Diesel Conversion

[Mister laugh]

Anyone who says a 12 valver cummins has electronics has no idea what they are talking about, same thing as a 4bt with 2 extra holes in the block (and a bit longer) give em the right fuel pressure and they will run.

[MrBeast]

I work for a heavy equipment company, something I have been very surprised to find out there is just how many machines are equipped with the Cummins 4BT or 6BT engine, they seem to be a damed outstanding power plant. What I do find interesting is that our best mechanic who works on them all day long has one in his truck, and refuses to drive anything else.

According to him the only time he sees them apart in the shop is when some one does something negligent that kills the engine, he swears up and down he has never seen a Cummins fail because of something that Cummins did. His personal truck has something to the tune of 380,000 miles.

From what I can tell about the 12 valve, the metallurgy of the block is very high in Nickel, and thus the block is extremely robust. Also because of the wide spread use of the engine, parts for them are cheap and readily available.

I have a 72 1 ton dually that is going to get a 12 valve hopefully by the end of the summer after I overhaul the engine, and stuff twin turbos on it.

At the same time though, I have a 72 Blazer that is going to most likely get a 6.5 Turbo Diesel.

Really a choice like that is based on application. The engine I am looking at buying the guy wants 800.00 for, I am going to offer him 500, and I might get it for that, and if I am lucky, I will have to do very little to the truck to install it. It is a cheap fix that is going to put my fuel economy through the roof.

I cant decide though because for what I am going to spend stuffing it in, I could make some serious head way on putting the 12 Valve in my Dually. This is a classic case of gear head indecision induced by having too many cool toys.

[sleepertruck72]

Just curious as to how hard the new Duramax would be to swap with allison tranny in a 72 c 20 2wd ?would it be a waste of time,money ?

[dieselarmy13]

Originally Posted by sleepertruck72

Just curious as to how hard the new Duramax would be to swap with allison tranny in a 72 c 20 2wd ?would it be a waste of time,money ?

Wouldn't be a waste at all, but look around and check out the prices on these two peices of eqipment. Not to cheap. Lots of electronic thingies all over, too.

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by sleepertruck72

Just curious as to how hard the new Duramax would be to swap with allison tranny in a 72 c 20 2wd ?would it be a waste of time,money ?

I have looked extensively at doing a Duramax swap. I havn't been able to find an engine for less than 5500.00, It would be a real pain in the ass, because essentially you would have to cut down the factory wiring harness to the bare essentials of what you would need to make the motor run right, and then install it in your truck. Then on top of that you are going to need the Allison transmission. Which is going to cost you another couple of grand. All in all, it is going to cost buku buckaroos and for about the same money, I figured I could build a 12 valve Cummins that would make close to a thousand foot pounds of torque, that is going to be a lot more fun than a stock D-max.

[69long"n"low]

With the 6.5's and 6.2's are a th400 or 350 strong enough to take the touque and what kind of mods are needed to install one in our trucks....u know fuel and wiring

[MrBeast]

Originally Posted by 69long"n"low

With the 6.5's and 6.2's are a th400 or 350 strong enough to take the touque and what kind of mods are needed to install one in our trucks....u know fuel and wiring

A th400 would be, a 350 might be shaky.

[earl87gta]

they came from the factory with 700r4s so a 350 should work it would be just as strong as the 700r4 would be. On some of the newer 6.5 with more power you may be cutting it close.

[special-K]

I`ve been supporting my family working out of piles of junk since 1986.I`d like to get a DuraMax ever since they came out in`01,but haven`t needed a new truck yet.The`92 I factory ordered is still doing it`s job just fine.The money I`ve saved in fuel could have bought another truck by now,but I still love my junk.It`s not stock,but it`ll run with,if not outrun,newer stock diesels.I don`t have a "chip" to bump up.I don`t think I`ve driven that truck empty for a whole tank of fuel.I did need an injector pump,injectors,and glow-plugs @ 210,000 miles.What a pile of junk.

You know a good old SBC won`t go 100,000 miles w/o head work and usually a cam & lifters.Which is usually peeing in the wind w/o touching the bottom end as well,meaning an overhaul.I`ve never heard any bad comments about those.

[timcos]

My buddies up at www.goldenfuelsystems.com do run down on one of their videos about the different types of diesels.

See the link on their home page... "Click for more info: Chevy/GMC, Dodge, Ford"

Of course for cars are the small VW and larger Mercedes diesels.

In the truck world they really like the 6.9 and 7.3 ford diesels engines. Next is the cummins and of course last and not highly recommended are the duramax's

They get into specifics about each one...beyond me but I get when they say it.

I am looking at adding a 86 for 1 ton because it has the 6.9 in it...they say these are pretty much bulletproof.

Tim

[Rokcrln]

Well one of my long term projects is a 71 crew cab SWB dually diesel and I plan on going with the 12V and pump it up a bit. This truck will be for towing, showing and just plan cruising but at 20++ MPG it should be a great driver as well. I may go ahead and just find a wrecked LWB extended cab dodge and pull the body and use the complete runing gear for my build. As of right now I have the cab started and a set of new alcoa rims but that is it so I have awhile to look for a doner. What I lioke about the 12V's that I have been around is with the right turbo and exhaust they sould just plane bad Ars and like a heavly built semi all in a clasic truck package.
I am also going with the 12V because my Father in-law is a retired bus machenic and built these in his sleep so that part will be easy.

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[munger]

ive seen duramaxs for 2 gs and why not just use a 4l80e or a nv4500 or if you want six spd nv5600 and it would still be less than a allison