What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

Military Crew Cab Build-Cummins swap.

Overview Gallery Discussion
Cruz89K5

Cruz89K5

1/2 ton status
 Premium
Joined
Oct 24, 2005
Posts
917
Reaction score
133
Location
Seminole, Ok
Cruz89K5 submitted a new Build:

Military Crew Cab Build... Junk.

So I bought this truck out of a surplus auction thinking it was a CUCV. When I got there to pick it up it was a little different than expected.



Its, I'm assuming, a 1984 ex air force truck. Ordered with a 6.2/sm456/205. At some point it got an 80's 454 and some volunteer fire department hackery.





Plans are to get it a solid color, put a cam, carb, intake, and headers on it, maybe lock the rear and have a fun around town beater to tinker with. Maybe load 5 buddies up and go horse around in. I've never painted, but I'll hopefully do more than just a primer. Cab is solid but a little rough. Lots of holes in the roof from light bars. Bed has some rust but was free.

I put it up for sale for a few days and started tinkering with it. It ran with a splash of gas and seemed to run well. With a little more work I had it moving and stopping, so I pulled the ads and decided to keep it.

I pulled a set of 4" springs from a k5 in the yard and swapped them in. A friend sold me what we thought were 6" springs. Pretty sure they're 8" springs. Got them installed. Waiting on U bolts.





8"





View attachment 230329
Click to expand...

Read more about this build here...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I've got a problem with the gauges I cant track down. Simply, they dont work. I'm thinking the temp gauge works but I suspect the truck is missing a thermostat. The volt and oil gauge are dead. The fuel gauge is, of course, grounded out somewhere and reading full, and the speedo cable is melted in half. Any ideas where to start with the oil, temp, and volt gauge?

I bought a second hand 1407 Edelbrock for it because the price was right. I'll probably just buy an adapter until I can afford an intake and cam. My only carbed motor was in my first truck so I'll have a bit of a learning curve. I want a cam that'll work well for a big truck with a noticable idle. Any suggestions? I've never had anything with a rough idle and as much as sound doesnt equal performance I'd like to have a little fun with this one.

Lots of work to be done, but it's nice to have a running square body in the driveway again.
 
Even ratty, the truck has a Butch vibe about it, I like it! any cam with a lot of duration and tight lobe separation will give you the sound you desire, don't go too big unless you plan to replace springs, retainers etc. Some of the old factory HP grinds will work good in this if they have hydraulic versions.
 
Comp Cams "Thumpr" line of cams are ground specifically with a lot of overlap to give you a good sounding idle.
 
Last edited:
Which K5 are you referring to? The one I pulled springs out of? If so, yes. But there's not much left of it.

We have been talking about a disney trip soon. The wheeler it running and rarely moves any more. Let me know a little while in advance and I can probably get up there.

Changed the oil today and cut more random wiring out. If my fuel gauge is powering on with the key is it safe to assume my gauges are getting power? I've got a few more old ones I could pull and try if so.

I feel like a 16 year old kid wanting a cool sounding cam. Thanks for the suggestions. Ordered some stuff from LMC to get the fuel tank working. I've been using the coolant overflow. Range is limited. Ordered u bolts and shocks from ORD today, and got a plate to put the carb on the stock intake for now. Should have it insured and tagged friday. I hope to get it on the road next week when I get the rear brakes lined out and some sort of instrumentation.
 
Nothing wrong with wanting the truck to have a healthy sounding idle, that's the whole fun of having an 8mpg big block lol.
 
It appears my cluster is dead. At least the top half. Cleaned it good but the contacts are rusty. Does anyone have a cluster for sale or do I buy cheap set of equuis or whatever the parts store has?
 
I saw a cluster in one of my many storage boxes. I will dig it out and see if I think it's good or not
 
Cruz89K5 said:
It appears my cluster is dead. At least the top half. Cleaned it good but the contacts are rusty. Does anyone have a cluster for sale or do I buy cheap set of equuis or whatever the parts store has?
Click to expand...

I have an extra cluster (and a half). Later series with the trip meter (I think it's a mechanical speedo, but I'll hafta check). What's it worth to ya?

Edit - didn't see Eric's post. Beat me to it.
 
First i have seen that tach fuel combo. Looks sweet. Saved the page.
 
Got it insured and tagged friday. Drove it to the tag office and it died. Fuel pump may be weak. Restarted when someone brought gas to prime it with. Ordered the thumpr cam. Ended up ordering the bigger one by mistake. It's the middle one. The comp website says it needs 9:1 compression. Think it'll run alright in my stock motor or should I return it and get the smaller one?

I can get the cheap set of gauges for around 60 bucks. I'm attempting to build this on a budget as I've got 4 or 5 other projects going right now. If anyone will let one go for around that let me know, as I literally have no clue on how they are priced and dont want to insult anyone.

The edelbrock is on it and running. Seems to run better. Needs tuning but I've been super busy the last two days.

Still waiting on shocks and things from ORD, which is another story in itself. Dont trust their online pricing, as no one seems to be able to follow it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom