Builds Dirty Koala Build - Cummins Common Rail + NV4500 + HF2AV Swap (8 Viewers)

[Dirty Koala]

Do you have a dodge hd nv4500?

Yes I have a dodge HD NV4500 out of a 97 3500. I will be rebuilding the trans and replacing the mainshaft with the new shaft that Dustin cut and splined to fit the HF2AV input.

Note: The diameter of the NV4500 mainshaft output is only marginally larger than the HF2AV input diameter. This means that very little material needed to be removed (turned down) on the new shaft.

 

[Mr Cimarron]

Will you need to move the TC location at all?

 

[Dirty Koala]

Will you need to move the TC location at all?

My calculation has the transfer case shifting 5/8" towards the rear. I plan to use the NV4500 trans mounts and hopefully the two studs on that mount will line up with the cross-member nicely in a position that I can either reuse the existing holes or be able to simply drill two new holes in the cross-member.

Moving the case slightly rearwards will actually be beneficial to my rear drive shaft given the 4/5" lift I have. I expect I will need to get a custom from drive shaft made up, or the OEM one lengthened. With the lift it's already extended more than I like, an additional 5/8" would make the extension too much IMO.

 

[bigfj62]

5/8 hmm....you may have enough spline length in the front drive shaft to get away with it. Probably want to lengthen it to be safe though especially if you will be flexing her out on the trail often.

 

[Dirty Koala]

5/8 hmm....you may have enough spline length in the front drive shaft to get away with it. Probably want to lengthen it to be safe though especially if you will be flexing her out on the trail often.

The 5/8" difference would still have the drive shaft splines engaged, but with the flex offroad and the monstrous torque of the cummins, that partially engaged spline will very quickly become an underrated fuse so to speak. I would rather spend a few buck to have my shaft lengthened than blow it up and have to buy a whole new one.

 

[bigfj62]

Agree

 

[Dirty Koala]

As I mentioned previously, I decided that if I was going to undertake this swap, I was going to go all in and do it the right way with a fresh motor and trans. Since I also frequent the Competition Diesel forum, I have a good pulse on the reputable vendors and builders in the domestic diesel space. From a service and build quality perspective Mumau Diesel out of Shelocta PA, usually rises to the top of the food chain, so my decision on who to have build my motor was easy. I also had previously done business with Jeff (Mumau Owner), so my opinion was not purely based on forum reputations.

Now the challenge was going to be getting this 1200lb monster out to their shop over 6 hours drive from where I live. As I was gearing up to haul it out there, Jeff offered to have his retired father pickup the motor as he was going to be in NJ dropping off a high dollar Camaro to a client. I got my motor over to my mates machine shop (he has a couple fork lifts) and the next day Len shows up right on time and they have the motor loaded in no time and heading back out to PA.

How is that for service!!!

The motor has since been torn down, the block, heads, crank and rods have gone off to the machine shop for inspection and a little work.
So far I know that the KDP had fallen out, but fortunately the only damage it had done was a crack in the timing case...which will be replaced with new. The cylinders are in very good condition, but will get a good honing nevertheless. I am also going to get the heads o-ringed as extra insurance in case I decide to run any serious boost through this motor. The rotating assembly will all be balanced by the machine shop too.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Now that the motor is off and being worked on and the weather is once again bareable, I got stuck into the mods I have had on hold all winter.
I replaced my radius arm and MAF drop brackets with Slee radius arms. This allowed me to install the drivers side OPOR slider that I had been unable to install previously.

I also installed my Puma and LCP mount along with about 40' of 2ga cable, but apparently forgot to take pictures.

While I was dealing with the PUMA OBA, I pulled my ARB compressor and fixed an annoying leak, was just an o-ring.

The day after making these mods/fixes, I hit the trails with the club...took a couple of my pups along for the ride.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Keep it up

Why did you decide to have your motor built rather than build it yourself?

 

[Dirty Koala]

Keep it up

Why did you decide to have your motor built rather than build it yourself?

With a new wife, new house, a new born and long hours at the office I need to pick and choose what I spend time working on on the weekends. There is enough work in the swap that it will still take some time to complete, this will just speed it up a bit. To me it was worth the money to farm out the rebuild to a pro so I can spend that time working on other things that need my attention...and are encouraged by the princess. Landscaping the property is presently at the top of that list.

 

[Dirty Koala]

I just got back from spending the week down in TN for GSMTR '15. @Crusha and I headed down last Sunday and met up with one of the local clubs while there. I had a great time hanging with the Appalachia Cruisers fellas and exploring the awesome Smokey Mountain trails.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Earlier this year, @fireball offered to build a set of custom drawers for myself and @Crusha, given the quality of his own setup in his 100, it was a no-brainer. We then spent about a month refining the designs, @Crusha and my designs were similar, but not identical. The drawers are made of 3/4" Baltic birch ply, Alegis 500lb HD locking slides and Vector locking latches. The wood is also coated in a satin clearcoat spray.

A few of the elements that I wanted in my drawers that I could not find in anything on the market.

• I wanted a shorter drivers side drawer so that the ARB 63 fridge would be at a good height for both myself and my 5'1" wife to see into when opened.
• I wanted an integrated fridge slide.
• I also wanted a built in 10" subwoofer encloser at the front of the drivers side drawer.
• I wanted a stow-away lid that slides out over the large passenger side drawer to create a solid counter surface.
• Since I have a @LandCruiserPhil puma mount and puma, I wanted the drivers side wing to be shorter.
• I wanted the passenger drawer height to be level with the 2nd row seat when folded forward and the bottom latch unlatched so the backrest can roll forward enough to be parallel to the ground. This created a solid level sleeping platform.
• I haven't yet decided if I want to build a solid divider and shelf around the fridge, as it has pros/cons. I would like to be able to utilize the storage space above the fridge, but it means I would not be able to access the fridge contents through the side window or from inside the truck...not to come on that one later.

