47-55.1 3.0 Duramax in a 1950

[Gary66]

Has anyone installed a 3.0 Duramax in an advanced design truck? I'm getting ready to tackle a 1948 3800 Chevrolet short bus and have been looking at options.. 350.. LS.. etc.

[dsraven]

not sure on actual dimensions of the duramax but they look fairly wide. I wonder if thee would be room between the frame rails on an AD truck and still allow room for other stuff, like steering components, exhaust, linkages for trans, etc.
a 3800 is a 1 ton, correct? basically the same size as a 1/2 ton in the AD configuration?

[dsraven]

before you start anything i recommend to find a factory assembly manual as they have all the frame and body dimensions etc, plus show how everythig was put together.
what driveline is in the unit currently and what do you plan to change once you get to the final planning stage? IFS front end? tougher rear axle? p/s and p/b?
just curious. there has been a lot of builds on here that have done a lot of different things to an AD truck. do you have a pic of your project so we can see what you mean by short bus? are you talking about a school bus, with the wider body, orbasically a suburban style with single wheels out back?

[Hcb3200]

There have been quite a few that drop diesels in advance and other 50s years trucks.

Guy on stovebolt did it but you may need to reach out direct to him on the site as his pics links are not working

https://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/wa...dy%201950.html

Over the top is out there as well.

https://www.dieselworldmag.com/diese...oom-is-reborn/

Some basic googling will find a few outer that on multiple sites.

[mr48chev]

There is a fair amount of info here https://www.dieselhub.com/duramax/3.0-duramax-lm2.html

Length is said to be 35 inches and width and height are about the same according to this from Diesel hub.

These photos snagged from an old Ebay add show that the width is in the turbo and plumbing on both sides of the engine.

With the right trans and rear gears it should be a reacher able to do the long trips and get good fuel mileage doing it.

The issue that I can see is that they are about three inches longer than a 250 or 292 that already pushes the length limit.

[dsraven]

where there's a will there's a way. maybe all that stuff on the sides of the engine could be fitted somewhere else but you can't make the engine shorter. maybe setting it back into the firewall would help but not for room on the interior. a new rad support could be fabbed which sets the rad firther forward but then you will run into issues with fan mounting clearances etc

[dsraven]

there are those who place the turbo further back on the pipe and run oil lines back. turbo runs cooler but maybe a preluber would be required?
rad could be set behind the cab like an offroad racer? would need to consider air flow availability but lots of room for a big rad and big fans to keep things cool

sounds like an interesting build. if you happen to go through with it please keep posting your plan and progress.
there is always the cummins 4bt route

[mongocanfly]

About a yr or so ago I was looking at doing a LM2 3.0 swap..looking for a stand alone harness proved near impossible
Everbody I talked to said they were not working on them as the newer version LZO was coming out but most were only doing the v8s..
Then I started seeing the problems the LM2 was having ..and decided I'd just stick with a LS..
Edit
Here's a thread I started back then..
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=835045
didn't even see the last post til now but it looks like there's a harness now