Berthas Build

[dfairchild19]

This is the build of Berthas.

At this point I am well underway on her.

I bought the 1971 Chevrolet in February 2010. I started collecting parts and pieces while I let her sit until about June due to the cold weather and a busy schedule. Once summer hit I started on her full out to create what I have so far today. I will post the specs and the pictures I received before I bought the truck for this first post and I will update here and there as I have time until we are caught up to present day.

On to the good stuff:

Drivetrain Specs:

1994 6bt Cummins
NV4500
NP205
D60/14 bolt

There are lots of plans for many different areas on the truck that I will cover as I go along. I have collected more parts than I even know that I have right now so I just have to wait to til I get to certain points to actually start putting those parts together to create a truck.

Here are some base pictures to give you an idea of the truck as it sat in the previous owner's possesion. Don't mind the creepy guy in the fourth pic......

[dfairchild19]

I drove the truck onto the trailer with the 350/350/205 that was in it and she seemed to run great. I thought about adding a few things to get her road worthy but it just wasnt worth it to me so I just decided to dive in and start the disassembly. It had a 2 inch body lift on it to help clear the supposed 33 inch sidewinder mud tires that will be no longer. I will most likely run a 1 inch body lift to help with clearances for the new drive train.









And then I found these...





I started on the rebuild of the D60 and 14 bolt and between work and waiting on parts it took about 6 weeks and a small fortune to take them from that ^^^^^^ to this vvvvvvv:









While I waited on parts for rebuilding the axles I decided to "make" some parts on the waterjet for the axles in the meantime:

U-bolt plates:



Shackles:



Steering arm and springless kingpin cap for the 60:









In the middle of building the axles and all of the other parts for them I decided that it would be nice to have a good, solid table to work from. So I built one. The frame of the table was completely overkill being out of 2x4 boxed 3/16 wall tube, but I had the material left over from another project and I will have this thing to use forever. I cannot even explain how much it has helped me having this table for this project. The table is not finished yet as I plan to add brackets and shelves for my welder and other tools, but I could not have built it at a better time:

[propanemudtruck]

Looks like you've got a good truck to start with, best of luck on the build!

Nice work on the axles too!

[1985-GMC]

Looks good so far! Cant wait to see the cummins swap!

[DirtyLarry]

Looks great! Wish I could find a Dana 60

[dfairchild19]

Thanks for the good words everyone!

[dfairchild19]

When I finished the table and painted the axles and parts I put the axles under the truck and attached them with the ubolts and ubolt plates that I made. I threw on the wheels and tires I got for it and this is how she sat for a bit while I went to work on the removal of the Cummins and NV4500 from the Dodge.



Once I removed the engine and trans from the Dodge I pushed it outside, set the Cummins aside, and started on the conversion of the nv4500 from 2wd to 4wd. This was a bit of a process because my original plan was to just take all of the parts from the 2wd mainshaft and transfer them to a stock 4wd mainshaft then add the 4wd tail housing and run it that way since the trans seemed to be in good driving condition when it was in the Dodge. I then decided to order the upgraded mainshaft so that I wouldn't have the 5th gear nut issue to worry about. Then I decided that I might as well do it right and do it once and do a full rebuild so that I wouldn't have to worry about it for a long while.

Here are some pics of the rebuild:

2wd nv4500



Pulling off 5th gear with a tool I made



Empty Case



Sea of parts



Finally finished and buttoned up

[swamp rat]

Looks like that table has been put to use yet again! You have a great build going on and i'm looking foward to following it.

I am totally envious of your shop!! I'm so tired of working in the dirt.. and now the cold, it showed last night..

[dfairchild19]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

Looks like that table has been put to use yet again! You have a great build going on and i'm looking foward to following it.

I am totally envious of your shop!! I'm so tired of working in the dirt.. and now the cold, it showed last night..

Oh yeah, I cannot tell you how much I have used this table for rebuilding, welding, fabricating, and just anything I need the surface for. It was well worth it to build the table before I got too far into the build.

The barn is not heated so I am no stranger to working in the cold!! And it is definately not fun!! I am working on sealing up the open spots in the barn so that I can run a heater of some sort this winter so that it will be more comfortable to work out there. Its a 60x40 steel barn and I am not sure what the best and most efficient method would be to heat it.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[dfairchild19]

After I finished rebuilding the trans I set it aside and started working on the frame so I could get the the drive train together to start mocking up the motor mounts, trans mount and cross members. I removed the original Chevy motor crossmember, trans crossmember, and transfer case crossmember and then welded in a new temporary crossmember to keep the frame shifting to a minimum. From there I started filling in holes that I will not use in the engine and trans areas of the frame. I will fill the rest of the holes later. After the holes were filled, I tacked in some boxing plates in the motor mount and trans mount areas so that I could get the drive train in to start mocking the mounts for everything.

