Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

That sure makes the Dakota Digital VHX system a lot nicer. :lol: I have a lot of extra gauges integrated into mine and I'm still $1500 cheaper than the $3500 price tag of this one you guys were looking at.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Did a little work on the truck today...got the broken exhaust manifold bolts out!! But broke two of the hoops on the head..ugh!!! How hard is it to weld cast iron? I've youtubed it and it seems not too difficult but who knows?

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I've welded them back on with a mig welder. This cast has a high nickle content and welds pretty nice. I ground the sides out to a V and filled them in. I haven't heard from the owners of either of those trucks. But, before you go through all that worl. Take the head and have it magnafluxed. Especially if it is a navistar casting.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Dieselwrencher what's the significance of a navistar casting? They prone to be bad or something? And how do I tell if it is or not? I googled it and nothing really came up.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

The navistar casted heads are prone to cracking. I haven't had one yet that passed a magnufluxing. There will be a navistar logo near the rear lifting bracket on the head. I will post a picture in a few for you.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

So dieselwrencher, guessing that's what I've got. Zoomed in on a picture of the head and....

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Yep, that's it. I'd take it to a machine shop and have it magnafluxed. It's better to find out now rather than later.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Are those the heads with the 9mm injector bores? If so, the Cummins service manual says that they are fine to use as long as the crack doesn't go through the valve seat and if it does then just have a valve seat insert installed.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Got the head back. Got the exhaust bolts holes welded and it magnifluxed...no cracks!! Also got the head all cleaned up and put back on, starting to reassemble.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I'm not sure. I think they're 9mm but I'll have to measure

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

They're 7mm. 9mm were the non intercooled 89-91 engines. They were prone to cracking there by the injector bore. Different than the navistar or 53 blocks due to inferior casting and/or low nickel content.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Not much in the way of progress lately, just cleaning things up for reassembly and waiting on funds for some more parts. I did receive my quote back on that custom dash set...2600 bucks!! Holy smokes Russ! Not near as bad as 3500 but definitely not what I'm looking to spend on a gauge cluster right this moment.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

That's a good deal on the head not being cracked. Did they have to deck it at all? I didn't plan to spend a lot of money on my gauges either, but I'm glad I did now.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

No Dieselwrencher I didn't even ask, this is gonna be a two stage process. I'm gonna clean everything up and get the swap done, drive it for a while and then go out of town for about nine months. Then when I come back I'll put the money into having the engine work done, get the suburban and do the quad cab for it and finish up all the mods I have in mind, like a compound kit! I'm getting a nv4500 this weekend for it and then hopefully can start getting the thing bolted together. Hope to have it drive-able in a month or so. May be a bit ambitious. And as for the gauges, I may end up buying them, it's a hell of a setup and looks so damn nice. But that's an investment to be made at a later date.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Got the front clip mocked up, the extension gave me the space I need and then some! Super excited about that. Hoping to get the rad core support built this weekend, fit the inner fenders, and get another passenger fender to splice in.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Looks like that will come out great! and comin together quick too!:metal :

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Don't get into this forum much but I am glad you decided to keep the fans. I lost the fan clutch back when I drove my 95 12v and it made for a miserable trip to work the next morning. Luckily it was fall or it would have overheated in stop and go traffic. Picked the new clutch up on the way home. Progress looks good.

For all the guys that kept the Dodge frame here is the big question. Did you reuse the factory 4 link suspension? The track bar was always the weak link under there. I have considered using the Dodge frame and putting the Dana 60 on leaves just to get rid of the front end headaches.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

So I thought about using leafs, and may at a later time, but for now it's a matter of funds. But I made a little progress recently, gotta get a passenger fender to get the other side extended so I can finish up the radiator support. Once that's done its on to rewiring the engine and getting my transmission in and she'll be ready for a test drive! I hope anyway.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Finally have some progress, not much but hope to finish a bunch of little things to get this thing started shortly. I got my new bell housing, 1.375" input shaft for the nv4500, dual disc valair clutch, and the hydraulics. Waiting on the bearings for the input shaft, for some reason they were shipped separately. But once I have those the drive train will be complete! It's crazy how much just an 1/8th inch of thickness makes on that input shaft! This thing is beefy!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Nice parts!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Finally got some work done on the truck. Got the holes cut in the Chevy rad core and battery trays put in. Going to use the Chevy radiator instead of the dodge to fit the batteries and the radiator together. Gonna hook up the inter cooler pipes and hood latch this evening. Getting closer!!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Will enjoy watching the diesels come together. I'm in awe of each of you. Keep teaching me the best ideas and maybe I'll get to build one as you gents watch and guide me.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Looking good! Just for fun check your rear spring shackles- My pass side rusted & came apart on friday- the leaf was hitting the bottom of the bed.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Had the last of the little pieces for the transmission come in today, plus some friends help, and got the transmission and transfer case reinstalled!!! Really changes the looks of things when you have a transmission to look at instead of an empty hole!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

