So, let's see. Before I started reinstalling the ZF6, I decided to put in a new rear main seal. A guy on TDR who goes by Motorhead, redesigned the rear main seals on these engines to incorporate a constant tension spring lip...much better than the OEM design. Since I happened to have a few laying around, I decided there was no better time to install it.



Next, I bolted up the adapter plate from Destroked. I had to clearance the 5" downpipe a little bit to get the plate to clear. The ZF bellhousing is considerably larger than the 5R, both in height and width.







The primary turbo didn't have a support at all I found. It was simply hanging from the hot pipe off the secondary. I designed and made a mount that bolted to the block in 2 places. I don't think I have a picture of this, but can take one if anyone is interested.

Next, was simply bolting things together...the flywheel spacer, flywheel, and Southbend double disc clutch.







I had read a good amount from other people doing Cummins conversions, and people doing ZF conversions. However, I didn't run across someone who had done both the Cummins and ZF6 conversion. If you just do one or the other, you can re-use the existing transmission crossmember and driveshafts. BUT, as I found out, if you do the Cummins and ZF6, you will HAVE to get the rear driveshaft shortened, and the front re-tubed and extended. There is a little slop in the drivetrain to allow some extra length. The ZF is approximately 2" longer than the 5R110. The Cummins in conjuction with the Diesel Conversion Specialists mounts also is about 2" longer than the 6.0. Put these together, and you've increased the engine/trans length by roughly 4"...and that's more than you can wiggle things around and get to fit.

Due to the extra height of the ZF, I had to drop the transmission crossmember down slightly. I put solid aluminum spacer blocks under the frame rail, and then added a piece of metal onto each side of the crossmember, so as to retain use of the side mounting bolts.



And, here's my little helper getting ready to stab the transmission...

 

Thanks for sharing - very interesting and informative.

 

Blue on the badges looks pretty cool. What else is in store?

 

Awesome rig, can't wait to see what else is in store.

 

Alright, so the last few pictures to bring things up to where I'm at with it now.

It turns out, that even though the Ex's were never offered with a manual transmission option, the hole for the clutch pedal rod/master cylinder linkage is already in the firewall. You just pop out a piece of insulation, and the holes are there. There are even two studs coming down from the top to mount the clutch pedal assembly to!





I ended up trimming the brake pedal down, and fitting a manual transmission brake pad to it.

I ran across a good deal on a steering column for a manual truck, so I swapped it out as well. It was pretty straight forward, but there's several pieces you have to reuse from the Ex's column to retain use of all the fancy buttons.





The original steering wheel was looking pretty rough with 260k on it, so I stitched a Wheelskins leather cover over it.

 

Well, for some reason only about half of the images are uploading right now. I'll have to add some more later. At any rate, I had just gotten a call from Dad when I was finishing up the Ex. He said he blew 2 rear tires on his dually, and wondered if I could come get the tractor he was pulling. I have to say, the manual 6 speed and Cummins twin turbo engine sure make for a nice pulling setup!




And, here's a few pictures of my truck and the wife's Ex getting introduced to each other.

 

The trans that went out, was that the Ford or Dodge trans?

If the previous owner managed to attach the cummins to the stock Ford trans, I'd really like to know how.

 

The transmission that went out of the Excursion a couple hundred miles after I bought it was the 5R110W. That is the Ford automatic transmission that came stock behind the 6.0 diesel engines. In my case, the 6.0 Ford diesel was removed and a '97 Dodge Cummins engine installed. It was mated to the existing 5R110W Ford automatic with an engine adapter plate made by DCS (Diesel Conversion Specialists). I also had to use an adapter plate (you can see it in the build pics) to mate the Cummins to the Ford ZF6 manual transmission. I went with an adapter plate from Destroked though. Destroked and DCS are the most well known companies offering adapter plates for a variety of engine/transmission manufacturers.

To control the 5R110 transmission with the Cummins engine, a PCS controller was used with custom programming.

--Eric

 

While I love and I am proud of my 6.0 Ex, your have an Ex to be proud of! If/when my 6.0 dies, I just might have to do something like this! Bravo to you and your amazing work!

 

Someone commented that you, sir, are a rock star.

I'll add- not just any rock star- this is Lemmy from Motorhead territory...

 

In my mind, this truck will be known as Lemmy from now on.

 

Impressive work.

 

Out of curiosity, what size tires are you running, and what lift? Looks great!

 

that is just too damn cool. I like the PSD, but that Cummins is very nice. very nice

where did you get the tail guards? I've never seen those for our X's

 

Awesome truck! You did some very nice work. Did you special order the Rickson wheels? I love the look of them!