Doopy the Plow Truck gets a Cummins 4BT

Most of you know the history of Droopy but for those of you who dont here is a quick rundown.
Heres the story:

Droopy the plow truck is a 1988 F250 Reg Cab 4x4 ZF 5sp, 355 rear. I purchased this truck about 6 years ago from the original owner.

Here is what the truck looked like when I brought it to the shop:

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This was a truck that was not driven in the winter, so it had a very solid body, just bad paint and some front end damage:

The previous owner labeled it Droopy after the accident and the name just sorta stuck:

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So I decided to keep it and turn it into a plow truck for my car lot. We used it for a few years, the motor started to go so it was time for a makeover: Here is what it looked like at that time:

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I wanted to preserve the body for as long as possible so Thanks to Ron who fixed the damage painted the truck. I also got a rebuilt 30 over 5.0 with a towing RV cam and he dropped that in:

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The truck turned out great and I used it for a couple of years with that motor:

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It has been a great truck but the 10MPG gets old so I have been wanting to convert it to a Diesel. Since I already did a 6BT Cummins Conversion on my 1989 F350 Crew Cab 4x4:

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It was kind a no brainier to do a 4BT Cummins Conversion on Droopy.

I found a Doner Truck in NJ, It is a 1986 F350 Cab and Chassie with a 4BTA installed. This was a great candidate because it has everything that I need to install it into Droopy.

And Were OFF!
Got the front end off of the truck on Sunday,

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and got the motor pulled tonight,

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My goal is to have around 200 HP at the crank, from what I have read it seems pretty doable with good drive ability and 20 plus MPG.

I plan on a 3200 Gov Spring, Fuel Pin, doing the pump tunes and bump the timing, I also have a WHC1 Turbo with a 12CM housing on it. It will have 4" exhaust, a BHAF intake as well.

For you Cummins guys,..What injectors would you suggest with this setup, and is this a good setup?

Another question that I have is will 200HP be doable with the Water to Air Aftercooler on it? I really don't want to intercool this truck because of the plow, It is already pretty busy around the bumper area and a intercooler would be a pretty big project.

I just want to make this a good driveable setup, not a race truck, or moster tow truck, and hope to get about 20 MPG with it and be able to burn WMO on occasion.

Thanks for your input, I plan on making big strides with this in the next 3 weeks as my family is in Mexico on a Mission trip so that leaves me with lots of extra time to get this project done.

Darrin, I would look at SDX injectors, they seem to be what everybody with first gens raves about. THey have 5x.010, 5x.012, 5x.014, and 5x.016 injectors with the correct spray angle for VE pumped cummins.

If I were you, I would go with that 5x.010 or 5x.012's and get a fuel pin that has a decent ramp on it, so you dont smoke like crazy down low.

FordGuy100 said:

Darrin, I would look at SDX injectors, they seem to be what everybody with first gens raves about. THey have 5x.010, 5x.012, 5x.014, and 5x.016 injectors with the correct spray angle for VE pumped cummins.

If I were you, I would go with that 5x.010 or 5x.012's and get a fuel pin that has a decent ramp on it, so you dont smoke like crazy down low.

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Sounds good, I will check into them, I do want a clean burn on this thing. thanks for the input!

Progress for today:

The first thing to do was to get it on the Engine Stand get some parts of it and get it cleaned up. This thing is a greasy pig!

Before Pics:

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Then after about 15 minutes with some commercial degreaser, and a Diesel Powered Steam Washer I can actually take a look at the motor:

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The Oil Filter and the Fuel Filter came out so clean I think Ill Reuse them,....

It turned out pretty clean but it just looks like it has been in an ole rusty plow truck from the NE,..Oh Yea,.It has!

Different oil filter setup it seems. I need to get mine on my engine stand so I can start rebuilding it in the future.

Looks good Darrin!

Hey Darrin I like the idea. I've always wondered how a 4BT would do in a pickup.


My F800 Haul and Tow truck had a P pumped 6BTA

I dropped in a set of new (not reman) stage 1 injectors, a Number 6 fuel plate and had Stateline Diesel in Edwardsburg, MI replace the fuel pressure regulator and set the timing to 14.5 degrees and it really woke that truck up and it wasn't smokey unless you really stomped it at a red light.

I know yours ain't a P pump but if you can set it up similar with that VE pump, I think you'ld be really happy with it.

Stateline diesel is a good injection shop. Might want to give them a shout.


A sgreasy as that thing was, I'd get a gasket set and replace almost every gasket I could without doing a complete tear down unless you are rebuilding it. Don't forget to do the killer dowel pin fix on it too while it's out and easy to work on.

