[ben2go]

That was a damn good deal.I guess ya got lucky on it only being the pins.Never know what carnage you'll find till you look inside.

 

[wicked_sten]

well the zf project has been side-tracked for a bit cause i popped the head gasket last week i took off from a stop sign kind of hard and about a mile down the road the heater started blowing ice cold air, and couldnt figure out why. i babied it the rest of the way home and shut it down, and noticed the coolant was blowing out of the overflow but the engine was at normal temp. it didnt take long for me to figure out it was blowing cylinder pressure into the cooling system. towed it to my good buddys heated garage and tore it down

i forgot to take a pic of the old gasket, but you could clearly see where it was blowing through. took 2 or 3 hrs to scrape 20 years of baked on crap off the bock and head.

then slapped on a new genuine cummins head gasket.

topped it off with a set of A1 head studs.(hopefully) shouldnt happen again for a long time.

 

[MaxPF]

This is why I retorqued my head bolts after I got my engine. All of them were well below spec...

 

[wicked_sten]

here are a few pics of the zf6 before it went back into the case

i should have thrown a beer can next to the counter shaft for reference to how beefy this thing is

and here it is beside my spare getrag for size comparison

 

[wicked_sten]

as far as adapting this trans, i gave my machinist friend a 12v flywheel housing that he put on the cmm at work to get the block bolt pattern

using the coordinates, drilled my 2' square 3/8 plate

and wound up with this

since we had no way to cmm the ford bellhousing pattern, we machined this alignment unit to fit tightly on the input shaft to perfectly center the plate in relationship to crank shaft centerline.

here you can see the alignment tool sticking through the center of the plate

 

[wicked_sten]

after transfer-punching the bolt and alignment dowel holes i drilled and tapped it out. then i simply traced around the bellhousing with a sharpie and started hacking away with the plasma axe.

before grinding

after grinding it purdy i made a cardboard template of the rear main seal housing, then trasferred that to the plate

and this is my current stage. the next step is getting the starter in the right spot.

 

[Grey Wolf]

Looking good, thanks for the progress shots!

 

[Ruckess]

This truck is awesome!
I just read the whole thread and you really have skills and a lot of resorces at your disposal!

I have a 1981 GMC Sierra Grand 2wheel shorty that I am starting to scout parts for to do this swap....
Looking for a lot of fun on the street and some good times on the strip!
I was going to go auto... but still up in the air as I plan to kinda give the truck a "Mini Big Rig" look and feel..... Manual may do it more justice!

Keep up the good work and updates!

Rick

 

[char1355]

Now you know why the destroked adapters cost so much. Are you going to use a Ford 6.0 diesel starter like they do. That works fine with a Cummins flywheel and they are cheap. I'm using the destroked set up for my Ford f250. Wound up getting the adapter plate, clutch, flywheel, etc for slightly more that the cost of the adapter. Couldn't turn it down. The flywheel is even machined for the Ford pilot bearing. I like thing that are designed to bolt on and actually fit. You have a great project going. Looks like a winner.

 

[vandever metalworx]

very nice

Nice work on the adapter I like the plasma axe it's one of my
favorite shop tools
keep it up can't wait to see morebounce

 

[wicked_sten]

thanks all for the kind words!

Now you know why the destroked adapters cost so much. Are you going to use a Ford 6.0 diesel starter like they do.

i agree the destroked kits are worth every penny, there are countless hours of measuring/math that go into making somthing like this work. i bought a 6.0 ford starter, and built an aluminum spacer/ adapter for it. getting it in the right spot isnt as easy as i thought. i figured i would measure from crank centerline out to the starter hole center on the factory adapter, but the dodge starter has 13 teeth and the ford has 12... boots (machinist friend) and i were looking over the machinists handbook lastnight at the local juice house and found the recipe for getting it right. also i dont have an engine to bolt stuff to for mock up, but jed http://www.jedsmachining.com has his out of his truck a the moment, but thats at least a 30mi drive. i made the crank seal housing pattern down there, but i hate to bug him too much while hes building T-case doublers.

