86 chevy crew cab 12 valve swap

[hick]

Its late... I've been on this blasted forum for 12 hours so forgive me if I missed this... But you may want to check out "howards allison conversions"

Its been awhile since I looked into it (I have moved about from a cummins and gone to the dmax/alli combo) but the Allison should run it self with a OEM Allison controller. All it needs is a power, ground, tach annnnnnnnnd one or two other things I can not recall at the moment. Once you start driving it, the allison learns and programs it self.

Call Howard. Very good guy and he will explain it far better then me... Like I said, I have been pipe dreaming all day

[84chevyguyid]

I have an allison PCM and a partial harness I thought about using. Just unsure as of yet. Mine is only a 5 speed as well. I just don't like the idea of building a truck, using the a1000, and then hating it because I can't tune it without a trip to allison 20 times until it's right. Or, spend $1800 for Scott's controller. Too much money.

Here is a thread on allison 5 and 6 speeds.

http://www.4btswaps.com/forum/showth...p-guide-thread

I have chatted with howard some over the past year about his system. Sounds like it works great! The down side to it is if a guy wants the tow/haul and tap a shift functions. They arent available with the allison system. The gm system seems to be very complex from what Howard tells me, derating fuel for shifts, locking and unlocking the converter in a variety of situations to help with emissions, shift harshness ect whereas the medium duty allison system is more basic in its function. Will the allison medium duty system work for me? yes it will. Would the tap a shift function be awesome to have? Yes it would. Now you can see my dilemma, which to choose?

[84chevyguyid]

Been learning about what all I need for the allison trans controller and wiring harness. I decided to go the GM route so I can have the tap shift feature and hopefully the tow/haul feature. Been collecting parts to put the harness together. I spent the evening the other night drawing all the components out and making a schematic of the wiring. Got the trans connector, the tcm connector, and the tps. Ordered the terminals for the tcm connector, an obd2 connector with terminals and a nice crimper, should be in a week. I found an 06 shifter handle with the tap shift and tow/haul switches, should be here monday. I am going to adapt it to my stock column, hopefully it wont look to weird when I get done. I still have to round up the wiring and then I should be able to start building the harness. I ordered a tapered reamer for the dodge steering arm so I can bore it out to fit my chevy drag link then I will have the box hooked to the axle. I still need to get the cab blasted and undercoated then I can set it back on the frame for the last time!
I dont know what the handle sticking out on the tcm connector is for, anybody know how this is supposed to work?

[Dieselwrencher]

I'm pretty sure that handle is to lock the connector in place. I'll try to remember to look at mine and see if it has it.

[84chevyguyid]

Wanna see a sad pic? Here is how my poor vette has looked for a year. Spent all my free time last summer tinkering with this damn cummins swap addiction. I did put a battery in it last fall and start it and warm it up for a few minutes. Got to do some cruising in it this year, my buddy bought a viper last fall and he says WE are going for a drive or two this summer. I have to buy some new front tires first.

[gerfunken]

Originally Posted by 84chevyguyid

Wanna see a sad pic? Here is how my poor vette has looked for a year. Spent all my free time last summer tinkering with this damn cummins swap addiction. I did put a battery in it last fall and start it and warm it up for a few minutes. Got to do some cruising in it this year, my buddy bought a viper last fall and he says WE are going for a drive or two this summer. I have to buy some new front tires first.

Such a lonely sting ray... my cars are that way as well. If I spend to much time on my truck, the Model-A will get a little bit upset and do something to get my attention. I've had to make it a habit of taking the wife for Sunday morning coffee in the '29 so they both remember that I love 'em.

[COS399]

Did you install the steering box/frame reinforcement plate behind your steering box? I put it on mine but didn't mention it or take pictures. I thought about doing it later but I'm glad I did it while the front clip was off. Keep up the good work.

[84chevyguyid]

I havent done that yet, still trying to decide if its worth messing with since I have a 1 ton frame.

[COS399]

Originally Posted by 84chevyguyid

I havent done that yet, still trying to decide if its worth messing with since I have a 1 ton frame.

Mine is a 1 ton as well, but it was cheap insurance.

[Dieselwrencher]

Sweet Vette. Quit being a poser, let's see under the hood.

I'd do the steering box brace as it is way easier to do it now than when you find the frame cracked. I put one on that yellow burb, and on my Longhorn. This next Longhorn I'm building is getting one too. Cheap insurance IMO.

[arrover]

I have a one ton crew cab and I had to put the frame brace kit and the weld on kit on it. Steering was loose before because the frame holes were elongated. I would put one or both kits on now if I were you. It seems like it would be much easier now than when the cab is on. Thanks for the project updates!

[84chevyguyid]

Started messing with a TPS for the allison. Decided I wanted to mount it inside on the bracket for the accelerator pedal. Played around with some cardboard pieces last night and figured out how to make it work and spent tonight putting it together. I like playing with "Paint" and drew a pic of how it would be assembled. Looks like it should work pretty good.