So I've got a quandary, I've got everything hooked back up that I can find connectors for, timed the engine and injection pump, bled the fuel lines, and injectors, and for the life of me I can't get the damn truck to fire up. At first it was cause the injection pump wasn't timed but I fixed that. It cranks just fine, but won't fire up. I did swap the auto for the manual trans, but I grounded out the park safety switch so it cranks. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated here, I'm losing my mind here.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Is the fss fully pulling up while cranking? Did you crack the injection lines at the injectors and then crank the engine to push the air out and then tighten them?

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Is the fuel cut off solenoid pulling all the way up?, mine wouldn't pull all the way up and when I pulled it up with my finger it roared to life.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Oops just was yo asked that already DW

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Thanks for the pointers, the fss was partially the problem and the timing being slightly retarded was the other portion. Got her fired up yesterday afternoon!!! Hope to wrap up a few things here and there and get it on the road shortly.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Got it running again and boy she purrs like a kitten!! Here's a shot of the engine bay mostly cleaned up. Now I'm working on the clutch linkage and the rest of the goodies, i.e. A/c, radio, fixing holes in the cab...it'll get there eventually.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Glad to hear you got it going! Keep up the great work!

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Working out the bugs and figuring out the lights and other stuff. Finished up the fenders and patched the old side marker light hole.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

So I got the glass back in and a rattle can paint job this evening. I think it'll be the scheme I go with.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Yeah lots of pictures on the internet of crashed gears and ruined engines from the KDP. Mine was still secure put I installed the kit for a little piece of mind.
Nice build by the way. Looks like a better fit than in my '55.

That 6BT is actually a sexy beast cleaned up and painted. After seeing mine you may decide to detail yours out a little...... Not sure how long it will look good in "real life" after a lot of miles but looks good in the shop.
http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/l.../EngineAcc.jpg
I also put a turbo and manifold blanket on mine and wrapped the down pipe. I kept the PCM and is is very near the turbo so I was concerned with cooking it.

http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/l...%20Blanket.jpg

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

That sure does look good! I'll clean mine up when I take it all apart and do the engine work. End state is a compound setup with head studs and new injectors. That's a ways down the road though. Was wondering if anyone had the same problems I'm having with the electrical....I had the headlights working and they all of a sudden stopped. No blown fuses and the relay in the pcm seems to be working as well. I also have no wipers. I modified the dodge motor to fit in the Chevy and hooked it up but it won't turn on. I've shot wires and the multi function switch(wiper switch) has continuity, but no matter the position of the wiper switch I get nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

---don't know why that posted as Kellyed, must have logged me in under a different username for some reason. Guess I've got two accounts here! Anyway---


That sure does look good! I'll clean mine up when I take it all apart and do the engine work. End state is a compound setup with head studs and new injectors. That's a ways down the road though. Was wondering if anyone had the same problems I'm having with the electrical....I had the headlights working and they all of a sudden stopped. No blown fuses and the relay in the pcm seems to be working as well. I also have no wipers. I modified the dodge motor to fit in the Chevy and hooked it up but it won't turn on. I've shot wires and the multi function switch(wiper switch) has continuity, but no matter the position of the wiper switch I get nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

I'm pretty sure these tricks have a fusible link up near the battery, that would be the first thing to check.

Looking good!

-Richard

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

It's been a while since I posted, but I've gotten quite a bit done. Ended up swapping cabs for one with a Kansas title to ease the licensing pains and got an 8 foot bed with it! Bed is in ok shape and it sure looks funny with a 2 foot gap between the bed and cab.

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Pic

Re: Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis
 

Pretty cool. Find another front section of bed and make an extra long longhorn