To remind those of you who may not remember:
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=48978
It's been awhile since I've been active on the forum lately...
Here's the reason why:
http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3093037560102688043gbptxl
I know, I know. Everybody and their brother does the Cummins 5.9 swap, it's not original, I should keep my truck with an International engine, etc.
After seriously considering a DT360, I realized that it would be more of a project than I'd want. Plus, this is a trail that has been blazed so wide I won't be re-inventing the wheel.
I found this 5.9 for sale on craigslist in a little town called Maple Valley, about 40 minutes SE of Seattle. The guy was asking $1500 for it, running and complete from intake to oilpan and whatever other engine-related parts I wanted to take. It was in a 1989 W350 standard cab 4X4 with a blown tranny (a 727, which apparently was the tranny that Dodge decided to put behind the 5.9 for the first couple of years of the Cummins-powered Rams) that he'd bought for the four wheel drive parts to swap into his Cummins-powered 2WD Dodge. (The video above was taken while it was in the '89 W350.) He'd had it for a month or so and several people had looked at it, lots of interest, but no one with the $$$. He was leaving it in the Dodge chassis so whoever bought it could hear it run, and once the person that came along with the money wanted it, he would remove it and load it into a truck with his backhoe. After spending about 15 minutes on the phone with him, I decided to make the trip to take a look at it.
It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive up there from my neck of the woods, so I filled the F250 up and took the drive. Once I got there, I met with the guy (I think his name was Aaron) and we took a look at the engine. He had disconnected the fuel tank and a couple of other things to speed up the removal process. It was pretty dirty (I don't think it was very well taken care of), but was complete.
He hooked up a battery and it fired right up (he said it hadn't run in several days). I let it run for about 30 minutes, looking at the oil and checking the coolant. The only thing I noticed was some sludgy build-up in the filler neck of the radiator. It didn't look like oil, but was definitely a petroleum product. I pointed this out to him and he said it may be the transmission cooler. I took a look and evidently Dodge decided their 727 tranny would need cooling capacity in addition to the conventional tranny cooler (the standard one in front of the radiator). They also utilized a transmission fluid-to-coolant cooler located on the passenger side of the block underneath the exhaust manifold. Weird, but I'm not familiar with Dodge designs. (It reminds me of the International design of the 6.9/7.3 oil coolers. I'm aware of the problems these oil coolers can have with the o-rings inside of them.) Has anyone on here ever heard of/had a problem with these Dodge tranny coolers?
After some negotiating, I talked him down to $1200 and gave him an envelope full of Franklins. We pulled the engine out and with the help of his Case backhoe (I've gotta get one of those someday) and loaded the 1000 lb. monster into the back of the F250. Once I'd secured it down, I carefully made the three hour drive home.
Once I woke up Sunday, I took some measurements and realized the cherry picker I had wasn't anywhere near large enough to hoist this engine out of the back of the F250. (I momentarily cursed my decision to put a 2" body lift and 315/75-16 tires on my truck.) Also, the 1000 lb. Harbor Freight engine stand I had was in no way a safe option to support this hunk of iron for several months. I spent the next week weighing options. I bought a one-ton Harbor Freight engine stand that was WAY beefier than the 1000 lb. lightweight I had. I looked at a couple of cherry pickers, but ultimately decided this was the best solution to get the Cummins out of the back of my truck and onto the new engine stand:
Once I had built the gantry, I realized mounting the Cummins to the engine stand would require removing the torque converter, flywheel and adapter plate from the rear of the engine. In order to remove these items, I needed to rotate the engine to get access to the bolts that hold the torque converter to the flywheel. Once that was done, all I would need to do is unbolt the flywheel and adapter plate. The trick is removing the injectors. I pulled the fuel line off the front injector but could not get it to come out once I'd removed the threaded sleeve-thingy that held it in. Fortunately in this day and age, we have the remarkable tool known as the internet!
After some research, I bought a few items and cobbled together an injector-removal tool. This is what greeted me once I'd got the injectors out:
Yeah, this engine is gonna need some work...
The next day I disassembled the gantry and it is now on the side of the garage in pieces.
Are there any superior Cummins websites/forums anyone can direct me to?
