so after 2 years of planning my cummins build is fianally starting.
the build is going to be, 1976 reg cab f250 highboy, 1989 12V cummins, NV4500 5 speed, keeping the original axles and t case, detriot locker in the rear, and of course add intercooler, better turbo and up the pump.

heres the start, i did the body 2 years ago, however i was never really happy with how it turned out. then one or two bad 4wheeling trips... it needs work again.

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heres what my coolent looked like in the old 360... 90% sure it was a cracked block

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start of dissasembly

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getting the FE out

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dirty cummins waiting to be cleaned up

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after one or few beers we decided to try and reassemble the truck

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this is the point we got to at the end of the weekend, lots of pressure washing later it should be ready for fabbing mounts and new parts

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lots more to come

 

Sounds like a fun project - keep the pics coming...

 

so ive started working on cleaning up the engine. it was really a mess, lots of oil and grime. plus some surface rust from its life in road salt country. i pulled the basiclly everything off except the head to re gasket.

everything seems to be in great shape on the inside. that is except for the injector pump timimg gear, it has 3 cracks in it outward from the center, looks like it happened when they pulled it to rebuild the pump a couple years ago. so im on the lookout for a new gear.

i went with ford blue for the engine, just for all the people who like to call the cummins a dodge engine.








also my lift arrived, i ordered the full 2" skyjacker lift, with rear springs. got to work on installing that yesterday





plan for the weekend is to get the cab back on. i have cleaned up and painted the underside, and just have to fix the cab pearches on the frame.

 

Have you thought about boxing the frame?

The cummins weighs more then any gas engine available, and with the upgraded turbo. I think frame strength would be beneficial.

 

I did think about boxing it but I don't think it's going to be nessisary, these frames are pretty strong compared to things for the 80's and 90's. Plus the cummins only weighs 300lbs more than the FE block, and will probably only be an extra 150ft•lbs of torque or so

 

finally getting around to uploading some pictues. lots of progress in the last few months.

cleaned up and painted the under the cab section of frame, had to fix the cab mounts, they had the usual under the bushing rust.


rolled it outside and hoisted the cab back on


back inside, ready to start fabbing


bolted the system together


cut the cross member for clearence


fit the engine


bolted the front clip back together to set the spacing, i cant belive how nice it ended up fitting. no more than an inch spacing front to back.


drive shaft will be pretty short


i decided to keep the 89 style engine mounts, i fabbed these up to bolt to the stock ford bolt holes. i positioned the engine basically where the 360 was, more to the passenger side.


me making sure the mouts are sturdy.


after pulling the engine again i got to work on the x-member, i decided to box the frame and start from scratch.




frame painted and mounts installed


engine back in and bolted up. finally feeling like it might actually come together


now is the fun time, putting everything back together. installed my brake lines, i bought the stainless kit from bronco graveyard. fit awesome except for one line having the wrong fitting.


i adapted the dodge clutch system, made a doubler plate either side for strength.


added a mounting point to the ford pedal for the pushrod.

Thats all for now, next up is to work on the engine, need to do the killer dowel pin fix, re install the injector pump and line, and then get on doing the exhaust and turbo set up. should keep me busy

 

Nice work so far. I really like the ford blue on the cummins. I am considering painting mine ford flathead red.

Thank you so much for posting the picture of your drive shaft length. I too have a 2 wheel drive NV4500. I was almost sure it would fit but couldnt find confirmation that it would. You just saved me a chunk of change from not having to buy a chevy fixed yoke output.

How long overall will your shaft be? I was guessing right around 8" including the slip.

 

dont remember how long the shaft will be, it will just be a straight shaft since the slip is in the transmission. and it looks like the dodge shaft and the ford shaft are the exact same diameter

 

looking real nice. ive got a 76 highboy that im about to but a cummins in. What kind of steering box did you use?

 

its a 78-79 f250 4x4 steering box

 

So it's been a long time since I posted, but I have been working on it.
There's too much to write about, if anyone wants to know details ask away.
It moved under its own power for the first time today!
Anyway here's pictures

 

Good,work. And please tell all details because it helps everyone considering one of thos. I'm putting a p pumped 12 valve backed by an NV4500 in my sig truck. Look forward to the progress and hopefully the finished result

 

If you want a slip joint, the Dodge output actually lets you get away with a fair bit less room.

 

Couldn't you at least grind off the "Dodge Ram" from the turbo output ?

 

Haha i figured it was kinda more insulting to leave it on, the dodge truck was all used up so the engine had to go into a 13 year older ford.
Plus I'm going to add an intercooler before too long.