Hi Hamb people. Bobby here with a new project to share with you all. I got the idea early 2011 to build a Cummins powered older truck. Had to be older than 50 for the look that I liked. Being a chevy guy I was aiming for a chevy truck. In the process of brainstorming ideas with friends, one of them told me " If you get a 5.9 in your shop I have a truck for you" ok sounds good. Cept I knew all he has were fords. Come spring time and another level of school done I start looking for a donor motor. After talking to some people and finding one in a dually that was for parts I go to the garage where its parked amongst a ton of other vehicles, the guy wanted 3200 for the whole truck but it was in an accident and had one front wheel that was almost under the truck. That and the price didnt perk my interest so much. However the gentleman who owned the yard said that he had one that was also for parts, how much was I willing to pay for it. My budget was 2500. He said deal, threw a half dead 600 cca battery in it and with 2 slow cranks the truck fired up and ran like a charm. Two thumbs up! Plus for that price he would pull it out and give me any supporting componets I needed. So Now I have a motor. A few weeks later I go over to my friends place to see what he had. What I thought was going to be an old farm truck with a grain box turned into this project. A fairly clean 49 Canadian F-68 ( F-3) for the state side people. So pops and I load it up on the gooseneck and bring it home. Then comes first cut of hay so all I could do on downtime is clean up the engine and trans and look at the truck. Between cuts I get into it.
I believe it is a Mercury HOOD ... look at the chrome piece in the hood vent and out long the stainless spears on the hood are. All of the above says Mercury hood to me. Cool old truck. .
Nice ride. I am doing a similar swap into a 52 Dodge. There are a few other 6bt swaps into older trucks on here that have lots of good information. I would get as much of the donor truck as you can, the transmission and rear end would be good parts to keep. Also for your climate the grid heater system for cold starts is a must have. Good luck, I look forward to more updates.
Ya its a ford truck and somewhere along the lines some one has replaced the hood and tailgate with the merc ones. Sorry I dont have any other badges. Also I have lots more, the engine is in the truck and running but I cant upload more that 20 pictures? whats the way around this?
Hahaha Duece, Baldur is a bit more than an hour from where I live. Well done on making the trip to get your project!
The 6BT Cummins is a great swap into an older truck. I've done it with my F4 and it is a great driver and highway cruiser.
I thought this build had some great information http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=355535&showall=1
Here is a link to my F4 build on one of Ryans other forums. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10871&showall=1
Images might be mixed up a bit but will get better as i get used to the posting on this forum Brought the truck in to tear apart to start the project as soon as first cut of hay was done. Engine was out later that afternoon. First test fit of the engine which showed that it did not fit at all without some modifying. Too far forward meant no room for rads, not far enough down meant improper driveline angles. In order to get the engine to sit where I wanted it to, the original crossmember had to be cut out so the starter could be placed with the start solienoid and the starter motor in between the steering gearbox ( With the tension adjusting nut/bolt on the gearbox inbetween these two) Had to cut out the fire wall to set the engine into the cab a few inches to achieve this and to gain clearance where the rad would sit. For a pedal bracket I used the pedals from a 1980 datsun 720 truck that I tore apart for parts. The pedals were then cut and lengthened and the original pedals were welded to these to use a clutch master cyl and a vacuum brake booster. Drivers side engine mount. 2x2 tubing 3/16 wall was used to make the engine crossmember. I then cut a notch on both sides of the frame and put the tubing into the frame and welded it to make up the piece that I cut out. Passenger side, offset for spacing for the steering gearbox
I didnt get the angles quite right on the trans crossmember. But they were all butted up together and it will work so I didn't change it. I do now realize that I have to gusset and fish plate the frame where I welded the 2x2 tubing to the frame due to heat on the lower part of the frame rail weakening a stress point in the frame. It would probably be ok for just cruising around but everyone knows its never just cruising around. Mazda Rx-7 master brake cyl. I hope this is enough to operate the brakes, granted I set the brakes properly. Pedal assembly mounted I had to cut the downpipe back by about 3'' for clearance at the cab, this eliminated a bottle neck on the 2.5'' exhaust right off the turbo where it necked down to 2'' Dana 60 rear end, 4:10 gears and a Lincon Locker. I didn't do the weld job originally but for 20 bucks im not going to complain. I opened it up and the welds were broken so I cleaned it up and gave it a go through with a couple of 7018 rods at 110 amp. That should hold for a while. Original ford 2 piece diff, too weak for the 5.9 Diff out in 3 hours work Comparison of the two diffs. Spring perches on the Dana 60 were 45 inches apart, 41 inches on the original, time to cut. Test fit the front clip and it fit like a glove, no fitment issues other than the rad having one of the bottom ports hitting the vibration dampener. Almost looks like a small engine. To save the original gauges I made a new gauge cluster from some old angle sheet metal I had and formed it to go in the original spot and to be bolted in. Then I had a fuel gauge so I thought, might as well put it in.
