'72 4x4 diesel

[K2Orion]

Great truck. Great idea. I am in the parts gathering stages of a Cummins 12valve swap myself. I wanna know where you found a nv4500 for $75!

But I would really like more info on the hydro clutch setup and the hydroboost. Is the hydroboost all GM parts?

[mal68ibu]

Originally Posted by wildwilly4x4

I put in a seat out of a '96 p/u (although its tan and has a hole in it for now..lol), got most of the wiring done, and got my glow plug relay mounted to the engine, instead of the firewall. I still need to fab up a battery box for the driver side for the 2nd battery.

Does anyone have pointers on getting a fuel sending unit that has a return line plumbed in. If I have to add one, it wont be too big of a deal. I got my tank from a salvage yard, but I dunno if the truck was a manual or auto tranny. Apparently, from the sending unit searches I have done, there seems to be a difference for the fuel sending unit depending on what tranny the truck has. WTF, can anyone shed some light for me? Thanks, Laramie

1972 chevy big block, I believe has a double tube sending unit. If I remember correctly the 72 BBC air truck I had, had a fuel pump with two lines (one I believe was for return). I have a factory driver side battery tray that has been media blated to bare metal, but its not the cheap way out at $150.

[wildwilly4x4]

Originally Posted by K2Orion

Great truck. Great idea. I am in the parts gathering stages of a Cummins 12valve swap myself. I wanna know where you found a nv4500 for $75!

But I would really like more info on the hydro clutch setup and the hydroboost. Is the hydroboost all GM parts?

Farm trucks get parted around here all the time, so if you know where to look, nv4500s and dana 60s come pretty cheap if you know the right people..lol I can pretty much sniff them out as I drive through these small towns. The tranny was pretty cheap, but it cost me $450 to get it rebuilt, then I also have about $150 in getting the 205 to mate up.

The hydroboost is all GM parts, although the mounting bracket is pretty cut up. I had to cut off the bottom two mounting bolts and trim it to clear the steering column, and then drill two new upper bolts to fit the '72 mounting bolts. The middle two bolts in the hydroboost bracket fit right up to the bottom two '72 bolts. I also had to extend the linkage from the hydro to the brake pedal. Its really more straight forward than it sounds. I took me about and hour of modding to get it to fit. Just get you a hydro unit out of an '80s truck, and start comparing it to your truck, its pretty easy.

The master cylinder is for a '91 gm 3/4 ton. I just measured its throw, then put a tape measure next to the pedal and measured the pedals throw until I got enough to push the master all the way in. From that determined point, I imagined a straight line to the firewall and made the hole for the master to mount to. The clutch linkage goes straight from the pedal to the master cylinder. If you do a search, I think YukonJack has a good write up on this, his is very similar to the way I did mine. I just used a later model clutch master so that I wouldnt need the wedge that he had to use in his.

[wildwilly4x4]

Originally Posted by mal68ibu

1972 chevy big block, I believe has a double tube sending unit. If I remember correctly the 72 BBC air truck I had, had a fuel pump with two lines (one I believe was for return). I have a factory driver side battery tray that has been media blated to bare metal, but its not the cheap way out at $150.

Thanks for that info, I'll see if I can find one. Thats about all I lack in getting my fuel system buttoned up so I can start her up

[wildwilly4x4]

Originally Posted by WCRiot

Are maintenance parts easy to come by? What about pricing? I have seen military diesel engines from about the same era sell for about $500. I'm really interested in diesels and I really want to swap one in. I just want to find the best diesel for my needs.

I really want the diesel for the better fuel economy. I'm going to be able to see what a performance built 327 engine does in a 4000lb car, so that will give me a nice comparison. But, what diesel would you recommend for fuel economy in a c10? Oh Ya, I love Turbo's so I have to have a turbo charged Diesel

Most parts like alternators, starters, filters and stuff, most parts stores around here have. Things like injection pumps and actual engine parts and injectors can easily be had through the net, or special order at parts stores. I havent ever had to change anything except starters and alternators. As far as I know Banks still makes turbo kits for them too. The banks kits fit these trucks much better than the factory 6.5 turbo stuff. I took all the factory turbo stuff off of this one because the turbo is mounted too far back (right where the heater box goes), and the exhaust downpipe heads straight down towards the frame.

[gerfunken]

Man, I love the idea........ truck looks great.

[wildwilly4x4]

not much new progress this month. I did put a '96 seat in it, and a bunch of junk and beer cans in the bed. Hopefully I'll be hard at it again in 2 weeks when I get 7 days off again.

