Cummins swap time! (1 Viewer)

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I've got the double mount the later model rigs have coming from japan, and have since set the engine in the other mount to try and get placement closer. I'll likely also try and get another mount that's bolted to the block made, so that way I have more than one option for when I get closer.

next project is tearing apart the NV4500 for the main shaft swap and adapter plate. Do different gear sets exist? I'd step up to a taller 5th gear for HWY driving if I could!
 
You can get a high range gear in the transfer case to better highway driving. I believe the gears for the NV4500 are all the same now. No more Chevy vs Dodge.
 
I'm noticing that on the NV4500, I'm surprised!

For the life of me I can not find an overdrive gearset for the transfer case. I can find underdrives all day, though! I found one 10% overdrive for the fulltime cruisers in japan, but not for the part time. Happen to know where I can find one?
 
Try Cruiser Outfitters. Although if you have the manual part time case you may be out of luck.
 
upon more research I do not have a part time case - the CDL button was confusing me. lol. It makes such a drastic difference when driving that I confused it with being part time. The plus side is now I know what gear to buy! and that just furthers how soft and.....terrible the state of my suspension is in.

Currently looking for a machine shop that will make me the block side engine mount in the size I need. Covid has slowed this down a little bit. Also got an email today from Megazip stating the chassis engine mount I ordered wont be available till mid july, one slow down after another! Really wish I had a shop so I could just fab it myself. Now I'm waiting on the firewall fire blanket, and the chassis engine mount :(

As of the moment all I can really do it clean parts, so I suppose it's time to pick up a new pressure washer and give the girl a good clean.
 
Engine mount is off to a friend of mine to fab up a new one, and hopefully if he's bored it'll be done in a day or two. Tomorrow i should have a pressure washer handy to do some cleaning. The poor cruiser is dusty and covered in pollen.....

In the meantime I've been looking for misc bits to gather for when adapters and such arrive. I drove the dodge I yanked the engine out of, but only just enough to know it works. So unfortunately I do not know the full extent of the transmissions status and have decide that since I will be taking it apart to install the modified main shaft that I should just do a full rebuild. The only downside is I can't find "master" rebuild kit without a replacement dodge mainshaft. that's excess money I don't need to spend lol. Might just buy 3 or 4 small kits to make the master kit, then. I also have the transfer case to think about. Might as well rebuild it and regear it while I have the time and it's out.

Pulled out my old greddy boost gauge that I wont be able to use (i'll more than peg the needle every time I hit boost) , and installed it + the matching Pyro gauge in my friend's Delica so we could raise the boost up on it - we got the delica up to a whopping 0.9 bar LOL. Sad day, I really wanted to have them in the cruiser. I'm a sucker for period correct goodies. So I decided on a combo glowshift gauge with EGT, 60PSI max boost, and a water/oil temp. I also have a NOS greddy temp gauge (complete in box even!!) for the cruiser so if I really wanted to I could measure oil and water temp. I might.

In august when the adapter plate is ready, I'll also order a rear dump 90 degree manifold and *hopefully* that will fit the turbo in there without interfering with the clutch. Such slow progress, it's killing me! I need a side project to do on it so I feel productive.
 
I’ve had glowshift gauges... sorry to tell you but they seem to be misspelled with an “f” in the name.

my glowshift crapped out, I feel the auto meter gauges to be reliable but over priced, currently running digital gauges inside a modded factory tach face, it’s a sidetrack from your build and lots of threads on gauges already.

i like your build, I wouldn’t bother with overdrive gears in the t-case if your planning on running 3.73 gears though, and I would recommend 4” exhaust if you can get it in, may have to run 3” or widened 3” over the frame rail though.
 
I’ve had glowshift gauges... sorry to tell you but they seem to be misspelled with an “f” in the name.

my glowshift crapped out, I feel the auto meter gauges to be reliable but over priced, currently running digital gauges inside a modded factory tach face, it’s a sidetrack from your build and lots of threads on gauges already.

i like your build, I wouldn’t bother with overdrive gears in the t-case if your planning on running 3.73 gears though, and I would recommend 4” exhaust if you can get it in, may have to run 3” or widened 3” over the frame rail though.
Yup I already replaced both my Glow**** gauges. I got ISSPRO now which seems to be what most people are happy with these days.
I have 3.5" exhaust going up and over frame but also have a 1" body lift.
 
Interesting - the few glowshifts I've had on previous vehicles were ok. I'll keep that in mind, my coworker recently bought the same gauge I was thinking of so I'll watch it and see what happens.

I was going to regear the axles but that was before I knew I could do an overdrive gear in the t-case. I would much rather not open my axles, they currently do not leak or anything. I'll leave them as 4.11 and just run the overdrive t-case gear.

I have a spare gauge cluster, it would be kind of fun to modify it like that. I'm hoping to retain all the factory gauges though.

Ideally I was going to run 4" exhaust for the sole reason that's what was on the dodge I pulled the motor and trans out of. I'm really regretting not keeping it. It was a brand new kit, probably a diamond eye. I could have at least used part of it. Only downside is I have the factory 3" elbow. Maybe I'll look into buying a 4" one when I get to installing the turbo.
 
I had a couple glowshift, if I recall the EGT was glitchy (needle would jump around and then stopped working) and the boost gauge leaked audibly and was annoying.

