48 Chevy COE custom diesel build

[Chance48]

What's better than an old OG 48 Coe? A diesel powered one!!

Just starting this build. Got the cab off the 48 and the donor is still in service, but will be doing all the 48 cab metal work for now anyways.



My son running the tractor while I guided the ab off and snapped a pic or 2
[URL=http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/chancebaja/media/48%20Chevy%20COE/42EC88FD-BC87-4DA0-8D01-49EDE8EA0E16_zpsyg0rneii.jpg.html][/URL]



Tucked away outa harms way in the shop



And the donor


Will be a slow process as this will not be a show piece but I will be going through every nook and cranny. The rats caused a great deal of rust damage, all will be patched properly and such. I am new to auto body work so I'm gonna move slow until I get avid. Some highlights are.....diesel power, not sure might go mid engine on this.....resto mod a/c and heat....engine overhaul/upgrades....air ride suspension....custom bed, not sure what kind(flat or not) and much more. Should be epic.

Thanks for lookin, peace.

Chance

[47 Fasttoys]

Hey Chance, actually that cab looks pretty solid to me. The COEs are very hard to find in any shape at all. You may want to have a look at my build thread for some ideas. I put mine on the road in April and just tipped over 20K miles this week. If you have any questions just post them up.
Rob

[Chance48]

Hey 47, I read your entire thread. Awesome enginuity. I liked your brake booster/master cylinder solution. I will be asking a lot of questions I'm sure. The wiring scares me most, and I'm a year...or years away from that!!

I tell ya 47, I'm at a quandary in respect to making this a mid engine or trying stuff the Cummings under the cab along with the radiator, inner cooler , and condenser up there. My measurements say I goota lengthen the chassis 24" if I wanna do mid engine. Makes for a lot of bed back there, I'm torn!...but would be easier, I could stuff rad,cooler,condenser up front easy peasy. I'll get er sorted.

How's old blue doing? Any plans on doing anymore with it in near future?

Chance

[Purcell69]

Chance, the wiring should not be that difficult when you get there. If your donor motor is the 12 V Cummins, there is no computer to mess with. If it is a 24 valve motor, you will need to get all of the under hood wire harness with the motor and computer. Mark all of your connections as they relate to the sensors and the hard part is done.

For the chassis, an aftermarket harness kit can be pretty easy to install. I spent good money on a kit from Ron Francis Wire Works to use on my build. I started with a basic kit to run the carbureted engine, then added a Painless kit to it when I went EFI. The kit I used was very easy to install and had everything operational in about a day. I am not a wiring guy, so this is a big deal. There are lots of kits out there, just find one that meets your needs and abilities. Some are easier to use than others and some can be upgraded down the road while others can't.

Looking forward to your build. I'd like to see it with the engine in the traditional location for the COE, but for what you want, it may not be practical. This is your build anyway, so it needs to be what you want it to be when you are done.

-Joe

[Chance48]

Thx Joe,

Very valuable info, eases my mind a bit.

I wanna get this build going, just been so busy. Can't even get it stripped. When it gets into winter I should make some headway.

I might skip the cab body work and go ahead and prep donor for fitting the cab and go back to body work later. I'll have to make cab mods either way I orient the engine so I think that's the best way to go.

Chance

[lower50's]

Sweet I like seeing another diesel swap. COE's are very cool and rare then add diesel I think you should be able to fit the cummins under the hood/cab you just might need a trans hump like I made in mine. Good luck!!!

[Chance48]

Lowers, I'm reading your build thread now! Epic is all I gotta say!! Stuffing that fatty into my favorite old body style....LOVE IT!

Yeah, I made some measurements just a moment ago and was telling wife....I can fit it!!! I'm glad, she was to. Sure be easier to work on as mid engine, but freshened up, shouldn't have to touch it.

