Project Family Chummins

[Ackattack]

New project....pictures first:



Might be wondering, what the heck is a Dodge doing on a chevy site. Well its step one of Family Chummins

The basic idea is (edit) 92-00 chevy crew cab with a 12v cummins - 5 speed - 4wd. My plan of attack is to put the crew cab body on the dodge frame. It will require lengthening the frame. Since I have to modify the frame anyways, I'm leaning towards making it a short bed cause I think it looks a little better and it will fit in my garage a little easier. (if I can get it in height wise )

I don't have the crew cab body yet, and I'm not real sure how quickly I will get one. Depends on a couple of things (selling house in WA, selling 69 pickup (aka No-buck))

In the mean time I'm going to drive the dodge and work on some of the issues it has. I just got it today and found it needs a few things: outer tie rods, front panhard bar, front tires, a radio, A/C fixed, speedo/tach fixed, tail light, cruise control.

The engine seems to be stock other than a straight pipe exhaust (think it might be 4", but I'm not sure). It also has rear helper air bags and a tank. I assume there is a compressor hidden some where. Right now the bags aren't filling up using the controler in the cab....so I'll have to look at that.

So other than the crew cab body, other plans are 17" mickey thompson classic (maybe 18" or 20") on 33s or 35s. Kinda depends where the ride hieght ends up...I'm thinking I might end up with a mild body lift getting the body on the frame.

I haven't decided on colors, but it will most likely be a maaco type paint job with possibly putting some bed liner down low along the rockers or maybe up to the trim line.

I'm not planning to go wild on power. I'm going to do the simple/cheap mods to the engine, so probably around 300-350 HP. Mainly looking for reliability and mileage.

Should be fun, and will be a cool rig when I'm done with it.

[Palf70Step]

Can't wait to see what you do with this one!

[mcbassin]

I'll follow along. Should be another cool Ack build.

[loosenut]

subscribing
good luck with the build bro sounds interesting

[Ackattack]

So I got a chance to do a little tinkering with the truck tonight. Got the tail lights taken care of.

Man there is some scary wiring under the bed. Mainly for the brake controlers (one for regular hitch and one for gooseneck). The wiring includes household wiring and wiring nuts.

While I was under there I noticed the scrader valve for the air tank, filled up the air tank and the air bags work! No on board compressor, but no biggie.

Measured the exhaust, its 4"

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

So I got a chance to do a little tinkering with the truck tonight. Got the tail lights taken care of.

Man there is some scary wiring under the bed. Mainly for the brake controlers (one for regular hitch and one for gooseneck). The wiring includes household wiring and wiring nuts.

While I was under there I noticed the scrader valve for the air tank, filled up the air tank and the air bags work! No on board compressor, but no biggie.

Measured the exhaust, its 4"

Some of the 80's & 90's Caddy's had on board air compressors for their ride leveling suspension. Pretty small but should do the trick.

I put one on my old 66 El Camino to fill the supplemental air bags out back when I had to load it up.

[VA72C10]

Looking forward to this...I've said it before but one day I will have a crew cab...either a square or a custom made 67...

[Dieselwrencher]

Nice score on your donor truck!

[Ackattack]

I've made a little progress on the Dodge, I'm trying to get it up to where its dependable for daily duty for now.

I changed the fuel filter, tightened up the tie rod adjuster and track bar (hopefully that will decrease the amount of slop), removed the brake controler, and just got a decent set of front tires (and a spare).

I tried to charge the A/C system. Good news is I could jump the low pressure switch and the A/C clutch/compressor engaged. Bad news is there is a hole in the low pressure line, so I have a new one of those coming. Hopefully I can change that out, charge it up and have A/C.

I also have a kit to fix the "killer dowel pin" and new thermostat (truck was running about 140 degrees going 75mph, so I'm not even sure if it has a thermostat in it right now).

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

...I also have a kit to fix the "killer dowel pin" ...

Good idea. That is what killed my brothers truck a few years ago only a week after he bought it. It was on his to do list but he hadn't gotten to it yet when it dropped.

[Ackattack]

Little more progress: I got a used set of front tires that should last me until I get the new wheels and tires. I also got a spare wheel and put the one good tire off the front onto it, so now I have a spare tire if I need it. I still need to get a jack for it.

I got the new low pressure A/C line. It uses some quick disconnect fittings that I had a heck of a time getting seperated until I finally realized that fuel line quick disconnect tool would work on it, then it was easy. I put the new line in and pressurerized it and let it set there for about a half hour to make sure the pressure didn't drop (indicating another leak). Everything looked good, so I vacuumed it out.

In the past I rented a vacuum pump from a rental shop for about $35/day (3 times for "no buck"). That gets a little spendy, so I noticed a pnuematic vacuum pump from Harbor Freight, and picked that up for only $15. You just hook up an air line to it and it will pull a vaccuum on the A/C system. It worked great, pulling a deeper vacuum than the rental vacuum pump would! After about a half hour a having a vacuum on the system I charged it up and the A/C works great.

Then I started on the Killer Dowel Pin. Overall it wasn't too hard, but it took awhile, mainly because trying to get the fan off took awhile. I borrowed a fan clutch tool set from Autozone, but it didn't have the right sized wrench in it. So then I tried to make one (using a scrap piece of metal from No-buck) but it started to bend and slip. So then I went to Orielys and there wrench set had the right size of wrench in it. Came back home and got the fan off. The rest of the job went together pretty easily.

So now that I'm comfortable with driving the dodge (good tires, not going to have the dowel pin fall out) I'm going to get "No buck" cleaned up and ready to sell.