Actually it does make sense to do the T-case and leave 4.11’s in trying to leave the reduction (torque) at the furthest point back along the rotating parts, but I’m a bit weary of the T case overdrive gears having never run them and heard a couple reports of them being noisier.

if the build is getting boring waiting for parts you could always focus on an inter cooler or trans cooling. Next time I have the side cover off my NV4500 I’m going to try and install a site glass at the fill plug and add a second plug up higher.
 
fortunately the cummins ought to make enough noise to drown out the gear noise if there is any, or worst case I'll just crank the music up to 11. kinda hard to hear anything over some good ol' metal.

I picked up an intercooler but until I get the engine mounted, I don't want to think about piping it or anything. I was wondering if the nv4500 coolers I see would fit under the cruiser. Do they suffer from heat issues? I'm hoping that with the rebuild I do on it I can just pretend its new and never look at it again, lol.

to keep me occupied, I picked up a new toy! it's a 1981 CM200t. it's a treat to ride! waiting on tires to come in as the ones on it are dry and old, but when I don't want to take my noisy straight piped cb360 out, this will be really nice.

IMG_20200627_151923.jpg
 
fortunately the cummins ought to make enough noise to drown out the gear noise if there is any, or worst case I'll just crank the music up to 11. kinda hard to hear anything over some good ol' metal.

I picked up an intercooler but until I get the engine mounted, I don't want to think about piping it or anything. I was wondering if the nv4500 coolers I see would fit under the cruiser. Do they suffer from heat issues? I'm hoping that with the rebuild I do on it I can just pretend its new and never look at it again, lol.

to keep me occupied, I picked up a new toy! it's a 1981 CM200t. it's a treat to ride! waiting on tires to come in as the ones on it are dry and old, but when I don't want to take my noisy straight piped cb360 out, this will be really nice.

View attachment 2357595
They make the extension coolers that replace the access panels on the side. You will only be able to use one due to front driveshaft on one side.
 
I had a feeling it would only be one, or none. I might get one and give it a go for the rebuild.

My radiator came in, it's a 4 row aluminum amazon one. fitment was almost perfect. To make it fit all that's needed is about 10mm of spacers on each side to push the rubber mounts out. I'm surprised. for the price I can't complain about that! Now I just need to make a shroud to house the two SPAL fans.

If all went as planned my mount should be done and i might be able to get my hands on it this weekend. i would really like to get it hooked up and at least able to start!
 
I made a rookie mistake and didn't realize that upon remaking my mount, it now is covering the turbo drain line on the block. Damnit. I put in a second order request for the 93+ frame side engine mount as I still have heard nothing about the first order I made. I might screw with it a little more and see if there's anything I can do, but I'd rather not modify the drain line. I *could* always plug it and tap a new one in the oil pan, but...why? might as well just wait. photos tonight if I remember lol.

I started making my fan shroud, but didn't like the thickness of aluminum I had so I tossed it and am ordering a thicker sheet. It would have worked, it was just a little too flimsy.

Hoping The NV/HF kit will be available from wits end soon so I can buy that, and install it. I want to feel like I'm making progress. all these little setbacks on things really beat you down.
 
NV kit ordered, doing my best to stay up to date with Joey's current battles, I hope we all support him!

Frame mount came in! Here's a photo of it for parts number reference for future swaps. Hopefully it helps someone someday! If this weekend lets up a bit I'll yank the Cummins back out and try and get this mount at least tack welded on.
IMG_20200810_183503.jpg
 
The only downside is I can't find "master" rebuild kit without a replacement dodge mainshaft. that's excess money I don't need to spend lol. Might just buy 3 or 4 small kits to make the master kit, then.
Here you go.
Dodge with Cummins Diesel You want the 'Cheeseburger & Fries options'. This is what I went with when I rebuilt back in 2015.
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The only other option I would consider beside Standard Transmission parts is Quad 4x4/Tourque King. They will be a bit pricier, but make great parts. They also have the best rebuild manual available...definately worth the $50 to pick one up.

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Here is the trans cooler that I have. Since we can only fit the driver side cooler, but the bolt pattern is the same I split the cost with @Wheelingnoob and we both took one half each.

NV4500 transmission cooler with covers Amazon product ASIN B01LBJW934
 
Progress! I have my new mount, have removed the old one, and am now trying to find some detailed photos if positioning of the new mount. It kind of wants to stay in a certain spot which is where I think it should be, but before I weld it I want to verify it.


Does anyone have a 80 series frame they can take some up close photos and maybe a few measurements for me?
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Good news! I was able to get proper measurements from some pretty awesome people, and got the mount welded in. To top it all off, about 5 minutes after it was finished, the post master (of all people, weird) delivered my mail and handed me a package from Australia. The replacement engine side mount I hacked up came in! woo!

Next step is to weld in the steering support brace. It only need to drop down about an inch, correct? it'd be a lot easier to get that one before I drop the cummins in, I imagine.

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Next step is to weld in the steering support brace. It only need to drop down about an inch, correct? it'd be a lot easier to get that one before I drop the cummins in, I imagine.

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Much easier to modify without the engine in there. Another route to go, and more complex than the standard chop, bend and add a spacer approach is to make a removable cross member. This enables you to drop the oil pan without having to pull the motor. If you’re interested in that approach you can see how mine is setup in the Dirty Koala build thread in my signature.
 

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