Backyard Cummins

[C20scott]

This is where i stand now. I have a big weekend ahead of me. Right now im thinking about the finish product, and paint. Thinking a "metallic forest green" or "dark metallic blue". Premature.. Yes Necessary for my sanity.. Yes.

More to come this weekend..

Pic: Took a trip to Chico last weekend(my college town). Feather Falls outside of Oroville is a decent hike.

[C20scott]

Originally Posted by SCHRUMGMC

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

Are you referring to the Engine/Tranny, or the Chevy frame? I believe the tranny can be converted by changing tailhousings, but i have never researched this in detail.

[C20scott]

Hey Blake's First, Hope you don't mind, i stole your pic for informational purposes. I considered looking for a stock dodge x-member, but I couldn't find enough info on if it would work or not.. I already have my materials to build my own 3/16" 2x4 tube.

[blake's first]

thats fine just wanted to make sure that you were going to do a cross member that thing is heavy . this worked so easy I just thought I would let you no I also used the front cross member out of the 93 dodge .. have you had the motor in the frame i used a hydro boost so I cut back to one vac pump but I steal had to thin that left frame rail I'm not that far from you in you want to look Joe..

[C20scott]

Made some progress this weekend. I realized it was a bad idea to try to cut 3/16 crosssmembers with an angle grinder, so i picked up a chop saw. It was a good investment.

I tackled the engine xmember first. Ended up cutting a 45* angle on the driver side, and about a 55* angle on the passenger(because the engine is closer to this rail). I left the pieces a few inches long, braced them in place, and then marked the point which i would do my lower cut using a 3rd piece of steel. You have to cut the lower joints at exactly half of the angle of the upper cut to make the lower piece level. Drivers side had cuts of 22.5* at the lower joint, passenger 27.5*.

[C20scott]

I was able to finess(beat) this this out of the frame rails in order to finish up the welds and paint. I lock-tited the bolts in there, as i never plan on having to remove it, unless absolutely necessary. The front crossmember is currently a piece of angle that i found. I will probably end up reinforcing it with another angle, but im not worried about it at this point.

[C20scott]

Pics

[C20scott]

It took me about 2 hours to get this tranny in. I dont know why, it should have been simple. after almost tearing my arms out catching it when the jack gave way, I ended up getting my engine crane inside the cab, and picking it through the tunnel. Crazy how the small things turn into a big deal...

I spent another hour or so getting it at the perfect height, so that i knew the tcase would fit snug under the cab. Then me and a buddy lifted the cab from the front, and rolled it onto its back onto a piece of ply covered in a heavy duty rubber mat i had laying around. This allowed me to have some room to work, paint, new body mount bushings, undercoat the cab, ect..

[C20scott]

I ended up finishing up the tranny x member late sunday night. I have no pics to prove it yet. I used the stock dodge tranny mount and built the xmember around it. It was pretty straightforeward having done it once before. Pics to come..

Also, DO NOT sit on your window while installing an engine, or anything for that matter. or you will break it....

[72smoker]

It looks like your tranny cross member will be heavy enough, but you might want to see if they make a extra heavy duty windshield.
Your build looks great.

[C20scott]

Pictures of the finished crossmember, built in the same fashion as the front. I ended up being able to cut 45* angles on both sides, and cut holes on the bottom for access to nuts. Just need to clean up and paint..

[C20scott]

Parts!! Custom built HD clutch kit
- HD master/slave cylinder
- Clutch release fork
- 29 spline tcase coupler
- Poly engine mount inserts
- Poly cab mount bushings
- Off-Road Designs HD spring shackles
- 1999 Chevy 3500 Hydroboost unit

I have found an ingenious way to adapt the hydroboost unit to the stock mounting location(more to come later). The clutch is half kevlar, half metal-backed organic. A guy in the south bay area knows his stuff, and built it for me at alot less than i could have bought it somewhere else for. More to come on the quality of the clutch when it gets used.. Yes lots of work to do!