[68 TT]

Originally Posted by Ackattack

...In the past I rented a vacuum pump from a rental shop for about $35/day (3 times for "no buck"). That gets a little spendy, so I noticed a pnuematic vacuum pump from Harbor Freight, and picked that up for only $15. You just hook up an air line to it and it will pull a vaccuum on the A/C system. It worked great, pulling a deeper vacuum than the rental vacuum pump would! After about a half hour a having a vacuum on the system I charged it up and the A/C works great...

Thanks for the input on the HF vacuum pump. I was looking at that one. Can't hurt to try it out for the money.

[v30crewcab]

I've used the harbor freight air thing, they are noisy, hard on your compressor, and don't pull down enough for me. I now have a compressor from a bottled water cooler I use for a vacuum pump. freakin works awesome, and it was free! probably could get one out of a window a/c unit as well.

[gmech]

The best thing to do first is to pressurize the system to atleast 250-350# with nitrogen. Check for leaks with soapy water and make sure your pressure doesnt drop. Buy just pulling a vacuum without a thermister guage wont show if you have a leak. Unless its a big one. I know that not everyone has or knows someone who has the right tools but I thought I pass on some info for you all. The same goes for any other A/C or refrigeration system you may have. If you hire a service co. and they repair any leaks, if they dont do the above you theyre not doing their job properly. And with the new 410a they use in our home A/C, it needs to be pressurized up to 600 #.

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by v30crewcab

I've used the harbor freight air thing, they are noisy, hard on your compressor, and don't pull down enough for me. I now have a compressor from a bottled water cooler I use for a vacuum pump. freakin works awesome, and it was free! probably could get one out of a window a/c unit as well.

my harbor freight one pegged out my gauge. That was more than the one I got from the rental store.

[Ackattack]

Yesterday I drove the Dodge down to wichita and back, about 300 miles round trip. It was about 105 degrees out and the truck (including the A/C) worked great. The truck runs very cool, about 150 degrees even with as hot as it was out. I managed 18.2mpg doing about 70 the whole way. Not quite as good as I had hoped for, but not terrible either. Apparently I can pick up some mileage if the truck runs hotter (~190 is best I've read).

A slight change of plans. I decided to go with a 92-00 (I think thats the last year of this style of that body style). I decided to do with this for more modern ammenities and less rust. So I found one today.

I picked up a 97 GMC crew cab dually. 454/4L60E/2wd. The cab is rust free. The hood has a few dings in it as well as a few other dings on the body. The is a "conversion" truck, meaning that it has "upgraded" interior that is very dated and tacky with wood and plush leather. Well after 15 years, it is beat, dirty, and nasty. So it will be getting a lot of cleaning, some removal of items, and some new stuff. The drivers seat is totally shot. The center console will have to go at least to make room for the 5 speed.



I'll be parting out the truck starting in a few weeks. I figure I'll get the most for the engine if a buyer can drive it, so I'm not going to pull the engine yet. Hopefully it won't take too long to sell.

[82ccshorty]

What are you asking for the motor and Trans
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[Dieselwrencher]

Nice score on the truck!

[68 TT]

It will be a great truck when you are done. Nice choice for the change.

Shouldn't be too hard to find all the interior parts you need as the Suburban & Tahoe share a bunch with the crew cabs of the same era.

[Ackattack]

So here is what a chevy shortbed looks like on a Dodge:



Ha ha

I picked this up today. It is rust free, but has a few dings here and there. No biggies. It did not come with a tailgate. I hope the dually tailgate will fit. I'll have to try it out in a few days.

Here is what I have to deal with in the crew cab. The interior needs some help:

[jb1016]

I'm in for this one. Should turn out to be a pretty useful truck.

[bulldog2513]

Think I will keep an eye on this one too. interesting. The tailgate from the dually will fit. most all of the body parts from that gen truck are interchangeable and easily found. good luck man!

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by bulldog2513

Think I will keep an eye on this one too. interesting. The tailgate from the dually will fit. most all of the body parts from that gen truck are interchangeable and easily found. good luck man!

that's good to know

today I was driving the ol' dodge for work and stopped and got some fuel and checked the oil. I noticed that the fan belt was shredded on one rib. The alternator had the wrong pulley on it even though it was fairly new.

So I drove home (about 25 miles) and while I was driving I could hear the fan belt clinking against the fan and other things, but I pressed on and made it home.

Upon inspection that rib of the belt had clearance itself and was not sitting nicely in the alternator pulley. But I knew it was damaged and not correct, so I picked up a new alternator and fan belt (know one could get me just the pulley ) So I'll keep driving it tomorrow

[Ackattack]

I figured it was time to actually start working on this project, so I pulled the crew cab into the garage and pulled off the hood. Its kind of a tight squeeze to get it in there with the dually fenders as well as its length, but it fits.



So after I got the hood off, I decided to start tearing apart the interior. I pulled out the seats and center console. I ended up making about $2.50 out of my work. Then I removed all of the seat belts, and then did a quick vacuum job. I'm hoping to be able to clean the carpet on re-use it, but its pretty nasty right now. My thought though is with young kids, its going to get dirty anyways, so I guess we'll see.

Then I pulled off the drivers side doors.





A lot of the interior pieces are pretty dirty, but should clean up to be useful. Not a bad start for just a few hours of work.

[Palf70Step]

You could pull the carpet and pressure wash it with some degreaser cleaner (tuff stuff is one I have used) and then wash it with Gain laundry soap. Clean and fresh....least good enough for everyday stuff.