8.3 Cummins Questions...

[TBigLug]

I've been wanting to swap a 5.9 into a Chevy dually for a while. Bought a truck for the motor and tranny, ended up putting way to much money into the truck itself to get me throught he winter so now I don't want to part it out. I was slightly dismayed but I may have come up with some kind of solution. I had an 8.3 Cummins offered to me today for what I thought was cheap. It got replaced because it was "getting worn". I drove the truck it was in and don't recall excessive blowby, leaking, knocking or etc. Didn't feel like it had a ton of power but it was in a truck that was pulling the same loads that slow down our 12.7 Detroits as well.

My questions mainly circle around the dimensions of this thing. How much bigger is it than a 5.9 (and I don't want to hear 2.4 L DUHH lol)? Weight, length, width, height, hp, torque, etc.? Is it even feasible to think I can shoehorn this thing under the hood of say a 1992 Chevy 3500 with a 3" body lift? Has anyone done any swapping around with these motors into light trucks or just MDT's? What kind of tranny options will I have? Do they make a bellhousing adapter to use a standard say 46RH, 4L80E or will I be limited to the big Allison autos? How would they be for driveability? Mileage (approx.)?

I'd rather do a 5.9 swap but the price he gave me on this motor seems like too good a deal to pass up. How much do they normally go for? The things it's lacking are the front dress and such. Still has the turbo, intake, exhaust manifolds and IP.

Lots of scatterbrained thoughts, I just need to know whether to make them go away or not if I can't shoehorn it into the truck.

 

[Diesel JD]

Not sure how big the 8.3 actually is. I do recall seeing a Ford F-Series somebody swapped an 8.3 into for sale on ebay a few years back. It seems like he had a doghouse in the cab and elininated the A/C compressor. No idea what transmission was in there. I imagine that thing has some sort of SAE standard bellhousing and probably you could get an adapter for it or have one made....might be costly and I wonder if the GM transmission will take the torque anyway. Maybe, I know some of them live under some pretty powerful 350 and 454 gas engines. Good luck, I hope somebody who knows a lot more than I do will give you some real answers. My uneducated guess is that you'll either be lengthening the frame, remote mounting the radiator, or creating a doghouse in the cab, if you have the skills and time to do this then you can do it...if not, keep looking for a 6bt.

 

[Feed Bunk]

Im not sure how big the 8.3 is on measurments either. How many miles did it have on it? Those things are a sleeveless block just like the 5.9 and it seems like 250k in a medium duty truck there shot so they throw them away for a new one. A 5.9 is pretty long in a pickup engine bay, so Im sure like was said above you'd have to make a doghouse. It would take a ton of work and be really heavy. The skys the limit I guess though.

 

[crashnzuk]

Like said above, they are bigger in every dimension. I think the length is almost 6" longer, it's been quite a while since I measured one. I would say it is much more practical to install a B series.
Travis..

 

[Gary79F250]

8.3 is a wet sleve engine.

 

[Feed Bunk]

Really, sorry guess I was off.

 

[nevrenufhp]

If you had a 3500HD, with the solid front axle, I'd say go for it. Takes fab skills, but it can be done. The B and C share block adapters, so you can use everything a a 5.9 uses. They weigh around 1450 pounds, and I cant find the actual dimensions. Different measurements mean different fitment. Take a tape measure to it, and see how you can make it work.

 

[u2slow]

Like said above, they are bigger in every dimension. I think the length is almost 6" longer, it's been quite a while since I measured one.

6" is about what I remember too.... and taller. I wouldn't trust it to ride on IFS.

Instead of going into the cab, I've often wondered about stretching the front sheet metal to lengthen the nose. Consider making the intercooler optional, or mounting out in front guarded by a bush bar (6 Nebraska IDI's did this is memory serves )

The B and C share block adapters, so you can use everything a a 5.9 uses.

If that true, and the flywheel crosses over too, it's a huge help is keeping the package manageable! Most medium-duty engines use a large bulky flywheel housing.

 

[TBigLug]

Haven't been on in a whilebut I learned some more info while I was gone. It COULD work. only 4" difference in dimensions but it's in all 3 dimensions. IO would have SAS'd the truck but I picked up a 1993 W250 with the Cummins, 5 sp., D60 front and all. I won't end up using the 5 speed I'll just use the 5.9 and find a 518 instead. Thanks for the responses though.

 

[1987f150guy]

part of my highschool day is going to a tech school called cacc, i can get mesurments off the 8.3 we have on a stand. when we run that thing it sounds like a beast. cool idea to put it in a pickup!

 

[nevrenufhp]

part of my highschool day is going to a tech school called cacc, i can get mesurments off the 8.3 we have on a stand. when we run that thing it sounds like a beast. cool idea to put it in a pickup!

If you do get measurements, take them from key points. Length of the head itself. Length of tip of waterpump to the rear of head. Oil pan flange to the top of valve cover, and depth of oil pan at the middle.