Swapping a 69 Chevy body onto a 97 Cummings chassis

[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.

[II_Slow]

Yeah lots of pictures on the internet of crashed gears and ruined engines from the KDP. Mine was still secure put I installed the kit for a little piece of mind.
Nice build by the way. Looks like a better fit than in my '55.

That 6BT is actually a sexy beast cleaned up and painted. After seeing mine you may decide to detail yours out a little...... Not sure how long it will look good in "real life" after a lot of miles but looks good in the shop.

I also put a turbo and manifold blanket on mine and wrapped the down pipe. I kept the PCM and is is very near the turbo so I was concerned with cooking it.

[kellyed]

That sure does look good! I'll clean mine up when I take it all apart and do the engine work. End state is a compound setup with head studs and new injectors. That's a ways down the road though. Was wondering if anyone had the same problems I'm having with the electrical....I had the headlights working and they all of a sudden stopped. No blown fuses and the relay in the pcm seems to be working as well. I also have no wipers. I modified the dodge motor to fit in the Chevy and hooked it up but it won't turn on. I've shot wires and the multi function switch(wiper switch) has continuity, but no matter the position of the wiper switch I get nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[steveperry]

---don't know why that posted as Kellyed, must have logged me in under a different username for some reason. Guess I've got two accounts here! Anyway---


That sure does look good! I'll clean mine up when I take it all apart and do the engine work. End state is a compound setup with head studs and new injectors. That's a ways down the road though. Was wondering if anyone had the same problems I'm having with the electrical....I had the headlights working and they all of a sudden stopped. No blown fuses and the relay in the pcm seems to be working as well. I also have no wipers. I modified the dodge motor to fit in the Chevy and hooked it up but it won't turn on. I've shot wires and the multi function switch(wiper switch) has continuity, but no matter the position of the wiper switch I get nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[rkn463]

Originally Posted by kellyed

That sure does look good! I'll clean mine up when I take it all apart and do the engine work. End state is a compound setup with head studs and new injectors. That's a ways down the road though. Was wondering if anyone had the same problems I'm having with the electrical....I had the headlights working and they all of a sudden stopped. No blown fuses and the relay in the pcm seems to be working as well. I also have no wipers. I modified the dodge motor to fit in the Chevy and hooked it up but it won't turn on. I've shot wires and the multi function switch(wiper switch) has continuity, but no matter the position of the wiper switch I get nothing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm pretty sure these tricks have a fusible link up near the battery, that would be the first thing to check.

Looking good!

-Richard

[steveperry]

It's been a while since I posted, but I've gotten quite a bit done. Ended up swapping cabs for one with a Kansas title to ease the licensing pains and got an 8 foot bed with it! Bed is in ok shape and it sure looks funny with a 2 foot gap between the bed and cab.

[steveperry]

Pic

[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.

[steveperry]

Diesel wrencher, that's what I meant, push rod. Ha! Even took a picture of the darn thing and called it the wrong name. You know how tight the guide is for the push rod at the bottom, it must have just got caught on that lip and when I went to crank it over by hand it bent it. Has anyone done the 4K governor spring kit? That's why I was swapping out valve springs and wanted to know how much difference the gov spring kit makes.

[Dieselwrencher]

I've done a few. It makes a big difference IMO. Even a 3k is better than stock.

[steveperry]

Got the new push rods installed and everything tq'd down and sealed up. Took it for a test drive and man, what a difference. I was concerned about starting it up because everything I've read has said that there are shims under the governor springs and yet I couldn't find any. None. But when I fired it up the idle was spot on, it runs like a new truck, no downside to it in my opinion. It use to struggle to do 75 down the interstate and now it'll do 85-90 and have extra throttle.