Original engine crossmember


engine crossmember out and original trans and rear crossmember


Original crossmembers out and holes filled




Boxing plates tacked in for mock up




After getting the frame boxed enough to mock up the driveline mounts I set the drivetrain between the rails and threw the cab on its mounts to start the process of figuring out the final location of the drivetrain.







Here is how she sits right now:

[TheWhiteElephant]

this is awesome. keep it up.

[Chevymaniac]

what size of lift and tires did you go with? You make your own motor mounts, have any pics? I like where you are going with this project. Is the transfercase from the donor dodge truck?

[dfairchild19]

Originally Posted by Chevymaniac

what size of lift and tires did you go with? You make your own motor mounts, have any pics? I like where you are going with this project. Is the transfer case from the donor dodge truck?

The lift is 4" Tuff Country front springs and a 4" blocks in the rear under the massive spring packs. The tires are 375/60/R16 if I remember right. I do know that the standard size of the tires is 33x15.50xR16.

I have not made my motor mounts yet. I plan to once my mid mount A/C setup gets figured out so that I can get it away from the frame rail on the passenger side. I will also fab new transmission and transfer case cross members as well when I figure out the final position of this massive drivetrain.

The donor truck is a 94 Dodge 2wd. If you didn't notice in some of my posts, i converted the 2wd nv4500 to 4wd. I bought the 29 spline Dodge np205 from a member on another forum. I haven't gotten into the 205 yet to rebuild but I am hopeful that it will be solid.

[dfairchild19]

Not much of an update but I figured I might let everyone know whats going on at the moment.

I am waiting to find a supplier for the mid mount F6 or 7 or 800 A/C and alternator mount so that I can get started on the fabrication of the engine mounts, engine cross member, trans mount, trans cross member, and transfer case cross member. I am ready to do it, I just need the components in their final positions so that I don't run into unexpected interferences if I were to mount the components after I finalized all of the mounts and cross members.

I would also like to get ahold of a hydroboost unit to see if I will have any interference between it and the air intake plenum.

I will update when I get these figured out and start the fab work hopefully in the next week or so.

[mosesburb]

I'm not understanding your need to find a supplier for the water inlet housing (a/c mount). Is it that there are no Cummins dealers near you?? If that is the case, I may be able to help.

On the hydroboost unit, I recommend a unit from a 88-99 C/K truck (not the R/V old body style). The mounting plate is an easy adapt to your firewall. Take it off, drill two holes, move the lower studs to those holes and you're done.

[dfairchild19]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

I'm not understanding your need to find a supplier for the water inlet housing (a/c mount). Is it that there are no Cummins dealers near you?? If that is the case, I may be able to help.

On the hydroboost unit, I recommend a unit from a 88-99 C/K truck (not the R/V old body style). The mounting plate is an easy adapt to your firewall. Take it off, drill two holes, move the lower studs to those holes and you're done.

You might be just the person to talk this over with, and I meant to ask you about your setup. Would you mind listing the specs on the components you used and a ballpark price you paid for them if you dont mind.

Well I thought I had a dealer lined up on 4btswaps with a used mount and new compressor and alternator but I haven't heard anything from him in over a week so I'm not sure what's going on there.

As far as the hydroboost, I noticed that you used a unit from a 99? C3500? And I was planning to source one from a similar application but now that I know an exact range of years to look for it will make it that much easier. How did you go about running and matching lines and fittings between the dodge power steering pump and the chevy steering box and hydroboost unit?

Once again your trial and error saves me a ton of time and hassle!

Thanks again moses!!
Posted via Mobile Device

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by dfairchild19

You might be just the person to talk this over with, and I meant to ask you about your setup. Would you mind listing the specs on the components you used and a ballpark price you paid for them if you dont mind.

Oof, I will have to deal with that ogre in my file cabinet labeled "Suburban" to get that information. Keep in mind, the only parts I bought were the water inlet housing itself (a/c compressor mount) and the upper alternator bracket. I tried buying the lower alternator mount, but it still hasn't arrived. I had to make my own lower hose fitting and I bet you will have to also. You're not going to like this, but, you will need a water outlet (thermostat housing) that points straight up and the corresponding thermostat and seals. The water outlet you have will get in the way of the upper alternator bracket (can be modified), but the biggest issue is the forward part of the housing gets in the way of your new belt routing. It can be routed around it, but you will end up with, maybe, 90* wrap on at least two high drag components. I thought this was such a bad situation that I sold my housing, seals and thermostat like you have on your motor and went with the straight up one (after trying another one also).

