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Re: 86 K30 Restomod LS swap AKA Blue Rust
I gave the truck some test drives on and off road and quickly discovered areas of improvement to make. These government trucks did not have all the comforts of the civilian models, but had less accessories to break...
Transmission shifted shattering hard - needed a new vacuum valve on the 6.2 diesel fuel pump/throttle cable to proportionally control shifts,
V belts squealed at high rpm - replaced them
vent windows whistled in the cab,
no overdrive in the turbo 400 and 4.56 gears makes for a screaming engine,
no radio,
no ac,
brakes vibrated,
etc
I started searching and learning on 7.4 vortec, 8.1 vortec, and LS engines. I slowly decided against any modified cummins engine swaps for fear of weight and torque twisting or cracking the frame.
These trucks just don't have the frame construction like newer trucks without more frame reinforcement or boxing. I know alot of people have swapped 6BT's into these trucks so maybe they handle it ok to a certain horsepower/torque? I believe the early dodge cummins pickups had frame cracking issues. Not trying to start an argument there.
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