Project Family Chummins

[Ackattack]

Things are moving along

I got the dodge frame cut up and moved out of the garage, did some cleaning and re-arranging and then moved the gmc frame into the garage. Then I started to tear down this frame. I removed a cross brace where the carrier bearing goes. That will be the area where I cut to shorten the frame. I finished removing the exhaust, then removed the front suspension. The front suspension took a little while. I still have to the steering linkage from the gear box. I also have to remove the fuel tank....the stock one isn't going to work with the shortbed.

Earlier today I made a trip to the salvage yard and got a different set of front bucket seats. The main reason was because the drivers seat that came with the truck is BEAT up bad and the recline mechanism doesn't work. The ones I got are all electric (lumbar and heated too). I also got a factory gm floor shifter. I'm hoping I can use this. It moves in the opposite direction compared to the dodge shifter, but hopefully I can make it work. While I was there I also checked out to see what the factory shortbed frame looks like. The rear leaf spring hanger comes nearly to the end of the frame. I was kinda worried, cuase I was thinking I'd need to cut off more than that, but luckily it all looks good.

[Maxxd07]

Subscribing for this awesome project!

[Ackattack]

Time to start the fabrication!

To start, I went ahead and took out the gas tank. Then I put some jack stands under the frame and started laying out my cut lines to make it into a short bed.

This is the area where the material will be removed from, between the middle and rear cab mount. 14" comes out.


Here you can kinda see my game plan:


And after a half hour of grinding with a cut off wheel you get this:


and this:


I must say that a plasma cutter is MUCH easier to do this with and is what I used to cut the frame on my '69. I decided to try using the cut off wheel this time....but not on the other side.

I only got one side cut tonight. I had to measure 4 times and cut once. Not something you want to f up on and cut too much.

After that I checked to make sure all of my fab pieces arrived correctly:


The front square tube is 6" x 6" x 1/4" wall tubing for the engine crossmember

Then 3 pieces of 1-1/2" DOM tubing for the panhard bar and crossover steering. There is also the panhard bar frame mount.

Then the 2 long 2" DOM tubing for the control arms and the 1 piece of 1-1/2" DOM is for the upper portion of the radius arms.

Then a 4" x 4" x .25" square tubing for the transmission crossmember

And finally a set of leaf spring perches to put the dodge axle under the gmc leafs. Still need to order a drop pitman arm. Also I ordered some plasma cutter consumables and a new roll of wire, but got sent someone elses stuff....hopefully this company will make it right and get this stuff to me by Saturday.

Oh yes, I also got a roll of material to re-do the headliner today!

[Palf70Step]

[MrBeast]

no turning back now!

[ryanroo]

Looking good! i really like cut off wheels for that kind of stuff. but i also dont have a plasma cutter at home so i really dont have much choice...

Ryan

[Ackattack]

Got the other side cut tonight:



I used the plasma cutter tonight. The cutting process took a little less time and I think its the safer way to go. Using the cut off wheel to make the vertical cuts felt like the wheel could grab hold at any point and try to kick back into your face or arm at any time. No worries like that with the plasma. I think I was able to make a nicer/straighter cut with the cut off wheel though. Overall though, I don't think either method is better or worse. I will be dressing both cuts with a grinder to get a good bevel on them before I weld them up. I may also have to do a little more trimming/grinding to get everything square, straight, and level.

Oh yeah, the plasma is definitely more fun!

[Ackattack]

A little more progress. I power washed the engine today. Man was it a greasy grimy pig. I think cummins are kind of like harleys....they're not working right unless they're leaking a little oil I think one of the oil leaks is from the vacuum pump, so I have a reseal kit for it.

I also got some welding done on the frame. I had to use a come along to pull it square and then started welding. When I released the come along it sprang back a little, so its about 1/8" out of square. I figure that is close enough. I wasn't wanting to weld it all at once so I did a little bit, then went and broke out the plasma cutter again and cut off the upper and lower control arm mounts, and then came back and did a little more welding.

For right now I'm welding from the outside of the frame. Then I'm going to weld on the inside of the frame, grind it all down flush, and then fish plate it from the inside.

[Ackattack]

I moved the engine into place to see what kind of clearance issues I'm going to have.

The first one is the A/C compressor, which I anticipated:




But since I'm doing the solid axle swap, this portion of the frame that will have to be cut isn't really doing anything anyways (except for holding the radiator up) it won't be a big deal.

I'm planning on keeping the stock crossmember. There is plenty of clearance around the oil pan:



I think the trans-crossmember will need to be lowered:


Then I've been continuing to weld the frame back together and removed one of the rear cab mounts. The cab mounts are VERY difficult to removed as they're welded on. It took me about 3 hours to get the one off. In doing so, I gouged into the frame a little, so I also welded that back up:


I had to cut the rear cab mount a little to clear around the front spring hanger.

