the trans too!!!
 
rompinstompinmudmonkey said:
You're going to have more trouble fitting the transmission under the transmission hump than you will fitting the engine in the engine bay. 2wd trucks have a shorter transmission hump, and it isn't removeable like the 4wd trans humps are. Before you do the final welds on your motor mounts you better mock up the trans too!!!
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oh yeah, the trans tunnel is coming out in the morning, i have the bellhousing on the back of the motor at the moment to check for lack of clearance.. which i can already see where the issues are! Luckily I have a 4wd bolt in trans tunnel that I will be putting it on once the interior comes out and i cut it all out. Time for sheetmetal work!
 
damn this heat is killing me! I didnt touch it on the 4th of july, spent it downhilling with friends... mountain bikes are WAY cheaper and better than these stupid trucks..:D

Woke up and had a game plan, i had previously tore out the interior so i could cut the trans tunnel out and mock up the nv4500. I do not have a transmission jack and i am alone all day so this makes it tricky. I took some measurements and used my new zip saw in the interior, i love not having sparks fly everywhere and its not as loud as an angle grinder!
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While taking the interior out i thought it was cool the original tag for the carpet was still there!
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i wanted to show you guys how i did the motor mount area, everything is tacked in at the moment, i plan on fully welding it all in the morning, lots of measuring has been done to make the motor angled correct/side to side etc. I will most likely plate it back to the frame once i get the motor out in the morning.

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I took out the motor this morning, and then took out my big hammer..started beat the living hell outta the trans tunnel, it went really well, and i then put the motor back in to see if i could get to the top two bellhousing bolt, and it was a success so onto the transmission install.

I cut out this hole to start the process,, ended up being a lot larger by the end of the night.
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Getting the transmission under there was a BITCH! I only had my normal jack and i was home alone, so lots of ratchet straps to make sure i didnt die, and as you can see.. my feet shuving the trans up as it was falling off the jack.
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I got so exhausted because its about 90F here every time i work on it and at this point was just about the time my brother got home from work, he said his mechanic at the shop said we can borrow the trans jack! So a quick drive and come back, transmission went RIGHT in.. man having the right tool is great.
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I couldnt help myself, had to put the stick in there and make driving sounds as i shifted. :haha:


I had the trans up and ready, so i needed to make my xmember for it before i took it all out again to final weld and create trans tunnel. I did the same xmember with my blazer and it worked great.
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My plan tomorrow is to take the whole drivetrain out, trans, motor and weld up the motormount and paint clean up the frame/trans tunnel area.

My next challenge is to create my trans tunnel.. i really am worried about the divorced Tcase and where my shifters will be. I know i am going to have to use cables at this point because of my seats being in the way of a divorced lever set. My question is, where do i get them? what do you guy recommend? I need to do more research on them.

Also, clutch is being ordered, i am leaning towards a feramic/ceramic single disc valair.. what do you guys think?
 
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So, frames all welded, and paint in the morning, I am just buttoning up a few things before the clutch gets here on tuesday. I am a little concerened with my transmission though, it seems like when i tip the trans forward i am getting a lil bit of an oil leak outta this, what i assume is a bearing cap.

2012-07-06_17-24-44_27.jpg


Has anyone taken this off and RTV'ed it or whats the solution? Best solution? Also, this is my first standard.. so should i be concerened with the rtv around the bearing retainer on the front or should this be cut flush to the case?
 
Truck is looking good. I just finished ripping my ifs off friday. What front springs did you use?

I'm pretty sure the reason you had to use washers on the spring hanger is because that piece is made for using rear leaf springs which are not as wide as factory front leafs.
 
Babaganoosh said:
Truck is looking good. I just finished ripping my ifs off friday. What front springs did you use?

I'm pretty sure the reason you had to use washers on the spring hanger is because that piece is made for using rear leaf springs which are not as wide as factory front leafs.
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thanks, i have 6" tuff country i believe, they are off my friends suburban, i hope they sink down i dont want it tall as it is! I used the washers too cuz the 2wd frame is very wide. I am in need of serious modivation for this thing! I see lots of builds done already, quickly it seems, this is dragging forever!
 
The best motivation i have found is just to break projects down to there smallest element. This way, you are constantly setting an achievable goal and accomplishing it.
 
Today was a productive day, I painted the frame for final installation of the motor, and I spent a lot of time cutting and fitting a 4wd tranny tunnel, it was about 3hours of back and forth and grinding and cutting and test fits, then tacking for another 2hours.. took forever!

One of the final test fits before welding.
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I had previously done something similar with a very rusty version of a tranny tunnel and i didnt like how low the 2wd tranny tunnel was, it would have worked but just to low so i cut a lot out and replaced with a 4wd one.

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I welded it all in, then cut the large hole out again for the tranny, i didnt wanna fight making the whole tranny tunnel removabe so i just am going to plate the top once everything is in and running. Of course after a good prep time i painted it with rust bullet.
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My friend dropped off my nv4500 with its welded 5th gear nut today too, i still need to figure out wtf to do with that cap on the front of the trans that leaking, i suppose ill take it out and rvt it. Simple daily update but this helps me see where i've been and keep it going! Only have a month to finish this.
 
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Looking good. I don't know how I've missed this so far. Don't get hung up on cables $$ for the t-case shifter. I haven't done mine yet, but I'm planning on making a linkage with small heims on each end. For the shifter a simple lever coming through the floor will work.
 
stockk5 said:
So, frames all welded, and paint in the morning, I am just buttoning up a few things before the clutch gets here on tuesday. I am a little concerened with my transmission though, it seems like when i tip the trans forward i am getting a lil bit of an oil leak outta this, what i assume is a bearing cap.

2012-07-06_17-24-44_27.jpg


Has anyone taken this off and RTV'ed it or whats the solution? Best solution? Also, this is my first standard.. so should i be concerened with the rtv around the bearing retainer on the front or should this be cut flush to the case?
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you guys have any idea on this before i go ahead and tear it apart? I've looked at diagrams and i wanna just pop it off and rtv it and put it back.. but that always seems to end badly!
 
clean it up real good with brakecleaner, and get yourself some gray rtv and put around the edge. you could knock it out, but then you risk damaging it as its just a tin cover. I think the only way you can get it is in a new bearing kit.
 
Today I made sure my fuel lines were ran, and hung properly on some really trick lil brackets my friend uses on the jet engines he builds, i also was fortunate enough to be given a great fuel filter. Got these all mocked up and clean and then my clutch showed up! horray! motor can finally go in!

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My friend hooked me up with this great filter!



So today I was hoping to get the motor in, I worked on the fuel lines and once finshed the clutch showed up, really great timing. I was pumped, it was finally going in for its final time.:woot:

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and holy crap this is a thick flywheel!


sadly, as i was putting it together i realized the nylon ball that the shift fork pivots on was worn out, so i have to wait until the morning to slap it all together and finally have it in my truck, wiring will be done and hopefully we will hear this thing run!

I am also trying to rebuild my sloppy steering column which is a total disaster.. i might just grab another one.
 
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I don't think the dodge lift pump will create enough suction to draw fuel through that fuel filter. You might starve the engine for fuel....unless you are installing a frame mounted pusher pump.
 
rompinstompinmudmonkey said:
I don't think the dodge lift pump will create enough suction to draw fuel through that fuel filter. You might starve the engine for fuel....unless you are installing a frame mounted pusher pump.
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really? I will have to do some investigating then, would you recommend just a standard one like is on the chevys stock?
 
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