Originally Posted by dfairchild19

Well I thought I had a dealer lined up on 4btswaps with a used mount and new compressor and alternator but I haven't heard anything from him in over a week so I'm not sure what's going on there.

Gee sir, I have money that I want to trade to you for those items you have for sale. Can I please give you my money?? Please?? Nice.

Originally Posted by dfairchild19

As far as the hydroboost, I noticed that you used a unit from a 99? C3500? And I was planning to source one from a similar application but now that I know an exact range of years to look for it will make it that much easier. How did you go about running and matching lines and fittings between the dodge power steering pump and the chevy steering box and hydroboost unit?

The lines were a real bish. If I had it to do again, I would cut the upper fittings off and have a hose company make the lower ends with a higher quality hose in between. I can give you numbers on the hoses and as soon as you try to make them work you will inderstand why I say that. That being said, if you can get hoses out of a wrecking yard like the ones that I have, grab them and use the booster ends with new hose and make some new lower fittings. This is a REAL fun part of the project.

The Dodge power steering pump is not a Dodge power steering pump. It is a Saginaw pump manufactured by GM. Yup, the same GM as made the hydroboost that you are going to get and the steering box you have. The pump and hydroboost will have o-ring fittings. Your box has inverted flare fittings. You can have lines custom made with o-rings on one end and flares on the other. You can also get a steering box out of a GM straight axle 4x4, 1981 and newer to install. It will bolt in and have the superior sealing o-ring ports on it. That is what I did on mine. I found a virgin steering box on a 90 V20 Suburban and rebuilt it.

Originally Posted by dfairchild19

Once again your trial and error saves me a ton of time and hassle!

Thanks again moses!!

I'm envious. You have someone to ask questions to!!

[dfairchild19]

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Oof, I will have to deal with that ogre in my file cabinet labeled "Suburban" to get that information. Keep in mind, the only parts I bought were the water inlet housing itself (a/c compressor mount) and the upper alternator bracket. I tried buying the lower alternator mount, but it still hasn't arrived. I had to make my own lower hose fitting and I bet you will have to also. You're not going to like this, but, you will need a water outlet (thermostat housing) that points straight up and the corresponding thermostat and seals. The water outlet you have will get in the way of the upper alternator bracket (can be modified), but the biggest issue is the forward part of the housing gets in the way of your new belt routing. It can be routed around it, but you will end up with, maybe, 90* wrap on at least two high drag components. I thought this was such a bad situation that I sold my housing, seals and thermostat like you have on your motor and went with the straight up one (after trying another one also).

I believe I understand what all it takes for this setup to work properly. The vendor that I had lined up said that either he or Cummins offers a kit to run this setup. This included the inlet housing/compressor mount that bolts to the block, an upper and lower alternator mount, a new straight up upper water outlet neck, a new lower water inlet neck that turns 90 left out of the housing then 90 down(wont work), a tensioner and tensioner bracket, as well as a new compressor and alternator. The package of all brand new components came to a total of a little over $1100. I believe that I would be able to use everything in the kit except for the lower inlet neck which I could use a neck that just comes straight out of the housing similar to the one you ended up going with. I should be able to use the lower tensioner bracket and tensioner depending on how much the bracket tries to interfere with the frame as I can just fab a notch into the frame since it will be fully boxed and will not compromise the strength of the frame.

It is definitely more than I wanted to shell out for this setup and he supposedly has his alternator and custom made to a one wire 22 si higher output and his compressor lines custom made to a specific orientation as well. I have no experience with this setup to know if any of this is needed or if either of these components are available off the shelf which is part of the reason I asked for the specs for your setup and how much you had wrapped up in it.

Originally Posted by mosesburb

Gee sir, I have money that I want to trade to you for those items you have for sale. Can I please give you my money?? Please?? Nice.

Yeah, I'm not sure what is going on with this. He was usually pretty good about answering my PMs but just stopped responding for some reason. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that he's just busy or has a personal issue to tend to or something along those lines but I sure would like to get a move on this......

Originally Posted by mosesburb

The lines were a real bish. If I had it to do again, I would cut the upper fittings off and have a hose company make the lower ends with a higher quality hose in between. I can give you numbers on the hoses and as soon as you try to make them work you will inderstand why I say that. That being said, if you can get hoses out of a wrecking yard like the ones that I have, grab them and use the booster ends with new hose and make some new lower fittings. This is a REAL fun part of the project.