Chance

[47 Fasttoys]

Hey Chance, just curious why do you need to lengthen the chassis 24"? If you want to bag it and drop it into the weeds the Cummins may be to tall for an under cab mount set up. In stock form the floor gets a bit on the hot side with the stock engine, add a diesel engine with a turbo and you have a large heat generator. I'm not saying it can not be done by any means, but make sure you make a lot of measurements before you commit either way. As far as holding off on the body work for now..good idea, a lot of fabrication work will be needed in the cab floor area for either drive train location.
For mine ,yes a have a few projects for this winter; air bags front and rear, re-doing the dash, rebuild the door hinges and converting the latches to bear claw style.
Rob

[Chance48]

47,

I gotta lengthen the frame if I go mid engine. Rough measurements say the yokes(tranny/rear axle) will be only a couple inches apart. I'd feel comfy with couple feet of drive shaft. That is without putting engine under the cab. If I'm gonna have to put any engine under there, I'll put it all I suppose.

I know it's a lot to fit under there, and my badass cummins with twin turbo and fat single pipe popping up outta the bed in the back sounds awesome, but 2 ft more chassis...ugh. I'd have to have a tunnel about 10" tall to put it under the cab, that's setting her on the ground if I want. That tunnel would run back about mid ways of the seats. Darn you 47, got me thinking bout going back to mid engine design, haha.

I could shift the axle back and bob the tail, but I've seen that on a few, didn't like that look.

[Chance48]

I also was thinking about noise levels. Those gen2 24vlave5.9's are loud engines, which I like, but not In the cab. Under that old cab, I think it might be to noises. Another strike against under cab....


Chance

[Chance48]

My new toy

[47 Fasttoys]

How about if you stick the front part of the engine under the cab behind the seat? you should have at least 8 to 10 inches to play with. It looks like your donor is a extended cab long bed. Mine was an extended cab short bed and my drive shaft is 37 inches. Is your donor four wheel drive? Good choice on the welder, I have a Hobart 190 and am very happy with it.
Rob

[Purcell69]

Chance, just a note about noise control...a local shop does a lot of high end resto-mods, mostly Corvettes. I had a chance to talk with one of the builders and he told me they use a combination of spray on bedliner and Dynamat. He swears this combination makes it possible for classic Corvettes from the 1950s and 1960s to sound quiet inside like a modern high end passenger car. The bedliner is applied to the undersides of the body shell and the Dynamat material is the foil backed variety to not only combat noise, but heat as well.

I'm going this route with my build, even without the diesel engine. The first two generations of my build showed me that the cab is very noisy even with a gas motor. There is a lot of road noise that gets transmitted through the chassis that this process will help as well. When I built my cab mounts, I reused the mounts from the donor truck to take advantage of modern design in the interest of a quiet ride. Once I am done with the metal work on the cab, I will bedline the underside and install the Dynamat inside.

This may help with heat and engine noise for what you want to do.

-Joe

[Iceburgh]

And it is a jimmy....even cooler

[YukonXL04]

The noise is easy to counter, dynamat, closed cell foam then mass loaded vinyl then carpet. Done.

I say go for under hood/cab placement. After seeing all these cool cab overs, it really makes me want one! Dang

[Chance48]

47, that is a consideration. My engine is longer than yours. From fan pulley to tip of tranny yoke, it is in neighborhood of 7 ft long. I'd have to put more than 10" under the cab. What I'm gonna do is strip the donor, remove the 48 inner fenders and test it. If it looks viable to under cab it, then I prolly will. I know it can be put under the cab one way or another, but I've gotta approach this from the most economical way. Worried about new rad, coolers, etc...wanna use what I have.

Purcell, Yukon....thanks for that info. Will be the route I go.

Chance

[Chance48]

Turned an old toolbox into welding cart




Built my cab cart and got cab mounted
[URL=http://s1230.photobucket.com/user/chancebaja/media/48%20Chevy%20COE/image.jpg4_zpsnlorsfor.jpg.html]

[Dieselwrencher]

Great project! I miss the 54 I had. I wanted to drop it in the weeds too. I also wanted the cab over the engine but soon realized a cummins 5.9 wasn't going there. I mounted mine behind the cab. It also had a p-30 camper chassis, so it's a little different than an oem one. Your donor appears to be a 24v. 5 speed or auto? Also what year? I can get you the pin outs when you go to wire the engine. I look forward to watching and following your build as I sold mine to turn it into something with shingles.