Made a filler piece for where the factory speaker would have gone. This will keep the light switches and accessory switches for the future applications. There is a hutterite colony nearby who I have a few friends with that have a laser cutter. They had cut me out a Cummins logo and I didn't know where I was going to put it until now.
The F-2 Rear is too weak??? that's what they based all the champ style quickchanges off of!!! There are guys running sprint cars with 800+ HP infront of them, and they only have aluminum cases on those!
I had heard that the original rear end was too weak. Plus I was wanting to go with 16'' rims. They put Dana 60's behind the 5.9's in the early dodges. Found this one for 20 bucks so I thought it was the smartest way to go. Plus if I want to re-gear it or change out a bearing or seal it would be a much better idea to have a more modern diff right? Even though i'll have the findability for parts issue with the original front I-Beam axle/wheels/brake assembly. But I can deal with that.
Looks like a fun build. Love the crossbreed set-up. Dodge Engine, Ford Chassis, misc. import parts thrown in for good measure.
Figured out that once this thing is rolling with the 4.10 gears and the current tire sizes (235/85/16 I believe, 21.7 inch tall tires anyways.) at 2000 rpm it will only be doing 59 MPH, I think i'm going to have to re-gear. If I drop down to 3.54's then I will have rpms around 1750 at 60 mph
A 235-85LT16 is MUCH taller than 21.7"! I have the same size tires on my '71 International, and they are 30.3" tall. At 67 mph, with the 4.10 gears, 30.3" tall tires, a .73:1 overdrive, you will be running 2,200 RPM. Well within the range of what the Cummins is designed for. No need for an axle gear change unless you want better mileage, which a 3.54 or 3.73 gear set is better-suited for. Still tows fine! My old '93 Dodge 350 Dually had the very same engine/trans as yours, and I regularly got 23 mpg highway with 3.54 gears. Plus, I towed up to 14K# with that combo. Should make for a nice rig.
Lol sorry 21.7 was supposed to be 31.7, must have been a late night. The formula I used was 2000(Rpm)/(.77x4.1)Transmission and diff ratiosx31.7/336 which equals out to 59.76 Mph. Now you are saying that 5th gear is actually .73 instead of .77. I had found .77 from http://www.dieseltruckresource.com/dev/getrag-360-ratios-t63543.html so whether its a solid source of info is beyond me. Now if I use .73 in the same formula it turns out to be 63.04 Mph. So if I re-geared it, it would be closer to making peak torque than at 2000 rpm which would lead to better fuel economy am I right?
Do you have a Getrag 5-speed transmission (likely, if from a '93 or earlier truck) or a NP3500 5-speed ('94 - '97.5). The NP is a better overall transmission. The Getrag has a problem with the speed sensor popping out of the case, and the yolk nut backing out (had both of those happen on my '93). The Cummins likes 2,000 - 2,200 RPM as its best economy and torque range. Mileage drops a bit after 2,200 RPM. Three grand is redline on an unmodded engine. Nice thing about these is that they can be worked easily by swapping the fuel plate, larger injectors, and a different turbo, depending on how much power you want. There is no computer to mess with. It's a one-wire operation, basically. I got my figures off on of the RPM/tire size/gear ratio sites, can't remember which.
I see your Cummins 6BT... and raise you my 10 speed eaton fuller transmission..... Nice project by the way... glad to see another old oil burner around! ~M
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