The Dodge power steering pump is not a Dodge power steering pump. It is a Saginaw pump manufactured by GM. Yup, the same GM as made the hydroboost that you are going to get and the steering box you have. The pump and hydroboost will have o-ring fittings. Your box has inverted flare fittings. You can have lines custom made with o-rings on one end and flares on the other. You can also get a steering box out of a GM straight axle 4x4, 1981 and newer to install. It will bolt in and have the superior sealing o-ring ports on it. That is what I did on mine. I found a virgin steering box on a 90 V20 Suburban and rebuilt it.

I have a Parker Store nearby but I am not sure if they would mess with these fittings or not. Its worth a shot to have high quality hoses that fit correctly I suppose. I'm not sure how I will give them something to make them off of short of taking the box, pump, and booster to them if I don't have the hoses to show the ends and also don't know the orientation of the hoses. Maybe that will become more apparent when I have the components all present and together. Search may help a bit too.

As for the steering box, I will not be running the stock 4wd unit. Instead I already planned to run a 2wd 81-87 box for crossover its splined input shaft that will mate up to an xj steering shaft to keep everything tight and do away with the rag joints.

Originally Posted by mosesburb

I'm envious. You have someone to ask questions to!!

As you should be!!! Your help and experience with all of this is great but I also enjoy talking to you and others that have been down many of the same roads that I have been and will be. I know I could get by without having you and others to talk with and ask questions but it sure would be a whole different ball game than having access to pick your brain about all of this. I'm not sure that's a game that I want to play!!!

[dfairchild19]

Alright, time for another update.

I received all of my parts from Cummins so here they are:



And here they are all layed out:




And here they are mounted on the engine:









I have a couple of other things happening with this project at the moment as well. Since I have the A/C compressor relocated, I can go ahead and figure out the hydro boost unit as well as the radiator so that I can get this dang drivetrain mounted in the frame once and for all.

I received my 1" aluminum body lift from ORD last week which will allow me to get an accurate feel for where my cab/firewall will rest in relation to the bellhousing/back of the engine.



To go with the finding the clearance of the back of the engine and the firewall/trans tunnel, I am also in the middle of some cut and fab so that I can mount my 2nd gen Dodge radiator in my Chevy core support.

This is what I started with(minus the two small pieces missing from the top of it)



The 71 core support had braces that were perpendicular with the bottom of it as well as flanges that the stock radiator rested against that angle back at the top which in turn angle the stock radiator back about 5 degrees or so. I needed to cut the perpendicular braces to make room for the Dodge radiator but I left the flanges that angle the stock radiator because they do not interfere with the mounting of the Dodge radiator.

Cut a little more.....



I welded some 3/16 plate to the locations that the bottom "feet" of the Dodge radiator will rest into. It is not easy welding 3/16 to that sheetmetal!



I drilled a 1" hole in each of the mounting pads for the rubber feet of the radiator to rest into. I also created an extension of the support where I had the two sections cut out at the top of the core support. These will be for the two top mounting tabs to have a solid place to mount. They will be finished to create a stock look.







Here are a couple of looks to get a feel for the way the Dodge radiator will mount in the 71 core support. It will be angled back as the stock radiator was although at a bit less of an angle.





I was planning on using the stock 2nd gen Dodge intercooler as well but it has proven very difficult to get a clean appearance fit to the core support out of it. I will deal with this once I get the past the radiator mount, hydroboost, and engine mounts finalized as it is not critical to the placement of the drivetrain at this point.

I also just received my hydroboost unit out of a 1991 C3500 as well as my 2wd steering box out of an 80-87 square body to run my crossover setup. I was able to get everything off of the 91 that was related to the hydroboost, including the lines the Mosesburb and I were talking about. This should make having custom lines made a bit easier to give them the ends and the lengths and have the hydraulic specialists make them. I will have to get the hydroboost mounted to the cab and get the cab set in place once again to check the clearances of the hydroboost and the intake plenum above the injection pump.





Mosesburb, did you invert the mounting plate on the hydroboost so that it would line up with the hole in the firewall for the brake pedal rod? It looks like if I did this that it would line up better so that I wouldn't have to cut another hole for the rod. I just took a minute to look at the mounting of the hydroboost, so I could be missing something. Here is what I am talking about; you can see the rod hole in the firewall is towards the bottom two studs where as the rod on the hydroboost unit is towards the top two studs:

[1985-GMC]

Nice progress!

Did you have to cut that notch out of the frame? Can you loosen that nut on the back of the hydra boost and flip over that bracket?

