71 K5 with a Cummins

[CUCV2]

Where to start. The 71 K5 came from a string of barters. It is rust free but is basically just the frame and body. The Cummins came from a friend. The 71 K5 body and frame just sat in the garage on a set of temporary axles (still there) for about 6 mos while it's future remained anyone's guess. The original plan was to take the drivetrain from an 89 Blazer and put it in there. The 89 Blazer project took off (again-whole nother story). So, the 71 remained on the back burner while skimming the 4wd forum classified for ideas. Enter the 93 Dodge Cummins donor truck with 75K miles. It wasn't much to look at and a lot of parts had been stripped off the truck already. But it had the a 5.9 Intercooled Cummins Turbo Diesel. And 93 is pretty much before the computer programmed error meaning mechanical fuel injection (vs. electronic fuel pumps). On paper it seemed like a pretty good prospect but there were some questions that remained. Like would the frame be strong enough for an 1100 lb (approx + or -) torque monster? I figured I could box the 71's frame if it was necessary and a deal was made.

The Summer passed and our third baby was due any time. Spare time for this project was looking scarce and there were two disassembled rigs sitting around taking up space. The thought to sell was there, yet, not something I wanted to consider. Especially, in this economy. The third baby was born. All was happy and healthy but spare time seemed like a far off thing. I took some time off from work to take the other two kids to daycare/school while their Mommy recovered. There ended up being a 4 hour slot in the middle of the day where I could work on the todo list. I got to the "trim down the fleet" part of the list and the idea was formed to "just" get the engine in the 71 Blazer and then send what was left of the 93 for scrap. And this is what happened.

 

[CUCV2]

This is the new, way more than I wanna paid, crossmember for the Cummins. It looks factory and had a lot of thought put into it so hopefully it will make the rest of the project easier.

This is Jeremy. He is one of the main reasons this project has progressed to this point. Thanks buddy. So far, so good.

Here is a better shot of Jeremy mastering that beast of a motor. The 5.9 Diesel looks massive in person and makes a once large engine space look more compact.

The 5.9 coming in on approach.

This pic shows alot of the prep work that went into the crossmember area. There was a flared lip on the frame that was smoothed out, steering crossmember was flipped around for more room, and the lower part of the driver's side frame got a straight edge.

Here is the initial fitment. The bellhousing had to come off to get the oil pan to go back far enough to drop behind the crossmember.

Here is a view of the other side. There is a lot of prep to the firewall in this pic. We used the pedal assembly/ booster/ steering column from the Dodge.

 

[CUCV2]

What is the next step? This is just a mock up and we are working on getting the transmission and transfer case in there to see how they fit. The original tranny was a Getrag 5 speed that was no match for the Cummins diesel. Luckily, Advanced Adapters has a bellhousing to convert to the NV4500 5 speed that was offered in the later models. This AA bellhousing came with the truck along with the NV4500.

The input shafts on these transmissions can vary. This one did by a 1/4 of an inch on the splined section of the shaft. AA sells one of those too. More money but it is necessary. Due for delivery 10/19. The flywheel has been resurfaced. And now the decision is to pick a clutch. There are actually a lot of choices out there for this combination that range from organic to ceramic. Organic is more of a smooth shifter while ceramic will grip harder and is more for a pulling setup. Probably going to go more towards the organic end of the spectrum.

The stock (Dodge) NP205 transfercase needed no mods to work with the NV4500. The biggest issue currently is how well it will fit under the floor with the rest of the setup. A new crossmember will have to be designed as the Dodge one was designed for a frame about 6" wider. The 71 did not come with a stock crossmember but it did have a 205 TC that year. Wish we had one of those TC crossmembers to see if it would work. Probably better off to build something anyways.

 

[y5mgisi]

Oh man this is going to be good!

 

[CUCV2]

Oh man this is going to be good!

I like the way you think . It is a weekend project and will get updated accordingly.

 

[vtblazer]

I have a factory 205 cross member if you still want one.

Let the show begin...

 

[CUCV2]

I have a factory 205 cross member if you still want one.

Let the show begin...

Sure would. PM with a price and when a good time to pick it up would be. Local parts... .

 

[mosesburb]

So what is the deal with the engine crossmember?? Did you fab it?? Have it fabbed?? or is it a kit of some sort?? It looks very cool!!

As far as the clutch goes, call South Bend Clutch and tell them what you have and they will sell you the exact clutch you need. It will probably be a Con-O or a Con-OFE (it has been awhile). I don't recall which of their clutches I bought, but whichever it was it is absolutely fantastic!! No issues whatsoever. Also, read up on the NV4500 over at Quad4x4.com as to what pilot bearing is best for these units. Dan has a great selection of remaining parts for the NV4500 and is virtually un-stumpable when it comes to questions about anything regarding these boxes.

Was Jeremy your co-pilot on your trip back??

 

[CUCV2]

So what is the deal with the engine crossmember?? Did you fab it?? Have it fabbed?? or is it a kit of some sort?? It looks very cool!!

