Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis

[steveperry]

Dieselwrencher, It's the fass titanium 125gph fuel system.

[Dieselwrencher]

With that one, you do not need to use the factory lift pump.

[chosn 1]

Looking great !!!!, you are definitely getting it all figured out!
I'm not sure if your cab is sitting same height from the frame as mine is but you've probably noticed there's a ton of room above the transmission.
I Went with cutting the hump out completely and made the floor completely flat,(kinda like the older caddys were) and so the 5 spd sticks thru the floor by about 2",
the rubber dodge stick bellows was plenty big that I could cut a big enough port that the trans could never hit the cab!' ( food "for thought anyways).
I don't have a transfer case lever thru the floor, instead I'm building a linear shifter......meaning cable operated in/out style.under the dash and parallel with the floor.( I'm in Canada eh so it's 2wd for 6 months and 4wd for 6 months)
I'm almost done my build except for powder coat on the deck and running boards and some upholstery,namely seat and carpet.
If you need some pointers then I'm happy to help.
Cheers......

[steveperry]

So I ordered some parts and they should be here shortly so in preparation (got arp head studs) I pulled the head off the motor....by myself...mistake!! Dang that thing is heavy. But I've got a question now. The number 1 piston is at tdc and just for grins I tried to wiggle it, and it moved! Kinda freaked me out. I've done some reading and I'm kinda thinking it's ok since diesels have greater clearances for the higher temperatures in the cylinders. Anyone have any thoughts? Oh and the parts I got are-

Banks twin ram intake horn and manifold
Attitude adjuster for the p7100 pump
Arp head studs

Last to be ordered for now will be a set of new injectors. But before I buy them I want to figure this wiggle predicament out.

[1972RedNeck]

I am I fan of buying a bigger turbo before injectors. Your stock injectors can push a fair bit more fuel that what stock runs - more more fuel than a stock turbo can keep cool.

[winslowgoodwin]

looking good on the build

[steveperry]

So the cab placement is perfect as far as the wheel being centered is concerned, but it leaves me little to no room up front for the radiator and intercooler, both of which I shall be using. Racking my brain on where to go from here. Kinda a bad picture but you get the idea, the radiator is too far forward.

[chosn 1]

The GM rad support cant be used other than the outer 10"orso from the fenders in, you need that dodge rad support.

[chosn 1]

a couple pics of how I grafted the chev rad support to the dodge hoop

[chosn 1]

Maybe these help with showin how I did mine.

[chosn 1]

iirc... I slotted the holes on the mounts of the dodge rad support so that it would shift closed to the motor which is why I'm runnin 2 16" electric fans instead of the belt driven fan.
Don't worry !...it all fits...intercooler and all !!!

[steveperry]

Chosn1, I went through your build, I was just wondering how you tackled the axle being centered in the fender issue. As mine sits now it's centered but that rad core is no where near being able to fit into front clip, it's too far forward.

[chosn 1]

I think my wheels are back from center about an inch, doesn't look noticeable, here are a couple pics

[steveperry]

Thanks chosn1! That helps a bunch

[chosn 1]

Cool,glad to help, as you can see I have 5 3/4" center to center from that top bolt to The front cab bolt and the chev rad support outer end sit ahead of the dodge rad hoop.

[72 tigger]

Chosn 1 is correct on how he did it. I also used the dodge support in the center & the GM headlight brackets on the outsides. My wheel centerline is a 1/2" off- if I remember correctly. To get my grill to clear my intercooler I had to grind part of the backside of the grill- it's not noticeable. I also slid the support as close as I could to the engine. Hope this helps

[steveperry]

The splicing of fenders has been done!! Well one side anyway. I think it'll turn out pretty damn nice when all is said and done. Gonna do the same with the hood and other fender. Pretty excited it lined up and seems to give me enough room! Want to get the hood done so I can see if it's going to make the front end look too long.

[steveperry]

Got the fill piece cut out of the donor hood, that's gonna take a good bit more finessing to make line up right and not look like doodoo. But on the plus side, I got the fender, a set of inner fenders, and two hoods for 140 bucks! Heck of a deal! And it just dawned on me how I could have done the hood sooo much easier...but oh well.

[steveperry]

Messed up on the hood splice, it's fixable but still sucks. So here's the two into one hood. Ran out of gas on the welder, so will finish it up and set it on the truck, figure out how much room I've gained. Oh, and don't mind the mess of a garage! It's crazy out there!

[Dieselwrencher]

On your piston play, how much do you have? They do have some play and sometimes it looks like the piston is moving more than it really is. Your piston to cylinder wall clearance should be greater than .006 to allow for the expansion of the piston so it doesn't seize in the bore.

[steveperry]

Dieselwrencher, it's not a lot. I've come to the conclusion that it's just for exactly that, allowing for the higher temperatures and expansion. Was just kinda freaked out about it at first.

[72 tigger]

I think the fenders will look good. Could you use the front half of one hood & the back half of the other? (only one joint)

[steveperry]

72tigger, that's what I realized after I had already cut... That's why the back half is green and the front grey. Should have taken another minute to think of the process before cutting! I got a little over excited, hopefully I've learned my lesson. The passenger fender will be done that way.

[chosn 1]

looks like that will definitely give you more room!, although it seems like a lot more work and panel massaging.

[chosn 1]

I thought of going that route also but my hood was already punched full of louvers so it was not an option for me. I hope it doesn't look out of whack so to speak.