[mosesburb]

I like the core support!! I like how you modified it. It looks like it should work well. On the pieces that you added to the top of the core support, you added a piece of steel that drops down to the original top of the core support. These end at the top of the c/s. If possible, can they be made longer and tie into the rolled edge?? That would add some nice structural integrity back into the area you cut up.

It looks like you are going to have a fun time getting your lower hose out of the confines of the frame rail. I may have to re-visit that area on my truck. It looks like I need to add some room for the hose, but there is no room to add.....

On the hydroboost, yeah, knock the studs out and flip the bracket. One set of bolt holes will line up, the other two you will mark and drill and you're done with the plate. The hole in the firewall will have to be opened up a few thou to fit the nut that holds the plate on h/b. I put some RTV on the plate around the nut to seal it when it is installed. Don't use too much or you will never get it off. Trust me on this one--seriously.

So where is the tensioner bracket??

[dfairchild19]

Originally Posted by 1985-GMC

Nice progress!

Did you have to cut that notch out of the frame? Can you loosen that nut on the back of the hydra boost and flip over that bracket?

No that notch is the remains of a flange that was built into the frame on the 67-72 models. I don't have a picture but they should be all over the board, unless someone is willing to post one here.

That is what I plan on doing with the hydroboost. Mosesburb did this with his Suburban. See ^^^

Originally Posted by mosesburb

I like the core support!! I like how you modified it. It looks like it should work well. On the pieces that you added to the top of the core support, you added a piece of steel that drops down to the original top of the core support. These end at the top of the c/s. If possible, can they be made longer and tie into the rolled edge?? That would add some nice structural integrity back into the area you cut up.

I think I know what you are talking about. I had to think about it a bit but I believe I have an idea......

Originally Posted by mosesburb

It looks like you are going to have a fun time getting your lower hose out of the confines of the frame rail. I may have to re-visit that area on my truck. It looks like I need to add some room for the hose, but there is no room to add.....

I noticed that it was tight on yours but I think that I will be able to recess the top of the frame rail at the neck similar to the way I was going to for the compressor as well as the tensioner bracket.....

Originally Posted by mosesburb

On the hydroboost, yeah, knock the studs out and flip the bracket. One set of bolt holes will line up, the other two you will mark and drill and you're done with the plate. The hole in the firewall will have to be opened up a few thou to fit the nut that holds the plate on h/b. I put some RTV on the plate around the nut to seal it when it is installed. Don't use too much or you will never get it off. Trust me on this one--seriously.

haha Yeah I figured that this is what you had to do to get it to work right. I promise I'll be easy on the RTV.

Originally Posted by mosesburb

So where is the tensioner bracket??

I have both the tesioner bracket as well as the tensioner and they are happily bolted together but they like to fight with that frame rail so the frame rail will have to be boxed, recessed, notched, and/or persuaded out of the way so that they can all be happy.

[Rooster's 67]

FYI, for hoses there is the option of using adapters and then having AN lines made up.
here is one source for the adapters:
http://www.smileysracing.com/cat/vie...91783&pgID=859

they have the 18MM and 16MM adapters, I have used them with custom hoses many times before

However as stated before the ability to walk in to any parts store and get off the shelf parts is ......priceless.

Good luck and love the build

[dfairchild19]

Originally Posted by Rooster's 67

FYI, for hoses there is the option of using adapters and then having AN lines made up.
here is one source for the adapters:
http://www.smileysracing.com/cat/vie...91783&pgID=859

they have the 18MM and 16MM adapters, I have used them with custom hoses many times before

However as stated before the ability to walk in to any parts store and get off the shelf parts is ......priceless.

Good luck and love the build

Thanks for that info rooster!

That is definitely a possibility at this point. That would probably be the easiest way out.

Thanks for the compliments too.
Posted via Mobile Device

[mosesburb]

Originally Posted by dfairchild19

Thanks for that info rooster!

That is definitely a possibility at this point. That would probably be the easiest way out.

Keep in mind if you go this route that you must use AN line with a teflon liner as the standard silicone/rubber liner will not withstand the max pressure for very long. Using standard silicone/rubber lined hose is fine on the return side, but not the pressure side. It will work on the pressure side for awhile, but not for the long haul. The teflon lined hose requires the high dollar (in comparison to standard AN hose) fittings with the ferrule that has to be inserted between the liner and the braided stainless. Like a thousand little pins draining the blood from your fingers, one tiny hole at a time.

Definitely a viable possibility. With all the crap I went through on mine getting hoses to work, I probably should have done this myself. I guess I chose that moment in the project to save a few bucks. Go figure.