As far as the clutch goes, call South Bend Clutch and tell them what you have and they will sell you the exact clutch you need. It will probably be a Con-O or a Con-OFE (it has been awhile). I don't recall which of their clutches I bought, but whichever it was it is absolutely fantastic!! No issues whatsoever. Also, read up on the NV4500 over at Quad4x4.com as to what pilot bearing is best for these units. Dan has a great selection of remaining parts for the NV4500 and is virtually un-stumpable when it comes to questions about anything regarding these boxes.

Was Jeremy your co-pilot on your trip back??

We thought about taking the donor truck's engine crossmember and making that work. Spare time is a serious issue these days so when a 67-72 board member told me about these,
http://www.autoworldmt.com/Page_11.html
I hit the easy button. Avalanche engineering makes one too. The width of these frames are supposed to be similar to the 73-87(91)s. The main difference is frame height and they compensate for that.

Thanks for info on the clutch and throwout bearing. They are next on the list of things to order. The NV4500 was missing the actual shifter when we got it. I ordered one of those from Dan at Quad4x4 and am very happy with it and would certainly look him up for a future purchase.

I just reread your thread (for about the 4th time) again last night and saw that you ended up making your own crossmember after trying a few factory units. I am curious what the reason for that was. The donor truck's crossmember is about 6" wider and triangulates at the ends. I was thinking about taking the difference out of the middle and seeing if that might work.

We have the NV4500 and 205 mocked into place right now and it fits like it was made for it. The only issues we are currently looking at are if tranny/tc would go higher if we modified the floor at the rear of the tranny hump (I believe you did that to yours-wishing for pics) and the placement of the tc shifter. I looked at yours and it lands behind the NV4500 shifter a little to the right. Mine looks like it will land directly next to the NV4500 shifter right near the passenger side edge of the tranny hump. Wondering if that is the difference between a GM tranny/tc and a Dodge one.

And yes, Jeremy was the copilot on the trip back.

 

[63chevyll]

thats pretty cool,

I didnt know anyone made that crossmember. I bet it saved a ton of time

 

[mosesburb]

We thought about taking the donor truck's engine crossmember and making that work. Spare time is a serious issue these days so when a 67-72 board member told me about these,
http://www.autoworldmt.com/Page_11.html
I hit the easy button. Avalanche engineering makes one too. The width of these frames are supposed to be similar to the 73-87(91)s. The main difference is frame height and they compensate for that.

Man, that is a nice looking piece. Yeah, they are proud of it, but compared to the Avalache unit, this is a piece of art. I had checked them out early on in my conversion, but they have since added a bunch of conversion part to their page. Did you look at their conversions?? The GM ones look factory.

Thanks for info on the clutch and throwout bearing. They are next on the list of things to order. The NV4500 was missing the actual shifter when we got it. I ordered one of those from Dan at Quad4x4 and am very happy with it and would certainly look him up for a future purchase.

It would be very hard to beat the customer service that Dan gives.

I just reread your thread (for about the 4th time) again last night and saw that you ended up making your own crossmember after trying a few factory units. I am curious what the reason for that was. The donor truck's crossmember is about 6" wider and triangulates at the ends. I was thinking about taking the difference out of the middle and seeing if that might work.

In this pic:

You can see the spot between the transmission case and the transfer case. Just immediately out of sight in that void is the pad that the trans mount sits on. My problem was how low the front output is and how high the mount is. I needed a mount with a super-low drop under the output to clear the double cardan joint on the driveshaft. Maybe there is a factory unit out there that would have worked. I do not know and I was at a point that I knew I could make what I needed so I went that route.

We have the NV4500 and 205 mocked into place right now and it fits like it was made for it. The only issues we are currently looking at are if tranny/tc would go higher if we modified the floor at the rear of the tranny hump (I believe you did that to yours-wishing for pics)

Yeah, well you aren't getting any because I don't have any. I cut that whole "valley" between the high hump and the floor behind the "rib". I then took a piece of sheetmetal and sealed and screwed it to the floor. As far as more floor clearance I took a 4x14 glue-lam beam cutoff (make something work in place of this), put it on the floor jack, jacked it up into the floor until it had some pretty good pressure on it then got inside and took a heavy rubber hammer and pounded down the area around the beam. It actually looked pretty factory when I got done. Wishing for pics--haha. I didn't have any pics to reference for any of this.

and the placement of the tc shifter. I looked at yours and it lands behind the NV4500 shifter a little to the right. Mine looks like it will land directly next to the NV4500 shifter right near the passenger side edge of the tranny hump. Wondering if that is the difference between a GM tranny/tc and a Dodge one.

No, I used that wretched piece of overpriced wet **** that Advance Adapters sells. It is a piece of ****. No kidding, pure ****. I had to cut it, reinforce it, gussett it. What a piece of ****. I should have just made my own but I guess after I paid that much for that piece of **** I was hell bent on using the piece of ****. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but it was a piece of ****.

