Cummins conversion

[65 Kaiser]

Has anyone done a cummins swap? The complete drivetrain that I am looking at is 12 valve turbo intercooled 5.9 Cummins, NV4500, NP 203/205, Dana 70 rear, Dana 60 front.

It will be going into a 1980 J-10 frame with a 65 Kaiser J-2000 Thriftside body. I can't forsee any problems other than packaging issues for the intercooler but if anyone has experience with this I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks
Dave

[Stuka]

There is a M715 out there with a 6BT and NV4500. The picts have been taken down though. Doing a search for it will bring up the post though.

[joe]

Man if you ever do this please keep good notes and pics and then post the write-up here. Excuse my being old and pretty much lazy but...for that extensive of a swap wouldn't it be easier to drop the 65 body and box on whatever frame you're getting the running gear from?

[JeepsAndGuns]

the frame he is getting it from probably isnt any good (bent from being wrecked). That sounds like a pretty good swap. How long is that engine? I have never seen one, since they are a big I-6, I would measure the engine bay and make shure it is long enough to fit it. Other than that the only hard part will be fabing some engine mounts and a new tranny crossmember. And the axles shouldnt be too hard either as long as the font one is not one of the later ones that use coil springs.

[mcinfantry]

the 6bt m715 as far as i know never did settle the intercooler issue, as in he does not have one

[65 Kaiser]

The front axle will likely be a Dana 60 out of a Chev as I have access to several and the WMS spacing works for the width of the J-trucks. Length wise I don't see a problem as there is ample length for the Tornado that is in there now and I've measured the 5.9 cummins and it is within a couple of inches.

I plan to do enough lift to fit 36" tires without any body lift. Not intending to wheel this truck hard, rather it will be a daily driver/work truck/tow vehicle/shop truck. The bed is pretty badly rotted as is the cab, doors, fenders etc... basically the 65 is providing the title, Rhino chaser grill, 8000 Ramsey PTO(which will be converted to hydraulic), and the dash and steering wheel.
The bed will be reproduced to look as close as possible to the factory Thriftside but much stronger and with a sub frame for hydraulic dump. The NV4500 will have a PTO hydraulic pump to power the dump/winch and one accessory circut to be used for log splitter/porta-power/etc...
The 65 sat in the woods for close to 18 years in a temperate rain forest which is why there is so much rust and why so little can be salvaged. The good side is that it was free, and the donor 1980 J-10 was $300CAN which I figure I can recover+profit in the sale of the axles/tranny/t-case and the bed.
My biggest stumbling block is the motor tranny, best I've found so far for the two is $4500CAN, anyone have any good leads on something in the Pacific Northwest area? This would be down the road a bit as I am heading back to school next week.

[Glenn_tx]

Good luck. Keep us posted. A diesel conversion is definitely in my long term plans.

[joe]

Originally posted by 65 Kaiser:
My biggest stumbling block is the motor tranny, best I've found so far for the two is $4500CAN, That's "always" the biggest stumbling block on a dsl conversion is the cost of the motor/trans. Personally I think $4500 CDN($3400 USD) isn't a bad price at all for a complete running 6 cyl Cummins w/trans.

[FSJeeper]

http://froadin.com/Willie/willie_engine_bay.jpg

In this bad Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogley M715:

http://froadin.com/Willie/willie_2.jpg

Intercooler issue is solved with an industrial air to water intercooler like used on bulldozers. This is what this guy did to solve the problem. While not quite as effective as a air to air intercooler, still works good.

[mcinfantry]

well i can tell you the nv4500 shift tower to front of the 4bt (4 cyl) puts the engine too close to run a mechanical fan and clutch with the stock radiator location, if you put it through the stock shifter location. i should have enough room to run the taurus electric fan.

[65 Kaiser]

Long time since I checked back

Thanks for the replies everyone, I'm slowly gathering the info to determine the best plan for this, hopefully I'll have it all worked out at the same time I have the money to do it. :)

[Mikel]

Looking at my M715's radiator support, sitting in my basement :rolleyes: , I think one can gain a few inches by cutting into it and mounting the radiator farther forward.

[ColeTrickle]

Originally posted by -joe:
Man if you ever do this please keep good notes and pics and then post the write-up here.Amen to that.

We're gonna have to keep this topic to the top! :cool: :D
That means posting "BTT" every five minutes or more whenever "DerekTJeep" is logged on :rolleyes:

[FSJeeper]

Originally posted by Mikel:
Looking at my M715's radiator support, sitting in my basement :rolleyes: , I think one can gain a few inches by cutting into it and mounting the radiator farther forward.Yes, Willie used a custom tractor radiator about 6" thick mounted inside the core support. Zero room for a FSJ type mounted radiator. The intercooler issue is solved with an air to water unit, not as effective, but better than nothing.

[FSJeeper]

I would also like to add that there are a number of 6BT M715's running around, as well as a few Wagoneers. This is not a hard conversion, and it is not that rare. When I do mine, I'll document everything and take lots of pics. I will basically just copy what Willie did with his M715 as it has served him well as a daily driver and work truck for over 3 years.

[ColeTrickle]

Not to change the subject, but how's the snake situation?
Did ya get the workers, back to work?

[TexasJ10]

Are any frame and suspension modifications necessary on a M715 to support the diesel? Is the m715 frame and suspension the same as a j truck?

[FSJeeper]

Originally posted by TexasJ10:
Are any frame and suspension modifications necessary on a M715 to support the diesel? Is the m715 frame and suspension the same as a j truck?The M715 frame is the same as the smae era Gladiator frames, but has 2 diagonal braces that run from the front crossemember to in front of the motor mounts (Serial number being on the passenger side brace), HEAVY GUSSETING MID FRAME JUST PAST THE FORNT BOXED PART OF THE FRAME, AND A VERY hd REAR CROSSMEMBER SETUP FOR THE PINTLE HOOK IN THE BACK. aLSO THERE ARE hd RECOVERY POINTS WELDED TO THE FRAME IN THE FRONT THAT THE cLEVIS AND PINS GO IN.

Cole, I have been out of the country and nothing has gone out there except flooding and a lot of snaked reproducing. (tis the season) They have had the place to themselves for 3 weeks now. prolly weekend after this one I am going to fog the house with that snake stuff and blast away! I'll let you know.

[65 Kaiser]

With regards to the intercooler issue, I'm hoping that I can source an air to air industrial unit that will be slightly smaller dimensions than the rad, and mount it in front of the rad directly behind the grill. This will require a lot of custom sheetmetal work to get everything tucked in tightly, but if it fits I don't see why it won't work.

I worked in a Heavy Duty Overhaul shop for a while where we were repowering Hayes and Pacific off-highway logging trucks with C15 Cat engines (600hp), and the intercoolers were mounted directly in front of the rad completely covering the cooling surface of the rad. These trucks are used to haul loads of up to 100tons up coastal mountain logging roads(grades of 30% at times).

[65 Kaiser]

FSJeeper, do you have any pics or reproductions of FSM pics that show the extra gussets and crossmembers. There are no M715's in my area to look at.

[Elliott]

PC has some pics at his webpage, he's doing a frame off M715 resto: http://webpages.charter.net/porkchopsfsj/PCPen.html

[Mikel]

How about receeding the firewall center area one or two inches farther back? I don't know what the area behind the firewall and the dashboard looks like, or if that would leave no room for the heater ducts or the radio.

[65 Kaiser]

Anything is possible, especially as this will be a fully gutted resto, so if necessary I can do custom ducting to provide clearance.

[65 Kaiser]

I checked PorkChops website, but none of the pics were displaying. :-(