[ryanroo]

looks like a good start!

Ryan

[mcbassin]

Very nice progress. Keep up the hard work.

[68 TT]

Glad to see you are back at it and the hand isn't causing any issues.

We use a gouging tip on our plasma at work to cut out welds without damaging the base metal too much. One of them might save you some time when you have to cut off more brackets that need to be reused.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's a good idea. I need to find one for my plasma. Tips are expensive enought to try not to ruin. Keep up the good work, it's looking awesome!

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by 68 TT

Glad to see you are back at it and the hand isn't causing any issues.

We use a gouging tip on our plasma at work to cut out welds without damaging the base metal too much. One of them might save you some time when you have to cut off more brackets that need to be reused.

I got some drag cups for the plasma cutter, which is kinda nice. It dawned on me that I can now use a straight edge to help make cuts rather than free handing them.

I'll have to look into the gouging tips.

The frame is now fully welded back together, but I have to grind down the weld on the inside of the frame so I can put my fish plate on there for added strength (not sure if its necessarily needed, but it can't hurt).

I got the engine about where I want it and figured out an "easy" way to make the engine mounts. But first I have to put in the crossmember, which will take some work.

Also, the transcrossmember is going to be more difficult than I had originally hoped for, as it looks like it must drop below the frame.

That's it for now. I spared the additional frame pictures of weld ground down so they are not visible. Though, I'm sick of grinding and breathing metal and blowing my nose full of metal/grinding dust. I started wearing a dust mask to prevent it I know....TMI

[Ackattack]

Like I said in the last post, I had the engine in about the position I thought it was going to be in, so I moved the cab into position:



I had to cut off a crossmember at the rear of the cab to get it to set down close. It became pretty obvious that the engine was a little too far back, so I had to take the cab off, move the engine about 2" forward, then put the cab back on. It looked pretty good, so I cut the hole for the shifter to fit through:



In this position I have about 3/4 of an inch between the back of the head and the firewall:


I also clocked the outlet of the turbo about 45 degrees


This is the clearance I have on the ac compressor right now:


The engine isn't completely in place. I think the cab heat shield is hitting on the starter kickout. I may have to offset the engine to the passenger side ~1" to help this situation.

I also cut out 4 donuts for the start of the engine mounts.

[Ackattack]

I got started on the engine mounts. I pushed the engine to the passesenger side just a little, spaced the mount about a 1/4" above the existing crossmember and tacked in the motor mount plates.





Then I put the cab on again to make sure it all fit good.



I ended up removing the pass. side heat shield and trimming the seam where the floor and firewall come together so it didn't hit on the starter kickout.



I still have to fab up the back part of the motor mounts and add some more gussets and reinforcements and finished welding it all in.

[jbclassix]

I have a picture of a black CC i got off this site that i would like to copy and drop in a cummins like this build. Awesome job man!
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[Ackattack]

No pictures for this update

I got the motor mounts all welded in and I started on the transmission cross-member. The crossmember is going to be a 3 piece crossmember that bolts together where it drops down underneath of the transmission. That part is made of 4x4 tubing. The top pieces that sit in the frame rails are made of 6x6 and will not only hold up the transmission, but also support the arms from the front suspension. I need to get some more metal to finish the crossmember though.

I also got the manifold drilled and tapped for 2 pyrometer guages. I'm going to be running an autometer pyrometer for now, but I'm considering getting the snow performance water/meth injection system and it uses a pyrometer too, so I went ahead and drilled that hole while I had the turbo off.

That's about it.

I'm taking the whole week off after thanksgiving, so hopefully I will be able to knock out the front suspension, finish up the trans crossmember, and the little bit of engine work and start putting this bad boy back together.

[ryanroo]

looking forward to pics

Ryan

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice progress man!

[Rod_Lei]

This is an awesome build! You're inspiring!

[bigguy69]

Looking good
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[Ackattack]

Well the tranny crossmember is done:








Then I moved the front axle under the frame. Its going to get moved right back out. I am going to have to trim the drivers side lower control arm mount (hitting on differential), trim the outside of the frame rail where the factory spring buckets kick out, replace, and then build new spring hanger/brackets.

The axle is a pain to move around since there isn't any steering links on it and its freaking heavy. I'll deal with it though I'm going to pull the engine for further front suspension work.



I have this whole week off and my goal is to have the front suspension all done and all of the engine work done (oil pan gasket, rear main seal, vacuum pump reseal, new water pump, set timing) Nothing too serious. I'll try to keep an update of each days progress.

[jbclassix]

Get a 4x4 piece of wood long enough to squeeze between the axle tube and steering link, then use a C-clamp to sandwich the rod, wood, and tube. Or use dirtylarry's harborfreight mini furniture dollies!
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[Dieselwrencher]

Do you have the dial indicator set up to set timing?