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How Difficult It Is To Install A Cummin From A 1980s Early 1990s Ram Dually To A 1983 Dually C20 454

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blackandgold51

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Sorry if I'm bothering anyone on this topic about diesel swaps from gas.

I know a guy who has a paint and body shop and towing yard that has a late 1980s early 1990s ram quad cab in the back of his yard thats been sitting there for a while . It's a Dually with a Cummins 6 and the truck is in not bad condition.

I looked under the hood and found that how similar the layout is compared to my 1983 C20 4 door dually to which it loksl almost simple.

I don't know whether I will keep the truck intact and just build the 454 in the C20 , if I get the Ram as a second truck cehicle, or swap the Cummins the in C20
 
Its remarkably simple but can be a headache if you dont have your ducks in a row. I suggest reading on 4bt swaps and the two gm swap groups on Facebook. Get a feel for it if its within your capabilities but stock for stock it's a waste of time to swap it in to your Chevrolet. If you crank up the chili then hell yeah its badass.
 
obijuank5 said:
Its remarkably simple but can be a headache if you dont have your ducks in a row. I suggest reading on 4bt swaps and the two gm swap groups on Facebook. Get a feel for it if its within your capabilities but stock for stock it's a waste of time to swap it in to your Chevrolet. If you crank up the chili then hell yeah its badass.
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Might as well just stick with the 454 for it's simplicity and build itand just keep that Cummins inside that pick up Ram if I get it. Besides, it will be the best of both worlds
 
The answer really depends on the person's mechanical ability......some people can change the tire on their car with a blindfold on in 5 minutes, and some have absolutely no clue where to even start with changing the tire. Can you unbolt the 454 and bolt in the Cummins, absolutely not. The early Cummins is pretty simple in regards to wiring and fuel since it's all mechanical, but getting the engine mounts and hooked up to a transmission are the issues. There are probably all types of adapters and such on the market, but also expect to spend some money on that stuff. The other things to think about for swapping into an '83 is overall gearing. The lack of an overdrive transmission and likely a lower axle ratio combined with an early Cummins means a low top speed.
 
6.2Blazer said:
The answer really depends on the person's mechanical ability......some people can change the tire on their car with a blindfold on in 5 minutes, and some have absolutely no clue where to even start with changing the tire. Can you unbolt the 454 and bolt in the Cummins, absolutely not. The early Cummins is pretty simple in regards to wiring and fuel since it's all mechanical, but getting the engine mounts and hooked up to a transmission are the issues. There are probably all types of adapters and such on the market, but also expect to spend some money on that stuff. The other things to think about for swapping into an '83 is overall gearing. The lack of an overdrive transmission and likely a lower axle ratio combined with an early Cummins means a low top speed.
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How about keeping the transmission that came with the Cummins and putting it in with the Cummins?
 
6.2Blazer said:
The answer really depends on the person's mechanical ability......some people can change the tire on their car with a blindfold on in 5 minutes, and some have absolutely no clue where to even start with changing the tire. Can you unbolt the 454 and bolt in the Cummins, absolutely not. The early Cummins is pretty simple in regards to wiring and fuel since it's all mechanical, but getting the engine mounts and hooked up to a transmission are the issues. There are probably all types of adapters and such on the market, but also expect to spend some money on that stuff. The other things to think about for swapping into an '83 is overall gearing. The lack of an overdrive transmission and likely a lower axle ratio combined with an early Cummins means a low top speed.
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I'll show you photos of the ram pickup soon
 
Since you have a C20 (2wd) and assuming the Dodge is 2wd, keeping the Dodge transmission would definitely simplify the swap in regards to adapting the engine to the trans. However you would still need the engine and trans mounts to do it, and probably driveshaft work, etc... Early Dodge truck with Cummins used the non-OD 3 speed trans and made up for that with stupid high 3.08 axle gears. Back in the early-90's a good friend's dad had a beautiful 1st gen Dodge Cummins truck....but that thing was a dog driving around empty. Granted, you could hook up a large trailer to it and it didn't slow it down any, but when empty it had the same amount of acceleration as a school bus.

I kinda' hate making a statement like this, but if you have to ask these type of questions about doing the swap then it might just be above your mechanical ability. The choices are either paying a lot of $$ to buy a kit or spending a lot of time doing custom fab work to make it work.
 
6.2Blazer said:
Since you have a C20 (2wd) and assuming the Dodge is 2wd, keeping the Dodge transmission would definitely simplify the swap in regards to adapting the engine to the trans. However you would still need the engine and trans mounts to do it, and probably driveshaft work, etc... Early Dodge truck with Cummins used the non-OD 3 speed trans and made up for that with stupid high 3.08 axle gears. Back in the early-90's a good friend's dad had a beautiful 1st gen Dodge Cummins truck....but that thing was a dog driving around empty. Granted, you could hook up a large trailer to it and it didn't slow it down any, but when empty it had the same amount of acceleration as a school bus.

I kinda' hate making a statement like this, but if you have to ask these type of questions about doing the swap then it might just be above your mechanical ability. The choices are either paying a lot of $$ to buy a kit or spending a lot of time doing custom fab work to make it work.
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Either spend the money like you said on the kit or fabricated duty.

Or just keep two vehicles as is and have the best of both worlds :)
 
I’ve got a long way to go but I’m basically doing the same swap on my 76 CCDRW.
 
I dont think the stock first gen dodge really has anything good other than the motor. If its older the trans doesnt even have lockup if it's an auto. If it's a manual that trans really ain't all that great either. Both do the job but it's no peterbilt lol
 
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