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=48978
It's been awhile since I've been active on the forum lately...
Here's the reason why:
http://good-times.webshots.com/video/3093037560102688043gbptxl
I know, I know. Everybody and their brother does the Cummins 5.9 swap, it's not original, I should keep my truck with an International engine, etc.
After seriously considering a DT360, I realized that it would be more of a project than I'd want. Plus, this is a trail that has been blazed so wide I won't be re-inventing the wheel.
I found this 5.9 for sale on craigslist in a little town called Maple Valley, about 40 minutes SE of Seattle. The guy was asking $1500 for it, running and complete from intake to oilpan and whatever other engine-related parts I wanted to take. It was in a 1989 W350 standard cab 4X4 with a blown tranny (a 727, which apparently was the tranny that Dodge decided to put behind the 5.9 for the first couple of years of the Cummins-powered Rams) that he'd bought for the four wheel drive parts to swap into his Cummins-powered 2WD Dodge. (The video above was taken while it was in the '89 W350.) He'd had it for a month or so and several people had looked at it, lots of interest, but no one with the $$$. He was leaving it in the Dodge chassis so whoever bought it could hear it run, and once the person that came along with the money wanted it, he would remove it and load it into a truck with his backhoe. After spending about 15 minutes on the phone with him, I decided to make the trip to take a look at it.
It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive up there from my neck of the woods, so I filled the F250 up and took the drive. Once I got there, I met with the guy (I think his name was Aaron) and we took a look at the engine. He had disconnected the fuel tank and a couple of other things to speed up the removal process. It was pretty dirty (I don't think it was very well taken care of), but was complete.
He hooked up a battery and it fired right up (he said it hadn't run in several days). I let it run for about 30 minutes, looking at the oil and checking the coolant. The only thing I noticed was some sludgy build-up in the filler neck of the radiator. It didn't look like oil, but was definitely a petroleum product. I pointed this out to him and he said it may be the transmission cooler. I took a look and evidently Dodge decided their 727 tranny would need cooling capacity in addition to the conventional tranny cooler (the standard one in front of the radiator). They also utilized a transmission fluid-to-coolant cooler located on the passenger side of the block underneath the exhaust manifold. Weird, but I'm not familiar with Dodge designs. (It reminds me of the International design of the 6.9/7.3 oil coolers. I'm aware of the problems these oil coolers can have with the o-rings inside of them.) Has anyone on here ever heard of/had a problem with these Dodge tranny coolers?
After some negotiating, I talked him down to $1200 and gave him an envelope full of Franklins. We pulled the engine out and with the help of his Case backhoe (I've gotta get one of those someday) and loaded the 1000 lb. monster into the back of the F250. Once I'd secured it down, I carefully made the three hour drive home.
Once I woke up Sunday, I took some measurements and realized the cherry picker I had wasn't anywhere near large enough to hoist this engine out of the back of the F250. (I momentarily cursed my decision to put a 2" body lift and 315/75-16 tires on my truck.) Also, the 1000 lb. Harbor Freight engine stand I had was in no way a safe option to support this hunk of iron for several months. I spent the next week weighing options. I bought a one-ton Harbor Freight engine stand that was WAY beefier than the 1000 lb. lightweight I had. I looked at a couple of cherry pickers, but ultimately decided this was the best solution to get the Cummins out of the back of my truck and onto the new engine stand:
You must be registered for see images
Once I had built the gantry, I realized mounting the Cummins to the engine stand would require removing the torque converter, flywheel and adapter plate from the rear of the engine. In order to remove these items, I needed to rotate the engine to get access to the bolts that hold the torque converter to the flywheel. Once that was done, all I would need to do is unbolt the flywheel and adapter plate. The trick is removing the injectors. I pulled the fuel line off the front injector but could not get it to come out once I'd removed the threaded sleeve-thingy that held it in. Fortunately in this day and age, we have the remarkable tool known as the internet!
After some research, I bought a few items and cobbled together an injector-removal tool. This is what greeted me once I'd got the injectors out:
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
You must be registered for see images
Yeah, this engine is gonna need some work...
The next day I disassembled the gantry and it is now on the side of the garage in pieces.
Are there any superior Cummins websites/forums anyone can direct me to?
