Backyard Cummins

[C20scott]

Hey all, first post here. Let me introduce you to my project. I bought it planning on doing a gradual restoration, and eventually turn it into a daily drivable truck. i wanted a truck i could drive long distances, drive hard offroad, and not have to worry about wrenching on it every time i started it. NOT a show truck, but comfortable YES. Someone I talked to coined the term "Expidition Rig", and i guess that's the overall product that i am going for...

Little bit of background:
This project will be completed entirely in the side yard of my parents house(which i visit about once every 2 weeks), and will be performed with what i consider "normal" skills. I don't work at a fab shop, nor am I an auto-body specialist, or professional mechanic. I'm only getting to work on this thing about 3 full days a month, so i have waited until i made some progress to start posting. I plan on posting as much information about what parts I buy and any problems that arise as possible, as i know from experience it take hours of internet snooping to find useable information.

The beginning:
I bought the truck last year as a 1969 4x4 with a stock 350, got about 9mpg, and had a few pathetic Joe Mckgee attempts at modifications. Here from the day I got it... Once i figure out what size my pics need to be to upload...

[C20scott]

The truck looked decent on the outside when i bought it, and had a good running motor, and recently rebuilt tranny/tcase. Figured I would be able to drive it(and stay happy) as i gradually restore.

Pics:
Previous owner stacked leaf springs from misc. other cars to achieve the desired lift lol. It was basically like driving a cinder-block. Also, The usual old rubber bushings, bed had body damage on both sides/tailgate, and the wood was rotten..

[C20scott]

First order of business was to say goodbye to the thrashed bed that was on there. I weighed the options of restoring the wood floor, fixing the body on each side. NO WAY.. It would have cost me 3 times what i can find a good condition metal bed for. It went on craigslist for free for 3 weeks, no takers, then to the scrapyard. Please have mercy chevy gods..

[C20scott]

Next order of business was to clean up the rear frame and prep for the rear mount fuel tank that i had planned. I ended up pressurewashing the frame with a 4000psi washer, which stripped most of the old paint and debris. I was confident painting from there, as there was no existing heavy rust or grease.

I used Rustolem "heavy metal" primer, and semi gloss black paint. It has held up very well for me in the past, and i will re-apply if needed. I have no intentions of powder coating. I applied it with a mixture of brush-on and spray cans for tight spaces, and haven't decided which method i like better yet.

**Note the home-made bumper brackets and tow hitch from previous owner..

[72smoker]

Looks like you have a good start on a nice truck.

[C20scott]

Many more pics and story to come. After the weekend out of town.

[C20scott]

At this point (Last August) i was thinking good and hard about which motor i wanted to go with. I wanted something that I could have fun with, and still be reliable and somewhat fuel efficient. Eventually I settled on a diesel. I was torn between 3 motors, the 90's GM diesel, Duramax, and 12v cummins. The GM diesel didnt have the power and reliability potential that i wanted. Duramax would have required tons of wiring modifications(money), but would have been an easier drop in. Cummins ended up being just right.

Pic: 1997 Cummins 6bt, 12v. If you want a simple swap, this is the engine you want, As it is mechanically controlled(no computers). It took me about 2 months to find one for a reasonable price.

Tips for procuring one of these: Beware it weighs about 1000lbs, and will bottom out the suspension on most 1/4 ton and small half ton trucks. Also, I found it was easiest to make a stand to hold it by strategically screwing together some 4x4's to a piece of ply. as i dont have a stand capable of holding this beast.

[C20scott]

Shortly following the purchase of the engine, i decided to try and sell the existing. Basically, I gave up the thought of gradually restoring the truck. I ending up selling motor, radiator, and fuel tank thanks to craigslist. FYI this is the farthest i have ever been into a project truck. Partially due to recently finishing college and getting a steady source of income.

Goodbye!

[C20scott]

The truck ended up sitting in the side yard for most of the Fall. Most of my weekends were lost to all of my other recreational activities. During this time i was researching endlessly. As it turns out, finding the info i needed for the correct trans/transfer case combo was difficult. Even harder was finding the parts.

I decided to go with the 5 speed manual NV4500, and NP205 transfer case. You must use the Dodge Cummins specific units unless you want to spend tons of cash on adapters and broken parts. It took me about 3 months to find these for a reasonable price. As it turns out, these parts are gold.

