4BT Cummins 4L85 Long to Short

[bowfaber]

Arnold's Motor Supply was my go to place for parts and materials.

[bowfaber]

It was looking too good. I was going for the patina look and these panels were too straight if I wanted to match the cab. A ball peen hammer did the trick.

[bowfaber]

First thing I did was take the door in to the parts store to get a color match for the paint. For the Fauxtina paint process I used a paint roller to roll on black paint, next I rolled on a red/brown paint as well as giving some more texture with the foam brush. It's best to apply the red/brown when the black is still wet so they can "melt" together giving more depth to the fauxtina. Then, I sprayed on the green, sanded back through until I got the desired look. When you hit black paint, Stop! the next layer is primer.

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paint/sand

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bed floor rust repair

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back to the old parts truck for metal patches

[bowfaber]

Grind the bottom the the bed with a wire wheel, it's messy-use protection! Hit the bare spots with primer and the rest with a converter primer

[bowfaber]

undercoat bottom side and paint the front header panel

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More rust repair

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con't

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bed con't

[bowfaber]

On to the oily pig! Engine came out of a '91 step van I believe. I was told it had under 90k miles. Trans came out of an '07 1 ton van with a duramax 27xxx miles. I went to PATC for the 4l85 adapter plate and transmission controller. I would use them again. http://www.transmissioncenter.org/cu...bt_adapter.htm

[bowfaber]

Started by getting a rear sump oil pickup tube and rotating the oil pan 180 degrees. Set the engine in and put it as low and as far back as I could in the engine compartment, set it down on a piece of 1/2 bar stock and started making the mounts.

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engine mounts

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I had to remove some material inside the trans case to allow for the flexplate. The starter used with this setup is a 6 liter ford starter. Quite a bit of material had to be removed in order to properly install the starter. First was on the engine block.

[bowfaber]

Next the actual starter needed slimmed up, and either cut off the nose cone or remove material inside the trans case because the cone would hit the trans case and not engage the teeth on the flexplate.

[bowfaber]

GM 1 wire alternator. Replace the GM pulley with the the Cummins pulley.

[bowfaber]

While I was in there replacing gaskets and such I thought I would take care of the killer dowel pin issues. New water pump!

[bowfaber]

Almost threw in the towel at this point. I had never heard the engine run and it would not start! It seemed like the engine wasn't turning fast enough. After chasing other possible issues, checking for clearance issues, we concluded the cylinder walls may have gotten some rust on them. I pulled the injectors and poured some home brew down it's throat (50/50 mix of trans fluid and acetone down each injector hole). Let it sit overnight. Turned the engine over and evacuated the fluid. She fired right up!

[bowfaber]

Hydro boost came out of an 04 1 ton van.

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te

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power steering fluid reservoir- aluminum. an fittings

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When you get a junk yard hydro boost, make sure to get as many fittings and hoses that was on the vehicle you harvested it from. You just might be able to reuse them. I went to speedway again for stainless flex lines and fittings.

[bowfaber]

brakes con't. Added a pinion shim to get the correct pinion angle.

[bowfaber]

Air bags for towing or a heavy load in the bed. These are awesome. I use them regularly.