And yes, Jeremy was the copilot on the trip back.

Ahh, I didn't recognize him not covered in sweat. He looks a little more in his element there.

 

[CUCV2]

Man, that is a nice looking piece. Yeah, they are proud of it, but compared to the Avalache unit, this is a piece of art. I had checked them out early on in my conversion, but they have since added a bunch of conversion part to their page. Did you look at their conversions?? The GM ones look factory.



It would be very hard to beat the customer service that Dan gives.


You can see the spot between the transmission case and the transfer case. Just immediately out of sight in that void is the pad that the trans mount sits on. My problem was how low the front output is and how high the mount is. I needed a mount with a super-low drop under the output to clear the double cardan joint on the driveshaft. Maybe there is a factory unit out there that would have worked. I do not know and I was at a point that I knew I could make what I needed so I went that route.



Yeah, well you aren't getting any because I don't have any. I cut that whole "valley" between the high hump and the floor behind the "rib". I then took a piece of sheetmetal and sealed and screwed it to the floor. As far as more floor clearance I took a 4x14 glue-lam beam cutoff (make something work in place of this), put it on the floor jack, jacked it up into the floor until it had some pretty good pressure on it then got inside and took a heavy rubber hammer and pounded down the area around the beam. It actually looked pretty factory when I got done. Wishing for pics--haha. I didn't have any pics to reference for any of this.



No, I used that wretched piece of overpriced wet **** that Advance Adapters sells. It is a piece of ****. No kidding, pure ****. I had to cut it, reinforce it, gussett it. What a piece of ****. I should have just made my own but I guess after I paid that much for that piece of **** I was hell bent on using the piece of ****. I don't recall if I mentioned it, but it was a piece of ****.



Ahh, I didn't recognize him not covered in sweat. He looks a little more in his element there.

Thanks again for (why do I get the feeling I could be saying this a number of times in the future?) the detailed insight on your build. We test fit the 205 shifter and it would land right at the seam . I am looking for something more centered. The best idea I had was to go to a double shifter like ORD sells. Their website does not offer one for this combination but it does say they make some custom applications. I gave them a call and they said they could make what I was looking for . Very cool. Thanks ORD.

Next was to call Southbend about clutches. They told me which clutch they thought would work best and gave me a price. The one they recommended comes with a new flywheel and all I can say is this project is not for the light hearted. The goal is to get a working drivetrain in and it is happening but it seems like I have created my own stimulus for the economy. It is satisfying to see that it is going to people that deserve it (finally).

Here are some pics of the mock up.
The first one is the fitment inside the tranny hump. Not seen in this pic is that it is only a half inch away from the top of the rear edge.
The second pic is where things will land as it stands. I like Nick's clearancing idea with a Jack and a block of wood. An extra inch up would be ideal.
The third pic may offend the 1st Gen purist. This is what I had and what I used. The steering column landed right where it should and will make it possible to update the wiring harness with the one from the 93 Dodge.

 

[mosesburb]

Heat up, then bend the transfer case shifter to get it where you want it.

Not for the light hearted eh?? But you're just getting started.....

 

[CUCV2]

Heat up, then bend the transfer case shifter to get it where you want it.

Not for the light hearted eh?? But you're just getting started.....

The shifting lever is fine but the pivot point is what lands at the seam.

Let me rephrase, this project is not for the economically challenged (or OK, I'm frugal). Once the drivetrain is in, I am going to let my finances recover for a bit. There are plenty of other things that I can work on that require labor (vs, dollars).

This is the clutch we went with.
http://www.southbendclutch.com/13-1.25cono.html

 

[63chevyll]

the third pic down with the chrysler steering wheel looks odd to me

 

[CUCV2]

the third pic down with the chrysler steering wheel looks odd to me

The steering column, column support, pedal assembly, brake booster, and hydro clutch are all out of the 93 Dodge. All I have of the Blazer is the shell/body parts. Using the Dodge parts is actually making the swap easier and allows for a wiring harness upgrade from the Dodge as well.

We pulled the drivetrain back out for clean-up and reassembly. The transmission and transfer case were sandblasted, primered and painted. The bottom half of the motor was also cleaned up and painted while it was out. It is all back together with the Southbend clutch, new input shaft, and gasket for the tranny/TC connection. Putting a project together this clean takes more time and energy. I am starting to see what Mosesburb meant by "just getting started." It does feel good to see a nice clean project though.

 

[CUCV2]

Here are some pics of the sandblasted and primered tranny, tc, and xmember. And another of the drivetrain painted and back in.

 

[y5mgisi]

Thats some pretty good progress! On the road in no time right???

 

[CUCV2]

Thats some pretty good progress! On the road in no time right???

Any day now . Just going to take it one step at a time. Steering, brakes, axles, rad support and attachments, electrical, get it running... It is a fun project though. Lot of upgrades in one shot here.

 

[y5mgisi]

Thats the best and toughest thing to do. Breaking the project down like that. Otherwise it can get pretty overwhelming.