Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis

[steveperry]

Not much in the way of progress lately, just cleaning things up for reassembly and waiting on funds for some more parts. I did receive my quote back on that custom dash set...2600 bucks!! Holy smokes Russ! Not near as bad as 3500 but definitely not what I'm looking to spend on a gauge cluster right this moment.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's a good deal on the head not being cracked. Did they have to deck it at all? I didn't plan to spend a lot of money on my gauges either, but I'm glad I did now.

[steveperry]

No Dieselwrencher I didn't even ask, this is gonna be a two stage process. I'm gonna clean everything up and get the swap done, drive it for a while and then go out of town for about nine months. Then when I come back I'll put the money into having the engine work done, get the suburban and do the quad cab for it and finish up all the mods I have in mind, like a compound kit! I'm getting a nv4500 this weekend for it and then hopefully can start getting the thing bolted together. Hope to have it drive-able in a month or so. May be a bit ambitious. And as for the gauges, I may end up buying them, it's a hell of a setup and looks so damn nice. But that's an investment to be made at a later date.

[steveperry]

Got the front clip mocked up, the extension gave me the space I need and then some! Super excited about that. Hoping to get the rad core support built this weekend, fit the inner fenders, and get another passenger fender to splice in.

[chosn 1]

Looks like that will come out great! and comin together quick too!:metal :

[burnin oil]

Don't get into this forum much but I am glad you decided to keep the fans. I lost the fan clutch back when I drove my 95 12v and it made for a miserable trip to work the next morning. Luckily it was fall or it would have overheated in stop and go traffic. Picked the new clutch up on the way home. Progress looks good.

For all the guys that kept the Dodge frame here is the big question. Did you reuse the factory 4 link suspension? The track bar was always the weak link under there. I have considered using the Dodge frame and putting the Dana 60 on leaves just to get rid of the front end headaches.

[steveperry]

So I thought about using leafs, and may at a later time, but for now it's a matter of funds. But I made a little progress recently, gotta get a passenger fender to get the other side extended so I can finish up the radiator support. Once that's done its on to rewiring the engine and getting my transmission in and she'll be ready for a test drive! I hope anyway.

[steveperry]

Finally have some progress, not much but hope to finish a bunch of little things to get this thing started shortly. I got my new bell housing, 1.375" input shaft for the nv4500, dual disc valair clutch, and the hydraulics. Waiting on the bearings for the input shaft, for some reason they were shipped separately. But once I have those the drive train will be complete! It's crazy how much just an 1/8th inch of thickness makes on that input shaft! This thing is beefy!

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice parts!

[steveperry]

Finally got some work done on the truck. Got the holes cut in the Chevy rad core and battery trays put in. Going to use the Chevy radiator instead of the dodge to fit the batteries and the radiator together. Gonna hook up the inter cooler pipes and hood latch this evening. Getting closer!!

[VernaJo]

Will enjoy watching the diesels come together. I'm in awe of each of you. Keep teaching me the best ideas and maybe I'll get to build one as you gents watch and guide me.

[72 tigger]

Looking good! Just for fun check your rear spring shackles- My pass side rusted & came apart on friday- the leaf was hitting the bottom of the bed.

[steveperry]

Had the last of the little pieces for the transmission come in today, plus some friends help, and got the transmission and transfer case reinstalled!!! Really changes the looks of things when you have a transmission to look at instead of an empty hole!

[steveperry]

So I've got a quandary, I've got everything hooked back up that I can find connectors for, timed the engine and injection pump, bled the fuel lines, and injectors, and for the life of me I can't get the damn truck to fire up. At first it was cause the injection pump wasn't timed but I fixed that. It cranks just fine, but won't fire up. I did swap the auto for the manual trans, but I grounded out the park safety switch so it cranks. Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated here, I'm losing my mind here.

[Dieselwrencher]

Is the fss fully pulling up while cranking? Did you crack the injection lines at the injectors and then crank the engine to push the air out and then tighten them?

[chosn 1]

Is the fuel cut off solenoid pulling all the way up?, mine wouldn't pull all the way up and when I pulled it up with my finger it roared to life.

[chosn 1]

Oops just was yo asked that already DW

[steveperry]

Thanks for the pointers, the fss was partially the problem and the timing being slightly retarded was the other portion. Got her fired up yesterday afternoon!!! Hope to wrap up a few things here and there and get it on the road shortly.

[steveperry]

Got it running again and boy she purrs like a kitten!! Here's a shot of the engine bay mostly cleaned up. Now I'm working on the clutch linkage and the rest of the goodies, i.e. A/c, radio, fixing holes in the cab...it'll get there eventually.

[Dieselwrencher]

Glad to hear you got it going! Keep up the great work!

[steveperry]

Working out the bugs and figuring out the lights and other stuff. Finished up the fenders and patched the old side marker light hole.

[kellyed]

So I got the glass back in and a rattle can paint job this evening. I think it'll be the scheme I go with.

[1985-GMC]

Pretty cool. Find another front section of bed and make an extra long longhorn

[steveperry]

I would find another bed and close the gap, making an 11 foot bed but the endstate is a quad cab so I can tote around the family. That and I'm leaving shortly for the magical world of afghanland and don't have the time or money to put into it at this time. But I did have the heavier valve springs and 4K governor spring kit...got that installed the last couple nights! Unfortunately I may or may not have bent a lifter...looks like more parts in the short term for this never ending money pit!! But I'll tell ya what, this truck sure runs like a top and looks damn good doing it in my eyes. It ain't a show truck by any means but it works, is reliable, and is a head turner for sure. Oh and it leaks oil like an old truck should!!

[Dieselwrencher]

Are you sure you bent a lifter, or did you just not get the push rod set back in the tappet on re assembly? If you bent a tappet, I doubt the tappet would move without getting ate or breaking some hard parts.