Towmissile rebuild

[Dieselwrencher]

Make sure you use a Cummins brand head gasket, or an Interstate McBee. Don't use Fel-pro or regular parts store ones.

[v30crewcab]

Yep, most everything has come from cummins on it. thats an expensive head gasket!

[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by v30crewcab

Yep, most everything has come from cummins on it. thats an expensive head gasket!

Isn't it sad that you can buy a rebuild kit for a SBC for what a cummins gasket kit costs?

[thirdstreettito]

Looking good! Keep it up!

[v30crewcab]

Well it was a long week. last thurs I changed the gasket on the timing cover, which in involves removing the cam. then friday I changed the head gasket. got it timed, and was torquing the nut on the inj pump, and the whole motor tipped over. I had forgot to hook it back up to the engine lift, and it broke the bottom corner of the timing cover off. found another one sunday, but it was monday evening before I had i all together again. (I'm good at getting cams in and out of cummins now.)
finally got the motor and trans in, and been working on exhaust, driveshafts, and getting the fuel tank back in. hope to get the cab back on today, and maybe get the front axle swapped. alot of crap to do by yourself.

[Mattman2010]

Damn, you are working fast. I cant wait to get my truck to that point. What are you using for motor mounts and cross member? Also how big is your exhaust? Almost looks like there is not much room for the front drive shaft.

[v30crewcab]

Fast? it should've been running already! I'm moving at a snails pace.
I'm using the stock 6.2 diesel mounts. made my own brackets to the motor. I am going to make a new crossmember as well, as the older one wasn't removeable with the engine in the frame, and that became a problem when I needed to get the pan off. exhaust is 4". works just fine with the driveshaft.
the cab is back on the frame now, and hoping to get the core support on tonight as well.

[Mattman2010]

You sure are moving fast compared to me! Hell it took me two months to get my cab and front clip painted. Maybe that's just me being a college student haha. I seemed to be in the shop 20 or more hours a week.
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[v30crewcab]

still not done, but I hope I can finally take a test drive friday in this. gotta finish up some mounts for the a/c out front, since the intercooler is now occupying its original spot. lots of little details, wearing me out.
still gotta figure out the rear pinion angle, weld the perches, make a rear driveshaft, and shorten the intercooler tubes for the new location. The twins are on hold, as well as painting the bed and fenders for now. gotta make the road trip to PA, and then when I get back, I'll get back on the painting, and the compounds.
Also got my fuel tank mounted and hooked up in the frame. that took alot of work.

[Mattman2010]

Looking good man, what kind of intercooler are you running? Any pictures of how it's mounted? How big of a fuel tank is that?
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[v30crewcab]

its an 01 dodge intercooler. 1" taller than the 94 I had in it. cut out the core support and mounted it on the inside. left just enough of the support to hold it up above the bolt head that secures the body mount. theres two holes drilled for the bottom pins to go into, and made an L bracket at the top that bolts to the support at the top. my other one I had out in front, thought i'd try it this way now.
The fuel tank I built to fit my other frame, its 23 gal. I have room to add another 5 gal now, but its lined inside and don't wanna try to cut and weld to that. gonna build another custom tank to go in the back, as I don't want to relocate my shocks, and the 4" exhaust takes up alot of room too. it was a tight fit with a 40 gal back there with the previous frame.

[v30crewcab]

moved it under its own power friday. backed it off the lift, put the trailer the bed was on under the lift, and picked it up so I could back the truck under it.
I slammed a coat of old bodycolor(from previous paintjob, not the right color!) on the bed and front fenders, cause I'm running out of time to make my trip. they will get stripped and painted when I get back.
Its sitting low in the rear at the moment. front is 4" lift, rear is 60" springs from a 99 suburban. I put a 3.5 lift block back in and it seems to be right now. who knows till its all together and driving though.
I also swapped the 4:10 chunk out for a 3.73 in the rear. gotta love 14 bolts. easy to setup. just gotta set the proper pinion angle in the rear, and finish my rear driveshaft.
The a/c holds vacuum, just gotta fill it up and it'll be done.
Its getting there.
guess I gotta modify the hitch as well, doesn't want to fit now. do the shortbeds take a different reciever hitch?

[joe231]

Nice work!!

According to the u-haul site, the long bed and short bed hitches have different part numbers, so I'm assuming they are different.
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[Dieselwrencher]

Great work! When I cut my truck down, my hitch was too long. I plan on just building a new one when I get to that point. Good luck on getting it ready for your trip!

[Devillusion]

love it.........looks awesome!

[Gordonr1973]

It's looking very good!!

[v30crewcab]

well, I got it together, and drug my scout up to PA to wheel it.


Had to tighten up the steering box on the way back, and the a/c compressor clutch broke about 100 miles from the house. Not bad overall though. made a 1500 mile trip with only a two or three days shakedown before I left.
Now I gotta see if I can find time to finish painting the front sheetmetal and the bed. may put it off awhile its so hot right now.

[v30crewcab]

And heres a pic of us parked in the middle of a crazy trail called rock creek. its like 6 football fields long of giant boulders.

[gmech]

Sounds like alot of fun. Trucks seems to being doing its job too. What kinda mileage did you get on you trip?

[v30crewcab]

it gets 13 towing. yeah its a work truck. it will look nice again, but will always be required to work! no showtruck here.

[Mattman2010]

That's looking good man, glad to hear it worked out. I'm pumped to start on mine again.
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[70custom20]

Truck looks cool. Why can't any one of the big three build a simple, cool workhorse like you have there? Where in PA were you wheeling?
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[v30crewcab]

Its Rausch creek, near hamburg Pa.
this thing is eating me alive in new parts. got a new ac compressor now, and a new alternator. I need to upgrade the master to a bigger one as well, the brakes are a little soft now. never ending project.

[70custom20]

Originally Posted by v30crewcab

Its Rausch creek, near hamburg Pa.
this thing is eating me alive in new parts. got a new ac compressor now, and a new alternator. I need to upgrade the master to a bigger one as well, the brakes are a little soft now. never ending project.

That's where I thought it might have been. I'm about an hour and change from there, just a little bit South of Allentown. I know a few of the guys that work at OK4WD. They are usually involved in local wheeling events. Can you notice any difference with the truck with the 60" springs in the rear? Did you do a shackle flip? The front springs, they're still the stock length 47" springs, but a 4" lift. Sorry for all of the questions.
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[v30crewcab]

yeah its stock length fronts, they are 4" HD tuffcountry.
the rear rides kinda stiff, I am goin to take out a leaf soon. they came from a suburban, so they have 1 or 2 leafs more than the pickups, and I am going to be running airbags as well.
no I didn't do a shackle flip, don't like the look of the rear spring at a goofy angle. I used a superduty block in the rear, since those springs give about 2-3 inches of lift over my stock rears. my 5" block was too much then.