The chronicles of Lou, '70 F350 dually Cummins project

[Ranchero50]

Worked on the wiring today between swapping parts out on the mill. Nothing picture worthy yet, just a spaghetti mess and lots of heat shrink.

Jamie

[Ranchero50]

Well, the bed is finally back in place. Sadly the camera battery was dead during the flip over and mounting process. Basicly did a four point lift from the garage bay and took it outside, then lifted it straight up from the front and spun it right side up and sat it back down. Another four point lift and spun it so the back of the bed was at the back of the towtruck and then took it down to the alley where I sat it on Lou. Not much drama overall, only took about a half hour to set in place.









I guess next will be getting the pivot point made on the frame and then the lifting mechanism. The F450 has a 6BT and it runs surprisingly good after it warmed up.

Jamie

[Fo-Mo-Co]

Looks good. Is that a factory sliding rear window?

[Ranchero50]

Yes, this poor girl spent most of her life as a turtle. Sadly they just cut the harness when they removed the camper so there's some fried wiring going to the aux fusebox on the passenger kick panel...

[Ranchero50]

There's a 6bt sitting outside on the trailer...

[Doug Comer]

[390Nut]

One final tidbit, noticed on the key fob that it's probably to the original dealership, Cal Kinney's Arlington Ford in Arlington Washington.
[ Image ]

Jamie

Holy Cow! My old man bought the `69 at Cal Kinney, and used to have that same key fob! He lost his keys after a taking a tumble down a steep embankment when we were out hunting one year.

Too cool to see another one of those out there.

Wish I had followed this thread before, lots of interesting stuff I've missed here.

[Ranchero50]

Hey Paul, yeah I wish I knew where my truck has been on vacation. It was a full camper body most of it's life...

On to the new news. I picked up a '93 Cummins 6bt and 518 auto tranny in a round about way. I've been looking for a while, have a 80k mile longblock that needs a lot of parts down at the farm. Found a couple 6bt's around but they didn't work out (too far, sold too fast, etc.). Ended up my buddy who gathers them like fleas found a '93 Dually auto with a rebuilt tranny, new turbo and newer injection pump for $2500. I ended up donating $1500 to get the engine and tranny but ended up with another '93 6bt / 518 combo from yet another '93 2wd dually that he parted out a few months ago. Jackmonkey wouldn't come off them before needing money for this other truck.

It ain't purty but it's supposed to work and doesn't look like it's been turned up yet. Supposed to only be a 100k engine as well.




The tranny was coated in several inches of mud around the valve body. Cleaned it off and the back cooler line fitting is broken and the nuetral safety switch is leaking through the terminals. The 6bt is only missing a few small bits and the oil pan needs pushed back down. I also scored a '91.5 Chrysler diesel supplimental manual. I need to figure out what to do with the tranny to get it to shift into overdrive. Dodge uses an electronic speedometer on these things so no cable connection. I'd love to be able to use the ford cruise control adaptor but I think that's a long shot.

I have a bunch of other odds and ends coming, like a good set of radial tires and non slit rim wheels for the truck, a powerstroke intercooler and the tubing. I need to price the mounts and the nuetral switch, head gasket too.

Jamie

[averagef250]

Looking good!

Put a pressure gauge in the governor tap, record the pressure where you want OD to shift at and purchase a Hobbs switch to accomplish this automatically.

The speedo drive in a 91-93 A518 is the same setup dodge used for a very long time. You just need the speedo adapter from an older dodge automatic vehicle to go to standard speedo square drive/threads to drive a cable. The yellow gear should be the right one for 31" tires and 3.55 gears.

It's amazing how much junk is on that engine in the dodge. Most everything on it can go in the scrap pile.

What gears/ tires do you plan on? If you're keeping 31's I hope 3.55's are on your list.

[Ranchero50]

Dustin, I figured I'd call you up once I get my head wrapped around this mess. I read about the governor tap for the OD, just need to figure out which port that is once I get further along (and can see most of the tranny). It was suggested to me to remove the radiator tranny cooling lines and just run the water to oil cooler on the turbo side of the block.

Been running numbers and I have the 21 cm3 turbine housing (3519297) so I'm looking for another housing. The good thing is there is no shaft play.

Figured either put it in as it is with a little cleaning or take the head off and reseal everything.

The tensioner is eating the belt and I have all the AC tubing so I'll probably run a short belt / no AC unti I figure out a better heater box with integral AC.

I also have the speed control module but the computer was left in the truck and Gawd only knows where it ended up at.

Of course they cut the throttle cable...

I did end up with all the heater grid stuff as well. Thanks to the manual I even understand how most of it works together.

Tire height I'm not sure about, 245/85-16 are on the list and 3.55's with a locker in the Dana 70 to replace the 4.10's in there now.

I'm up to around $70 in parts so far.
Jamie

[averagef250]

Give me a ring when you get going on it.

I like the 16CM housing on those engines. Bolts right in place of what's on there. If you want more than 300 HP you'll want something stouter/larger than a H1C, but they work perfectly fine for a lot of people.

I vote for you putting it in there getting a running driving truck as quickly as possible. Probably a hundred might as wells you can get sidetracked on if you want to, but I want to see a Jamie build thread end in a driving vehicle before I die.

[Ranchero50]

Hey, it isn't my fault someone kept saying how awesome the 6bt's were...

I just got off the phone with my buddy who runs Mid-Atlantic Diesel, he rooted through his junk piles and found a good 12 cm3 wastegated housing from a '94 WH1C and dang near all of two different 47RH's. He said I'll probably want to do something with the divider port before the turbo so both banks of cylinders can wastegate at higher RPM. Still a short term goal is get the 6bt 518 in the truck and running pretty darned quick. I need to get the engine cleaned and sealed first.

Jamie

[Fordman5]

I love the work that you did with that bed. A craft like yours is hard to do and takes a lot of skill, Good work

[Ranchero50]

Thanks, the bed did turn out well, better than I envisioned. I'm going to put more lights on it and the swap meet where I got them is next month.

Spent yesterday in the unusually warm 72` air power washing the engine and tranny all day long. Went through two gallons of Zep at full strength, wash and soak, wash and soak. I also ordered the tranny cooler adaptors, both were broken and I swapped out the leaking neutral safety switch. One good thing about this engine is I didn't see any real leakers. It was just encrusted with clay and gravel.

I cleaned it hanging from the tow truck. Made getting at the bottom easier. I also had to move the trailer so everything looks a bit funny with the engine hanging from the boom and the trailer hooked to the wheel lift...




Comparison shot of the 6bt vs. 390. I wish I had a 300 to compare it to.


Tensioner shot, funny how every one of these I see has a bad tensioner... $64 at Autozone... The injector pump is cranked around about 3/16" from the original timing marks. It's missing the bottom nut and the throttle linkage is missing most of it's bolts.




I've been measuring stuff in the truck and this swap is going to be interesting in the 2wd...

Jamie

[LOWERED 69]

Great job on the bed

Ill be doing the same engine swap soon to mine.... Is there any clearance issues with the 2wd crossmember and the 6bt oil pan?