The chronicles of Lou, '70 F350 dually Cummins project

[Ranchero50]

Call it divine intervention if you wish but this morning I went down to the farm to get my other power steering box off my '71 F250 and it was gone. Walked around for a while scouting up some firewood and worked on the ramchargers smoking windshield wiper motor before coming home. I had thought about running up to the junk yard after another box but I've had my buddies HD/AMF golf cart sitting outside for most of the summer needing a throttle lever cable end made. In the end I decided to do that to get it out of my way so I could turn the truck around instead of junkyarding. Spent a couple hours getting the part made and installed, then getting the buggy running. Finally got around to moving my truck once the buggy was out of the way and the power steering started working

So I flipped the truck around and had my youngest riding around with me while the pass side door was missing. Fingertip steering is pretty nice with this setup.









I'm still leaking oil between the motor and tranny, wondering if it's the rear main or the fact I didn't seal the flywheel bolts... I'm going to fab the intercooler plumbing and mounts this week while off and hopefully start the wiring as well. I feel like I'm starting to gain some momentum here

Jamie

[averagef250]

Nice when things fix themselves.

The flywheel bolts go into blind holes. I'd recommend loctite on auto flexplates and converter bolts on these motors. They have low level harmonics (the reason why NV4500's eat 5th gear splines) and dodge flexplates aren't the highest order of precision things either. How well the converter's made is probably a big part of it to. Most never have any problems, but then there's the one in 10 that you can't keep the bolts tight no matter what.

Something I've had cause an oil leak a few times is the rear camshaft bore plug. If I get the opportunity I'll install a new plug in the block and a put a bead of RTV around the cam plug to seal the rear of the engine to the adapter plate in that area and stop possible leaks. I had the cup plug that seals the oil galley leak on a brand new engine from Cummins once, but it was the plug on the front of the engine. Cummins dealer fixed it.

[Ranchero50]

Thanks, I have a bad feeling I'm going to be pulling the motor to do a real main seal but I might scab it together to run a bit to see if the seal tightens up with some run time. The engine purrs and the tranny needs to idle in nuetral for 30 seconds or so to fill with fluid (poop design). The brakes aren't really happy yet either but at least I can move it so it should turn into a storage shelf again.

Jamie

[robroy]

Good morning Jamie,

I was happy to see these latest photos! That must have been a blast to move it around with its new powerplant. I can remember what it was like to move #50 for the first time after having it ripped apart for so long.

That's surprising that it takes thirty seconds for the transmission to become ready after you fire the engine up. Was that true for the original vehicle in which this powerplant was installed also? I'm guessing that that's not a byproduct of your swap.

If you're ever up for it it would sure be great to see a video of it cruising around in your yard.

Robroy

[Ranchero50]

Robroy, it seems to be a Dodge curse. These trannies don't pump fluid when in park so it you have an air leak the convertor will drain down and they won't move on their own until you put it in nuetral for it to fill with fluid. PITA.

I am working on the plumbing today, more on that later.

[averagef250]

I'm quick to admit I am not great at rebuilding auto's, but I did do a couple dozen A518's and 47RH's. I've had mixed results, some work great, some take a lot of troubleshooting and parts swapping to get working properly. Slush boxes aren't for me to drive or fix was the conclusion I came to. If I need one now I put the auto tranny on someone else. I use Georend a lot and recommend them to everyone. They are a tranny rebuilder that will change your opinion of tranny rebuilders.

Anyway, took the long way to getting to a point, but IME a dodge auto that's slow to go is just tired and leaky. In proper shape they don't do that at all. Wife's DD has a Jasper 47RH with umpty hundred thousand miles on it and it still works great.

The dodge autos are pretty darn good units too. People bash em, but I've seen what a pretty much stock 47RE with billet shafts, a real good converter and a pressure-lok will hold up to and it's hard to believe.

[Ranchero50]

Quick update, made a new lower radiator hose fitting and welded it to the Cummins adaptor so now I have a lower radiator hose that fits. Went from 2.125" OD to 1.8" and it worked magicly.







In other news I drug this '68 F350 home for parts on mine.

[robroy]

'Afternoon Jamie, that radiator hose adapter looks most excellent!!!

And wow, you did it! Couldn't resist that F350! What a deal. Any parts that you're already planning to use from it?

Robroy

[Ranchero50]

It honestly depends on how easily it comes apart. The hood rusted from the inside out and the inner fenders are covered in fuzzy rust. If they come apart I'm going to swap them onto my truck, I'm going to keep the cab even with the extra ventilation in the back because it has very little rust on it. Today I'm going to put a battery in it and some fresh gas to it and see if it'll run, was told it will. Then once it warms up, see what the stroke is and maybe do a video of it running. I was told it has no brakes so I'll get it up on the flat if possible and knock it apart with the back hoe.

High of 29` today so I'm dressing warm.
Jamie

[71PA_Highboy]

I would be happy to cut the back off a cab and send it to you....

How much of it do you want?

[Ranchero50]

None of it. I spent a very cold windy day at the farm burning the camper one peice at a time and beating it to death to stay warm. They used about 3000 wood screws to hold it together, real PITA to take apart. It's gutted, plan on stripping the shell tomorrow. One really good thing about the doner is the doors are very, very nice. Other than the dorky mirror mounts they are perfect from shat I can tell. the fenders are decent, just starting to rust at the back.

Jamie

[Ranchero50]

Spent the day ripping the camper off the truck with the skid loader, then burning the peices. What a mess that was... No pics, camera battery didn't like the cold. I did bring both cab doors home and started to unbolt the front clip. The doors are pretty nice and the more I see of the cab the more I like it, would make a great front half of a crew cab The roof and back wall are the only bad parts on it.

Jamie

[Ranchero50]

No pics but I've spent the last couple days off prepping the doors for paint. I trial fit the fenders to get the inners lined up and locked down as well. The doors look pretty good after the first coat of paint at the hinges and outside. I'll fit them before painting the rest.

It feels good to be moving forward even if it is baby steps.

Jamie

[Ranchero50]

Trial fit the doors and played with the fender and inner finder fit. Figure I should get this close before doing the plumbing for the intercooler. Old truck looks pretty good with doors and fenders on, .

Jamie

[Fordman5]

I just took my whole front end off the truck, I am going to hate to have to line all that up but the outcome will be worth it when its done. Having fun with my build right now.