[mclairmo]

Wicked truck. Will make a nice rock crawler.

[Trucker_Eric]

Originally Posted by wildwilly4x4

My original mil truck was just your normal CUCV 1ton chevy 4x4.

actually, they were called 1 and 1/4 ton, or the "5/4". i was going to buy an 84 right before i got my c10 and i researched them, not to be corrective or anything.


i absolutly love your truck. it takes alot of blood, sweat, and tears to build a truck like the one you have got. you are going to leave them original logos on the doors, right? that makes it look so much cooler in my opinion. and also, i would send some pics of that truck to Dieselpower Magazine, ask them to come out and feature your truck in the mag. i knwo the guys up there in CA and they dig engine swaps as such. once they did a ford ranger with a 4bt cummins, a '72 chevelle ss with a 6.6 duramax, most recent a '42 hudson land speed racer with a 7.3 ford powerstroke, and many more. they like cool ****, its something to think about man, keep up the great work.

[wildwilly4x4]

Originally Posted by Trucker_Eric

actually, they were called 1 and 1/4 ton, or the "5/4". i was going to buy an 84 right before i got my c10 and i researched them, not to be corrective or anything.


i absolutly love your truck. it takes alot of blood, sweat, and tears to build a truck like the one you have got. you are going to leave them original logos on the doors, right? that makes it look so much cooler in my opinion. and also, i would send some pics of that truck to Dieselpower Magazine, ask them to come out and feature your truck in the mag. i knwo the guys up there in CA and they dig engine swaps as such. once they did a ford ranger with a 4bt cummins, a '72 chevelle ss with a 6.6 duramax, most recent a '42 hudson land speed racer with a 7.3 ford powerstroke, and many more. they like cool ****, its something to think about man, keep up the great work.

I'm gonna paint the whole thing IH red, even though I love the logos on those doors, I'm still gonna paint em. If those doors had gone to this truck and the rest of it was in as good of shape, I would prolly keep em. I'm not going for a show truck, but I am going for a fairly straight, completely rust free rig. All I have left for getting rid of all rust is both rockers and the pass cab corner. The motor is ready to fire up once I get the fuel tank plumbed in, then build a rear driveshaft, and replace my bad slave cylinder, which requires me to pull the tranny/t-case back out.

I may offroad this one a lil bit, but I've already got plenty of rock crawlers, one of which was in JP magazine last month. Here it is!

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice build!

[thirdstreettito]

Awesome/sexy friggin truck!

[wildwilly4x4]

I found me a decent fuel sender at the 'yard yesterday, I think it was a '69 or 70 model, only one tube coming out of it. I will start working on it tonight at work to get my fuel return and tank vent installed on it.

[wildwilly4x4]

Not much new work as far as pics are concerned, but I did get the engine up and running today. The fuel system is complete, now I need to get my dual batteries mounted, finish wiring the glow plug system for a manual switch, and repair a couple of leaks on my turbo crossover pipe.

[Sinisterspeed]

killer work!

[special-K]

Great news!! That`s a big step,huh?

[Rob H.]

I'm liking this project alot! I was guessing from your user ID there was a Willys in your fleet somewhere LOL. I'm kinda partial to them as well!

[wildwilly4x4]

Yeah, it was a huge step, although it was just minimal work getting the fuel all plumbed up. Today I picked up a 4 row radiator out of a 70's van thats gonna fit just right, once I get the radiator hold downs for a 4 row..lol I may have to build some.

[FRENCHBLUE72]

B!tchen thats all i got..

[dccarpenter]

Awesome truck I like it a lot, sad to see the cool door lettering go but I like the paint color.

[packers05]

Are you making smoke yet or what?

[Sublvr72]

sweet truck, hope to see it finished soon

[usmcchevy]

Nice work, I like the color too

[Willys47]

it looks like we like the same things mine you your stuff looks better than mine

[LaraWilde]

If you want any tips I pulled out my 327 years ago and put in the '99 6.5L diesel with the turbot and the NV4500 5 speed

It is a great combo although I am ready to explore the 6.6 duramax since i snapped the tailshaft and punched a whole in my gearbox and transfer case.

I get great mileage (about 10L to the 100km) and it has all the power you need.
Only problem I had in my 72 was that it was a bit of a tight squeeze under the bonnet - had to redesign the turbot and the battery needs to be a small one.

Plenty of pix of my motor etc in my photo bucket - in the sig