 

[wfduggan]

Fantastic conversion man! I hope mine comes out that good.

 

[Onedakine]

First off I just wanted to say nice build man! I personally love the look of classic lines and modern/large diameter rims.
Your build was linked to a thread I have on the Cummins Forum by a fellow Cummins swapper.
I'm gonna attempt to fab an adapter plate my self also and was wondering if you had any advice. I am adapting a zf 6 speed to a 12v also and am using a South Bend Clutch and Flyweel. So far I haven't done much except alot of research and good info is hard to find. It seams doable but I'm having trouble calculating plate thickness and crank shaft spacer thickness. If you would be willing to share any info on this It would be greatly appreciated!
I'm also curious how the truck feels going from the 5 gears in the rag to 6 in the zf and how that changes the performance of the Cummins so keep us informed.
:beer:,Ron

 

[wicked_sten]

First off I just wanted to say nice build man! I personally love the look of classic lines and modern/large diameter rims.
Your build was linked to a thread I have on the Cummins Forum by a fellow Cummins swapper.
I'm gonna attempt to fab an adapter plate my self also and was wondering if you had any advice. I am adapting a zf 6 speed to a 12v also and am using a South Bend Clutch and Flyweel. So far I haven't done much except alot of research and good info is hard to find. It seams doable but I'm having trouble calculating plate thickness and crank shaft spacer thickness. If you would be willing to share any info on this It would be greatly appreciated!
I'm also curious how the truck feels going from the 5 gears in the rag to 6 in the zf and how that changes the performance of the Cummins so keep us informed.
:beer:,Ron

i answered your question best i could in your thread on cumminsforum. i talked to Peter at south bend clutch, and am getting the conversion clutch as well. part # fordcumminsofe7.36sp

 

[Onedakine]

Thank's for the info. This was exactly what i was looking for

 

[char1355]

I agree that the guys at Southbend have a great product but they tend to be a bit pricey. I did a lot of searching for a Ford/Cummins clutch set up and went with Valair. They provided a complete kit with Cummins flywheel, 13" clutch and pressure plate, release bearing, and alignment tool. They even machined the flywheel for the Ford pilot bearing at no extra cost. The whole kit was $300 cheaper than Southbend. That's almost enough for a set of head studs for a 4bt.

 

[Oddjobb]

Wow man, I just read through this entire thread and love it. The paint is awesome. I plan do paint mine a gunmetal like the lower half of your truck. . . gonna try to do it myself, we will see how that goes . I am out on deployment in Iraq right now, but when I get home in a month or two I am going to start on my conversion. It is a 1985 Crewcab sierra classic 4x4. has the stock 6.2 diesel in it right now. Got a donor truck, 1995 dodge 3500, ppump engine with 2wd NV4500 which I will mate to a divorced NP205. I really like the fabrication work you did, giving me a lot of ideas. I need to write some stuff down now lol.

I do have a question, What kind of suspension did you use? I am guessing you used something other than stock springs? The weight of the cummins is like double that of a SBC or diesel or whatever was in there before.

Did you ever get AC hooked up? This is something I am worried about making work.

I will be making a thread on here, hopefully you will chime in with pointers!

 

[wicked_sten]

up front im using regular 4in. lift springs. the added weight squatted it down maybe an inch and rides smoother than with the sbc. the ac wont be getting hooked up, im going to cut part of the heater box off (HINT!) to make room for the next project.

 

[4runnerChevy]

up front im using regular 4in. lift springs. the added weight squatted it down maybe an inch and rides smoother than with the sbc. the ac wont be getting hooked up, im going to cut part of the heater box off (HINT!) to make room for the next project.

compounds,bounce

 

[Oddjobb]

Is there not a way to fit the AC with a compound setup?

Also, are the leaf springs different for the 1 ton trucks compared to the 3/4 and 1/2 ton. . . other than weight rating? I am trying to find front springs for the truck, but everything I am finding seems to be listed for 1/2 ton or 3/4 ton trucks. . . I want to find something for a decent price as well.

Sorry for all the questions.