Now that I had the entire combo, I could move forward with fitment.

Pic: Ended up stripping all of the broken junk out of the cab in my downtime, and selling the old seats. And the 29 Spline NP205 T-case

[blake's first]

on the motor mounts I put a 5.9 in a 72 blazer and used the stock dodge cross member cant find the pic.s but if you want to see them go to hub garage go to ms2 towing garage. or go to 72 blazer its green a lot the dodge stuff works out good

[SCHRUMGMC]

Love the 4X4 Truck bud

[SCHRUMGMC]

Is there a way to just add things to a 4X2 and make it a 4X4 ?

[C20scott]

Originally Posted by SCHRUMGMC

Is there a way to just add things to a 4X2 and make it a 4X4 ?

Are you referring to the Engine/Tranny, or the Chevy frame? I believe the tranny can be converted by changing tailhousings, but i have never researched this in detail.

[C20scott]

Hey Blake's First, Hope you don't mind, i stole your pic for informational purposes. I considered looking for a stock dodge x-member, but I couldn't find enough info on if it would work or not.. I already have my materials to build my own 3/16" 2x4 tube.

[blake's first]

thats fine just wanted to make sure that you were going to do a cross member that thing is heavy . this worked so easy I just thought I would let you no I also used the front cross member out of the 93 dodge .. have you had the motor in the frame i used a hydro boost so I cut back to one vac pump but I steal had to thin that left frame rail I'm not that far from you in you want to look Joe..

[C20scott]

Made some progress this weekend. I realized it was a bad idea to try to cut 3/16 crosssmembers with an angle grinder, so i picked up a chop saw. It was a good investment.

I tackled the engine xmember first. Ended up cutting a 45* angle on the driver side, and about a 55* angle on the passenger(because the engine is closer to this rail). I left the pieces a few inches long, braced them in place, and then marked the point which i would do my lower cut using a 3rd piece of steel. You have to cut the lower joints at exactly half of the angle of the upper cut to make the lower piece level. Drivers side had cuts of 22.5* at the lower joint, passenger 27.5*.

[72smoker]

It looks like your tranny cross member will be heavy enough, but you might want to see if they make a extra heavy duty windshield.
Your build looks great.

[C20scott]

Pictures of the finished crossmember, built in the same fashion as the front. I ended up being able to cut 45* angles on both sides, and cut holes on the bottom for access to nuts. Just need to clean up and paint..

[C20scott]

Parts!! Custom built HD clutch kit
- HD master/slave cylinder
- Clutch release fork
- 29 spline tcase coupler
- Poly engine mount inserts
- Poly cab mount bushings
- Off-Road Designs HD spring shackles
- 1999 Chevy 3500 Hydroboost unit

I have found an ingenious way to adapt the hydroboost unit to the stock mounting location(more to come later). The clutch is half kevlar, half metal-backed organic. A guy in the south bay area knows his stuff, and built it for me at alot less than i could have bought it somewhere else for. More to come on the quality of the clutch when it gets used.. Yes lots of work to do!

[C20scott]

Made progress in the right direction over the weekend. Pulled the engine(hopefully for the last time), and installed poly engine mount inserts, and reinforced the mount tabs with triangular pieces. The stock rubber mount inserts allowed alot of play, these definitely help.

[C20scott]

While the engine was out, I finished painting the hard-to-reach areas, and installed the ORD spring shackles. These things put the stock hangers to shame.. I'm pretty sure the frame will break before the shackles do, and now I'm confident my front suspension can handle the newly gained weight.

[Bigdav160]

Can you post a pic of the clearance between crossmember and the differential?

Will it only clear with the added lift?

[71' Custom]

This is an awesome build, can't wait to see more!

[C20scott]

Picture of X-member clearance. 4" on my truck, but it is close to the center of the axle. which means that I would either have to compress the entire front end 4" to hit(jump my truck), or compress the passenger side alot more than 4"(rock crawl at high speed).

With a stock height truck i would assume that you would need to place the engine higher up. Anything is possible given enough thought!

[C20scott]

Picture of the radiator placement prior to cutting.. As you can see, no clearance in its current state. Will not work..