On my way down to GSMTR I stopped at @fireball workshop in PA and we spent the next 7 hours installing the drawers (would have been faster if my truck was there to get some of the final measurements ahead of time.)

After living out of the truck with 2 of my dogs for the past week, I am really really happy with the setup. The 500lb alegis slides are butter smooth, so much more so than an ARB fridge slide.

I really like that the lock in/out slides are released from the backside of the drawer, and you do not need to reach around (that's what she said) to the side of the drawer to release.

The sleeping platform is very solid and comfortable with my exped mat on top. My Pit mix slept on the drivers side 2nd row seat and my Rat Terrier slept on top of the fridge

I was wheeling the heck out of my truck this week, had fully loaded drawers, including about 150 lbs of tools, 100lbs of fridge and contents etc. and there were zero rattles of any kind.

The overall fitment and build quality are superb, @fireball totally nailed it!!! I couldn't be happier with the finished product.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Earlier this year, @fireball offered to build a set of custom drawers for myself and @Crusha, given the quality of his own setup in his 100, it was a no-brainer. We then spent about a month refining the designs, @Crusha and my designs were similar, but not identical. The drawers are made of 3/4" Baltic birch ply, Alegis 500lb HD locking slides and Vector locking latches. The wood is also coated in a satin clearcoat spray.

A few of the elements that I wanted in my drawers that I could not find in anything on the market.

• I wanted a shorter drivers side drawer so that the ARB 63 fridge would be at a good height for both myself and my 5'1" wife to see into when opened.
• I wanted an integrated fridge slide.
• I also wanted a built in 10" subwoofer encloser at the front of the drivers side drawer.
• I wanted a stow-away lid that slides out over the large passenger side drawer to create a solid counter surface.
• Since I have a @LandCruiserPhil puma mount and puma, I wanted the drivers side wing to be shorter.
• I wanted the passenger drawer height to be level with the 2nd row seat when folded forward and the bottom latch unlatched so the backrest can roll forward enough to be parallel to the ground. This created a solid level sleeping platform.
• I haven't yet decided if I want to build a solid divider and shelf around the fridge, as it has pros/cons. I would like to be able to utilize the storage space above the fridge, but it means I would not be able to access the fridge contents through the side window or from inside the truck...not to come on that one later.

On my way down to GSMTR I stopped at @fireball workshop in PA and we spent the next 7 hours installing the drawers (would have been faster if my truck was there to get some of the final measurements ahead of time.)

After living out of the truck with 2 of my dogs for the past week, I am really really happy with the setup. The 500lb alegis slides are butter smooth, so much more so than an ARB fridge slide.

I really like that the lock in/out slides are released from the backside of the drawer, and you do not need to reach around (that's what she said) to the side of the drawer to release.

The sleeping platform is very solid and comfortable with my exped mat on top. My Pit mix slept on the drivers side 2nd row seat and my Rat Terrier slept on top of the fridge

I was wheeling the heck out of my truck this week, had fully loaded drawers, including about 150 lbs of tools, 100lbs of fridge and contents etc. and there were zero rattles of any kind.

The overall fitment and build quality are superb, @fireball totally nailed it!!! I couldn't be happier with the finished product.

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@fireball has skills, very nice!
How did you seal the wood?
More details on the tail gate protector?
How does the sleeping platform extend over the second row?

 

[Dirty Koala]

Yes he does! The differennce between a Carpenter and a cabinet maker is apparent with this sort of work. These drawers are nicer than I have in my kitchen at home!

After all the components were built he sprayed each piece with a clear satin expo (I am not sure of the specific product used).

The tailgate protector is just a piece of 1/4" HDPE secured with coyntersuck stainless toggle bolts. I didn't need the extra storage, but wanted something more durable than carpet.

The sleeping platform doesn't extend over the rear seat, instead it is built at a height that is level with the folded down rear seat. (With the rear of the seat unlocked end elevated about 2 inches (to make the back parallel to the ground). I just stuff a, sneaker under the back of the elevated seat, I will probably install a door stop or something like that in the future.

I didn't want to have to carry an extra peice of platform to go over the folded down seat, and I also didn't want the drawers to be tall enough to to that.

 

[Dubbinchris]

Man, that IS one nice drawer system! To think I'm only one state over in Ohio.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Given the no holds barred approach I have with this diesel conversion, I figured I should do something about the wiring harness.

The swap calls for making modifications to the factory engine harness, which is included in the cost of the conversion kit. The regular process is to ship off your harness once it's removed, Dustin does his mods and sends it back. I rationalized with myself that if I was not doing a conversion I would still want to replace the aging engine harness, so why would I want to reuse the 18 year old harness is this no holds barred swap?

Beno promptly had a new harness and some other goodies at my doorstep, I took a look , grabbed a few happy snaps and then sent it off to Dustin to work his magic.

Having the new harness in hand before the motor is yanked is a plus as there is no delay is waiting for parts...plus I get all new wiring...so purty. I spoke to Dustin and he will likely offer a new harness as part of the kit to future customers.

 

[bigfj62]

If you don't mind me asking what did that run you?

 

[Dirty Koala]

About $500

 

[bigfj62]

How much would you sell your used harness for when you pull it?

 

[Dirty Koala]

Not sure yet, if I sell my motor, the buyer may need the harness.