I have quite a bit into my truck, but most of it is not in the conversion. I am rebuilding and customizing the whole truck. As far as the conversion I am one of the cheap guys. I bought a running P30 bread truck. I drove it about 500 miles home. I cut the truck up and sold the scrap aluminum, tires and wheels, and a few small items from it. That left me with a motor and transmission without a lot invested. I had to rebuild the turbo which was less than $100. I had a driveshaft cut and balanced for another $200. I spent $225 for a new aluminum radiator. I put an new$150 A/C compressor on my motor which I probably shouldn't have. Motor mounts were about $75. The transmission mount another $25. I probably have another $25 in metric bolts. $50 for a front belt. I have not bought radiator hoses yet. I got a new take off Duramax exhaust system for free that I hope to cut up for most of my exhaust system. I built my motor mount brackest at no cost. I am far from complete at this point, but the actual conversion cost shouldn't be to bad.
The rest of my truck is where my money is. My original basket case truck was about $1000. I have spent at least $5000 for repairs and modifications to the truck since then. Looking back I would do some of the things differently. First, I would have build a rat truck like the 3.9 in a 39 Chevy post. On my build I spent too much on my rear axle. I had a GM 10 bolt completely rebuilt for $525. I know it is going to break. I should have bought a used GM 12 bolt since it would have been a direct bolt in and much stronger.
I don't have any glass in my truck yet, or interior, gauges, or wiring, Some of the body panels have not been repaired/painted, the front clip is still off the frame. I may run into problems with hood clearance and body mounts. I have a big project yet.
I am a little burned out on my project. It has been sitting untouched for a few months. I hope to get inspired as soon as it gets a little cooler. It is just too hot to work in the garage here now. It was 104 today and the humidity was high. Miserable!
. Is there a specific wiring harness you would have to get to run these motors or will it wire up easily? All I got right now are questions. I own a duramax and love the diesel and better than gas fuel economy. I am looking for something a little smaller to get around town in and want much better than ave fuel economy, and diesel seems to be the way to go, just don't want to pay the up to $10k price tag on top of the "new" car price.
