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

[C20scott]

Before I get into the fun stuff, I wanted to get the rear fuel tank squared away. I basically had to relocate a crossmember to accommodate for the tank. The tank is a 30gallon steel tank, I forgot which one i ordered, but i know its a Chevy tank, possibly blazer. I will end up relocating the filler neck to the opposite side, because i want the recessed area on the lower portion of the tank to face the rear(More Clearance).

I do not own a welding machine. I ended up borrowing a Millermatic 211 from a friend. I will be using flux core for most of this job. I used 3/16" 2x4 for the crosmember, which i welded on the inside of the frame rail before boxing(boxed with 3/16" plate. I determined the location by setting the tank in place(Eyeball). I also installed a heavy duty tow receiver..

[C20scott]

The tank will end up sitting a few inches lower, I had it sitting on top of the lower flange of the frame rail for mock-up purposes. Unfortunately, the tank conflicts with the old helper-spring stops. Now i will have to weld something up, its the little things that are a pain...

I attempted to re-shape one of the existing crossmembers to use for the rear. All of the banging and cutting ended up being a waste, because i dont like the fitment. I also created new bumper brackets out of C-channel. Hopefully they are substantial enough to hold the bumper I plan to make for it.

[C20scott]

I found the tank that i bought: it is for a 1989 fullsize blazer. Dimensions are roughly 28x28x12", and it fits perfectly between the rails. I plan on drilling holes into the front and rear crossmembers to mount the straps, and having the fuel filler door on the driver's side. This will be put on hold until i find a bed, because i need to make sure everything will clear.

[C20scott]

I ended up starting on the engine compartment about a month and a half ago. I took alot of advice from other's Cummins builds, and took out the "notch" in the passenger front frame rail. This will ensure that the water pump outlet on the engine will clear the frame.

Notice the "attempt" at frame boxing done by some previous owner. I also cleaned up some of the other misc tabs and things that were welded on.

[C20scott]

I forgot to add this picture in earlier. I ordered a set of Tuff Country HD leaf springs to replace the junker ones. The springs were said to be for a 4" lift, but it seems that i got 5 or 6 out of it. I will level out the back when all is done. They are extremely stiff at this point, I am hoping that the weight of the engine settles them down.

[C20scott]

I needed to get the front end cleaned up so that i could start some real work. I couldnt get my wire wheel in all of the tight spaces. To make it short, I found this little tool.

Northern tool sandblaster attachment for pressure washers. Shipped to me for about $50. It ended up working great, took the frame to bare metal so i could get some paint on it. Instant gratification.

Tips for use: Try to use during the daytime, so that the water will dry, allowing you to paint shortly following the blasting. The metal will start to rust if it stays wet for any length of time. I didnt have any issues, just very small amounts of flash rust, which i brushed away with a red 3M pad. This thing also makes a mess, which you can sweep up later. Definitely requires use of a face shield.

Ugly frame pic before the blast at bottom

[C20scott]

The first test fit! Alittle background about the engine crane shown. I didnt have one prior to this project. My buddy mentioned that there might be an old one out in the orchard by his house "been there for 10 years." I recovered it in terrible condition, had no idea the ram even worked. After alittle paint and some lube the thing works awesome!

My goal is to use the stock engine mounts, and weld tabs onto the frame. I stole this idea from other members of this forum...

[C20scott]

I knew there would be clearance issues if i didnt get the motor back and down far enough. I ended up taking the engine out, and back in about 3 times during the fitment process. This was due to my inexperience.

If i were to do it again, I would have had the framerails around the engine mounts already cleaned up, ready to weld on the first install. Then create the engine mount tabs while it was in the "perfect position, and tack them in place. It took 3 ratchet straps, and a bottle jack for me to get it right where i wanted it.

Tabs made from 1/4" plate, all of my cuts done with a 4.5" angle grinder. It is by FAR my most heavily used tool on this job.

[C20scott]

Another note on the above. A sharpie will fit perfectly inside the cummins engine mount(where the bolt goes through). This will allow you to make a small dot on your mounting tabs, where you will need to drill your hole. This helped tremendously, as i was literally creating them in place.

Below I start to create my boxing plates 1/4" plate, along with removable plates which will eventually be the crossmember. Nuts are welded to the back of the boxing plate. I actually never plan on removing this crossmember, but i figured it will give me at least 1 option if anything ever comes up.

One more thing, You dont realize how many bends are in the chevy frame, this makes fitting a flat boxing plate fairly ugly. I will end up shaving off the little portions of the frame that stick out from under the plates.

This work occurred in early March, almost caught up..

[cstewart8808]

Hey man this is awesome. I love this project...... Now if I can just convince myself to pull the cummins out of my dodge and put it in my 67

[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

[C20scott]

The following weekend i got the rest of my boxing plates in. Im pretty tired of cutting 1/4" plate with an angle grinder at this point. I tried my Dewalt jigsaw, but it took even longer. I still plan on reinforcing the engine mount tabs with triangles(to resist forward/backward forces).

[SCHRUMGMC]

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

[C20scott]

The driver's side boxing plate requires holes for accessing the steering box bolts. In my case, I stole the idea from another build to sleeve access holes with pieces of pipe.

I bought the below harbor freight drill specifically for this project(workhorse), But i had no idea how crappy it actually was. I only used it a few times before i could hear parts coming loose inside. After a few more uses, there was obvious play in the bearings. The below was the final straw, the width of the step-up drill bit was too much for the "industrial heavy duty" drill to handle. Drill heated up to a few hundred degrees and misc components inside started pouring out smoke. I was taking it pretty easy on it also.

I got the hole drilled though!!

[C20scott]

I just need to create my crossmembers(engine and tranny), clean up my welds, and put on some paint before I'm done with the frame work. It was finally looking like I was coming close to being done with fitment. Until I threw the front clip in place just for fun.

3" of clearance in its stock location?!! Awesome..... Looks like i should keep my grinder cutting discs handy. At least I'm motivated to make it fit.

Oh yeah, one trick for taking the engine in and out(because I'm so experienced at it now). It is difficult to set the engine in place with the mounts installed. Because of how far back it sits, they will not easily clear the frame mount tabs. My solution was to unbolt the mounts from the engine(3 bolts) and slide them inside(in between) the frame mount tabs. Then you can lower the engine in place with no obstructions, slide the engine mounts towards the engine, install bolts, Done...