[Chance48]

Diesel, I'd love hear some details on your build! It was impossible to fit that bad boy under the cab aye?

My donor is a 2001 with auto. The tranny lost 2nd gear bout a year ago. I still use the truck like this because my plan has always been to use it for this. Don't wanna fresh tranny until my build. Also, I would like to entertain the idea of going with a 6 speed auto and 1500 stall converter. Would be tits, but I'm kinda simple so that may not happen. I seen a overhaul kit for 700.00 for my tranny. Considering that, but it will need a shift kit to handle extra power engine will be putting out. All up in the air right now. Gotta get ole smoke in the shop here and start stripping her down.

I like the idea of mid engine.....twin turbos, big stack coming out of center billowing beautiful black smoke. Engine visible to the world, rough and raw baby...lol...was my picture from the beginning.

Did you have any part of the front of engine under the cab wrencher?
Will lean on you when it comes to that rewire, thx. And, sorry hear ya had to get rid of your truck, maybe you'll build another after some time.

Thx,
Chance

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by Chance48

Diesel, I'd love hear some details on your build! It was impossible to fit that bad boy under the cab aye?

My donor is a 2001 with auto. The tranny lost 2nd gear bout a year ago. I still use the truck like this because my plan has always been to use it for this. Don't wanna fresh tranny until my build. Also, I would like to entertain the idea of going with a 6 speed auto and 1500 stall converter. Would be tits, but I'm kinda simple so that may not happen. I seen a overhaul kit for 700.00 for my tranny. Considering that, but it will need a shift kit to handle extra power engine will be putting out. All up in the air right now. Gotta get ole smoke in the shop here and start stripping her down.

I like the idea of mid engine.....twin turbos, big stack coming out of center billowing beautiful black smoke. Engine visible to the world, rough and raw baby...lol...was my picture from the beginning.

Did you have any part of the front of engine under the cab wrencher?
Will lean on you when it comes to that rewire, thx. And, sorry hear ya had to get rid of your truck, maybe you'll build another after some time.

Thx,
Chance

On my truck, since it had a P-30 camper chassis under it, the 5.9 valve cover would have been nearly at the bottom of the dash if I planned to lay frame. That right there was enough for me not to do it. Unless you can make the cab tilt, that is too close to working on a van and I was out.

Your donor should be a 47re. Rebuild kits can be obtained for $200-$400. A 6 speed auto would be an Aisin or an Allison 1000 series. I actually have an Allison 1000 that will go right behind a 24v. I actually had it in my truck. Npne of my engine was under the cab. I had the radiator up front behind the grill with the intercooler. None of that was finished. I had the engine and trans set in place with the mounts built, and then some one purchased the truck without the engine and trans. IDK if I'll get into another one for a while. My project list is pretty long and I try to keep the blinders on anymore. Haha

[72smoker]

Looks like you have a cool build starting. I love the coe and cummins idea.

[84blaze]

Cant wait to see more progress on this rig.

[lower50's]

Motor behind the cab sounds like a plan
On the sound/temp question I used lizard skin check out post# 284,287,304 of my build.

[Chance48]

Not much progress but I'll share it. Found some bad rust above inside the front windshield frame. The mice camped out above the windshield doing there business there....god I hate mice!!

My mini helpers working hard....

I thought I had taken more pics, realize now I forgot. Got most of front end off. Sorting wiring out. Gotta get in the dash now and pull all the wiring through firewall then cab coming off.

I didn't realize this model had in tank fuel pump. I'll be upgrading to bulldog high flow setup.

Dumb question maybe......I don't really care for a lot of the modern things like ABS, cruise control(didn't work in this truck already, feel I need it later I'll go aftermarket), ....asking I can cut a lot of things this harness later and if I need use some of that wiring for something else or what not? That is a clear thought, or should I just salvage the computer wiring and buy an aftermarket wiring kit for all the rest?

I know I love pics so I'll try and do better. I don't have a smart phone. I lug my iPad to the shop, so sometimes move to many steps and miss pics or hands are greasy and don't get them.

[Coldshot]

Awesome build plan, this is exactly somthing I wanted to do down the road almost to a T. COE's look great.