Progress for today,..Not so good,... The motor was a little noisy on the bottom end, so I wanted to pull the mains and rods to see what they looked like, Rod Bearings were pretty bad so it will need all new bearings, however journals on the mains are too scarred for my comfort and the crank may need to be turned. If this is the case I will probably do a complete rebuild. I am waiting for my buddy to come and take a look at it, He is a retired engine rebuilder. Once I get his input I will go from there. but will probably be tearing the engine down. Ill get pics up tomorrow,...


Where do you suggest to get a rebuild kit from? I know the ebay ones are out there for $550.00 but What do you guys recommend?

Thanks for your input,...

Thanks Tonka!

I did plan on the KDP and looks like the whole thing will be freshend up at this point. Ill give Stateline Diesel a call as well, The Injectors may be down the road a little at this time if I have to spend the money on a rebuild,..Well see,..

Sorry to hear that.

The injectors I got from Pensacola Diesel. I've heard both good and bad about their stuff. Me, I did well and put about 100k on them before the truck got totaled. One of my best friends in Omaha owns an excavating company and has a fleet of about 20 chevy trucks with the 6.2 and 6.5 they beat the crap out of doing excavating and plowing snow and swears by their stuff too.

Rebuild kit I can't help you on. Fortunatly I havn't had to do a complete rebuild on any engine in over 20 years.

Set of 6 new (no core) 1st Gen Cummins mild performance injectors on sale right now for $229 Reg price $299

Thanks Tonka,..That's a good price on injectors, I wonder if they will sell 4,..?


,..Here is the update for today:


My buddy stopped by, He is a retired engine rebuilder so he took a look at the crank and looks like it WILL NOT need a rebuild. It appears that there is some bearing residue on the crankshaft mains. possibly from being run low on oil. He took some emery cloth and polished one if the journals in the block and it polished up nicely, I will not have to pull the crank, just polish up the rest of the journals and install some new bearings. They are standard size.

Here is a pic of one of the journals:

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Here is a pic after polishing:

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Here is a pic of one of the Rod Bearings:

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So I am happy that it wont need a complete rebuild but what I want to do is reseal the whole thing, Possibly pull the head check everything and install all new gaskets.

Ill be **** more work on it tomorrow.

Whew!!! That's a relief. Bearings did their job and took wear

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tonkadoctor said:

Whew!!! That's a relief. Bearings did their job and took wear

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Exactly! guess I didn't think of it that way but that's a good way to put it!

So today I got some 3m emory cloth and commenced to cleaning up the rest of the Crank Journals.

You can see from this pic the main in the center is what Howard cleaned up for me yesterday and showed me how to do it:

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First take a small piece of rag and plug up the oil passages, Not to deep so you can still dig it outa there:

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Take a 3' piece of cloth trim it in half, wrap it around the journel wi the bearings removed and saw it back and forth

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With very little effort they cleaned up nice and smooth! Ready for new bearings:

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Pulled the front cover off to check out the gears and the KDP:

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It appears that the Killer Dowl Pin has moved out a little. Since I am buying a whole gasket kit is there anyone that will sell a tab for this application without buying the whole KDP Kit?

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Thats it for today, Headed out on the Bike to the Muskegon Bike Time Shindig for the rest of the day.

What grit cloth did your friend recommend?

Darrin, Just grind and bend a fender washer to shape. To the best of my knowledge all the tabs I've seen are flat, you'ld have to modify it anyways by bending it for the step so you might as well make your own for $0.05

FYI, the new replacement timing gear cases that Cummins sells for these engines uses a tapered pin and doesn't need the mod.

ocnorb said:

What grit cloth did your friend recommend?

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Probably no higher than 800 grit. I always used crocus cloth to polish cranks when I was building engines all the time.

ocnorb said:

What grit cloth did your friend recommend?

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Looks like it was 180 grit but we took the initial gritt off by running it back and forth the corner of the block a couple of times first.

Darrin, Just grind and bend a fender washer to shape. To the best of my knowledge all the tabs I've seen are flat, you'ld have to modify it anyways by bending it for the step so you might as well make your own for $0.05

FYI, the new replacement timing gear cases that Cummins sells for these engines uses a tapered pin and doesn't need the mod.

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That is what I will do, Just come up with one of my own, IIRC that is what I did on the 6BT for Big Ed., Thanks for the info,...

Today I ordered new Rod and Main Bearings, 6bt Oil Pump, Full gasket Set, and an oil pan, The old one was a little too rusty for my taste. It all should be here tomorrow. My plan is to get the bottom end back together, then flip the motor and start on the top with all new gaskets,. Not a lot going on with it today,......