[84chevyguyid]

Spent several hours fri night drawing a wiring diagram of the allison trans. Its crude but I think it will help me understand how it all fits together. I got the 06 chevy shifter today, has the tap shift and tow/haul buttons, gotta figure out how it wires in and add a few more wires to my spaghetti mess.

[84chevyguyid]

The stingray shouldnt be too lonely, its buddies are parked across the driveway from it. At least they got driven last summer. I found a pic of the rats nest thats under the hood of the vette. The specs on it are 468 big block with twin turbos, 4l80e trans, 3.08 gears. If this works, here is a video of it.
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/my72...tml?sort=2&o=5

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! Looks like you have built a great collection for your self!

[84chevyguyid]

This guy has a mean turbo'd vette, seems like its 500 and something cubes. love the last part where the car is following behind him and he starts laying miles of rubber behind him. Thats a s##t load of torque right there!

Corvette Stingray Twin Turbo from Finland. by...

[84chevyguyid]

As I was tearing the wiring out of and off of the firewall the other day, in preparation of painting/undercoating the firewall and underneath of the cab, been thinking back of problems I have had with old wiring/fuse blocks in my other vehicles. Looking at getting a painless wiring harness and starting from scratch on all the wiring. I want to do new harnesses for the doors and the headlight circuits with relays so they will work better and also thinking of using a vintage air system over the stocker so I have more room in the engine compartment, and that would have its own harness too. Plus I dont need some the wiring under the hood with the cummins swap. An easy way to spend another 2 grand, but worth it? If I keep the stock harness I would be trimming wires here and there and probably be fighting 28 year old bad connections. I can get a painless wiring harness that fits in the stock fuse block hole, which is nice, so I wouldn't have to patch the hole, and end up with everything new/reliable. Thoughts??

[ryanroo]

new wiring is never a bad idea. you can clean it up and make it fit your needs as you go. and you dont have old brittle copper to contend with. id go with the new. as for vintage air, it depends. if you have much humididty or deal with much snow, i would think about keeping the stock stuff. VA draws its air from the cabin. so, moisture in the cabin air is getting circulated over and over. the OEM stuff pull outside air. that helps deal with moisture in the air not being deposited on the inside of the windshield. a lot of people have it and like it though.

[Dieselwrencher]

After my original wiring harness in my longhorn had some wires melting, I decided to unhook it and I will be buying a new complete harness for it. It's better than waiting for it to burnnup due to an old wire breaking down and shorting out.

[84chevyguyid]

Got the throttle pedal wiring done. Got the tcm and bcm fri and made a trip to the dealer for connectors for the bcm. Still waiting on tcm terminals and ordered some bcm terminals from the dealer that will be here tues. If the dang tcm terminals would get here I would be ready to start building the trans harness. I loaded the cab up and hauled it over the the sandblaster guy. Hopefully he will get it done this week then I can paint it sat. Then the cab is ready to go on the frame for the last time!That will be good to see!

[Dieselwrencher]

Very nice! One of these days when we get an average I'm going to get a 4850 with a snow blower just because I love 4850s!

[ryanroo]

4960!

my favorite tractor of that vintage. i dont know how many hours of my life i spent sitting in one of those!

[84chevyguyid]

Any newer than a 4850 then you have to deal with more electronics. Its a good old tractor. I farm with vintage stuff, here is our tractor lineup, 1020 diesel, 2020 diesel, 2 4020's diesel and the 4850. Its kinda funny, people are restoring the tractors that we use. lol

[Dieselwrencher]

I'm still amazed at how well these tractors hold their value. My neighbor was just shopping for a 4020 diesel and was able to buy a 4440 that was nicer with less hours for less money than any 4020 diesel around here. Pretty crazy.

[Vintage Windmills]

Originally Posted by 84chevyguyid

Any newer than a 4850 then you have to deal with more electronics. Its a good old tractor. I farm with vintage stuff, here is our tractor lineup, 1020 diesel, 2020 diesel, 2 4020's diesel and the 4850. Its kinda funny, people are restoring the tractors that we use. lol

You have a lot in common with my uncle, He farmed from 1974 to 1999 or so with a 4020 and 3020 diesels. THen he got a 4055 and still mostly used the older ones!

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

I'm still amazed at how well these tractors hold their value. My neighbor was just shopping for a 4020 diesel and was able to buy a 4440 that was nicer with less hours for less money than any 4020 diesel around here. Pretty crazy.

My engine hoist/truck puller is a 2020 gas. My uncle said for awhile, JD was selling the 4020's and others in that series for $1/lb new! I want his 4020 but he said 2 guys are also in line... You'd think a nephew would get first right of refusal but they asked first! Oh well he'll probably never sell it, he in his late 70's and keeps talking about buying a 3020 gas for winter use even though hes got 10 tractors including a 6400 MFWD with a cab.