[C20scott]

Made progress in the right direction over the weekend. Pulled the engine(hopefully for the last time), and installed poly engine mount inserts, and reinforced the mount tabs with triangular pieces. The stock rubber mount inserts allowed alot of play, these definitely help.

[C20scott]

While the engine was out, I finished painting the hard-to-reach areas, and installed the ORD spring shackles. These things put the stock hangers to shame.. I'm pretty sure the frame will break before the shackles do, and now I'm confident my front suspension can handle the newly gained weight.

[C20scott]

With the engine in place for good, i could now install the flywheel/clutch assembly. Ended up having to buy a $60 set of ARP flywheel bolts, because Cummins is special, and likes to sell bolts for $10 a piece..

Clutch and transmission went in flawlessly, partially because i had the rare opportunity to install the transmission while standing up(no cab on truck). Usually its from my back, covered in oil, bench pressing into place...

[C20scott]

Finished painting a few more areas, then installed new poly cab mount bushings. Cab lowered in place, its fun actually assembling things.

[C20scott]

Don't mind that old thrashed wiring harness in the above pic haha. I finally cleaned up my side yard, and threw some body panels into place to start measuring for the radiator/intercooler/fan.

Basically, i have NO room whatsoever to play with. I am going to order the radiator/intercooler/fan bracket that i need, and MAKE it fit. I am assuming that i will end up recessing the radiator support to allow the radiator to fit more forward.

I have been doing alot of research on the pros/cons of aluminum radiators, especially the cheap ebay ones, and i think I'm going to go for it. I can buy 3 cheap ones for what a name brand aluminum costs. Probably because of the quality, but ill cross that one when i get to it..

[C20scott]

I spent a week or so going back and fourth before I decided on my fan setup. Basically, i was convinced to go with electric due to the various advantages:
-No custom cutting radiator shrouds no fan clutches
-No stupid cummins $300 fan bracket
-No worrying about my fan going through the radiator when the engine shifts slightly.
-A few more HP

I ended up picking up an aluminum 3" wide GM radiator(more cooling capacity than stock cummins FYI), a Flex-a-Lite 6000CFM dual fan setup, and an intercooler/piping kit off of the internet.

[C20scott]

I was skeptical about the intercooler, as i bought it from some goofy sounding place called CRX racing. Im pretty sure they make honda parts and such.. They were the only company selling a full cummins intercooler and piping kit for a decent price. I am satisfied with the quality of the parts i have received at this point. The intercooler is heavy, large, and looks like it should do well. more to come on quality when i actually use it..

Here is a pic of the dimensions I am working with. Fully compressed everything is about 11", that should leave me about 1/100 of an inch from the crank pulley and 1/100 from the grill. Perfect! I will be cutting up the radiator clip to make it all fit tomorrow morning. I hope to reinforce the areas that i weaken somehow. I finally got a MIG setup for this welding machine also.

Any suggestions??

[C20scott]

Im pretty sure i want to go with a 2" cowl hood on this thing. Anyone have one they want to get rid of nearby?

[Bigdav160]

Can you post a pic of the clearance between crossmember and the differential?

Will it only clear with the added lift?

[71' Custom]

This is an awesome build, can't wait to see more!

[C20scott]

Picture of X-member clearance. 4" on my truck, but it is close to the center of the axle. which means that I would either have to compress the entire front end 4" to hit(jump my truck), or compress the passenger side alot more than 4"(rock crawl at high speed).

With a stock height truck i would assume that you would need to place the engine higher up. Anything is possible given enough thought!

[C20scott]

Picture of the radiator placement prior to cutting.. As you can see, no clearance in its current state. Will not work..

[C20scott]

Went wild with the cutting disk/sawzall. You never really realize how something was build until you start destroying it.. The front clip is multiple layers of 14ga pressure welded together, which made it look extremely ugly once i cut it up. All kinds of angles everywhere and not good to fab off of.

Radiator/fan/intercooler test fit. Everything seems to clear.