1978 Crew Cab 4x4

["Mad Max"]

I bet it's a LOT better!

well, I bet youor paint is in a lot better shape than mine :{ - my 93 took out an '04 Ranger just after it decided to pull out in front of me, going the opposite direction, while I was cruising at 55 mph. The Ranger landed on its roof and my Cummins was still running. Either way yeah we're neighbors. We'll have to keep in touch as events unfold this year. Keep an eye on the Chapter threads - I'm the E. C. for the Colo Springs area.

- Sam

 

[Nordby]

It's been a while again folks, and yes, the project has gathered its share of dust. However - I was able to turn the key on Sunday.



Took a short while to get the shutoff soelenoid on the P7100 wired correctly - one is the pull down, the other is the hold -down. I, uh, jumped the pulldown, had it click, and thought heh, I'm doing just fine. Well, pull-down is only powered whent he starter relay is closed. 3 minutes of power to that and !!!POP!!! smoke city. Rats. Interesting the hold-down was still OK, the pull-down is toast with visible meltage. So, hot-wire the hold down, and pull it open by hand so it would stay.



Took a while to prime the system from the tank through the pump - opened up lines and used compressed air to pressurize the tank to move fuel up to the newly replaced/pre-filled fuel filter/seperator. Had the high pressure lines to the injectors all cracked. Lots of cranking. One R&R of the turbo real quick - missed the drain hose from the turbo. While mopping up 1/3 quart I was smiling that the oil pump was providing pressure.



No heater grid yet, so a smoking, popping, rough running... then idle. Sweet. Running off a straight pipe for now. This is the first time this engine has run for 1. 5 years since I got the donor truck - and pulled it down to a shortblock dang near to have the head done, kdp kill, R&R'd the pumps and cam even for the gearcase bolts - and put a cummins gasket kit back on it to reseal. Only 30 seconds of running so far, but no red flags yet.



Currently wiring in dual batteries, and melding the Ford chassis wiring to the dodge engine wiring. By the looks of it I think it will come out very clean and follow the dodge or ford wiring diagrams depending on what you are working on. It sure helped so far to have the entire dodge wiring harness, the underhood piece in particular - it appears I'll get it wired much cleaner than if I had to make it all up. Trying to use plugs so that the harness will disconnect if the front clip/engine have to come out.



Needs a rear driveshaft before I can attempt moving it under its own power. Front is in, np245dld to ford Dana60 using the dodge driveshaft and a spicer U-joint that fit the dodge shaft and the ford yoke off the diff. It'll be a bit yet, but it sure resembles a truck more these days and the barriers to driving it are slowly being solved!



Updated pictures - soon, mabye over the holiday here. Time is so short I tend to (obviously!) put off updates/pictures here.



thanks, jon.

 

[Nordby]

Holy buckets - that shutoff solenoid I smoked is a $160 part from City Diesel, not counting the wiring has to be spliced or you pay another $20 for the adapter. Cripes, that will teach me.



Anyone have a p7100 shutoff solenoid they want to part with for reasonable $$$'s?



Thanks! jon.

 

[EBottema]

Why dont you just do what was done in like issue 48 of TDR, a steel cable that made a manual shutoff switch. Never have to worry about it failing and cost the guy about 30 bucks. You can remove the keys, lock the truck and leave the engine running

 

[rfull]

can anybody send me a copy of this



i didnt get the mag --------been missing a few of them!



got them coming but didnt get that issue/



email jpeg or how ever and thanks in advance!

 

[EBottema]

PTO cable conversion for the fuel shutoff solenoid is on page 20 of issue 48... Contact the TDR staff for a copy would be the best course of action.

 

[LNeshem]

Hey Jon if you still need a rear driveshaft yoke for a NP241ld Let me know cause I have one that is just gathering dust!! Lowell

 

[LNeshem]

I also just noticed that you were looking for some clutch parts? You may already have this but, I had a donor truck that was a manual and I have the entire clutch assembly and pedals, slave, master, line, rod, pretty much all of it out of a 99... Let me know if you still need any of those parts... Lowell

 

[rfull]

will the 99 clutch plate/flywheel ect fit in the 98 12v?

 

[Nordby]

Dang folks, I did not see these replies (I swear I get email on these!), normally I am more responsive than this. My apologies to the folks with the parts offers and the great manual shutoff suggestions.



Yep, manual woulda been the way to go on the fuel shutoff. No more electronics. Expensive, and not really necessary.



Thanks for the clutch parts offers, Lowell. I got most/all the parts in early fall and am so far doing well with them.



rfull, Proably your parts would fit the 12v if a Nv5400.



Anyhow, this truck moved under its own power on Sunday! Not far, several feet, forward and reverse, with both driveshafts in it. Needs a little bit of wiring done for the alternator now, the oil and water temp sensors, and misc.



My big problem is not paying attention to where the master cyclinder should mount. I put it way too low, and the leverage required on the pedal is huge - like 60-70lbs. Looking at Scot's readers rigs pictures (thanks again sir!) it shows where to put that sucker so your ford clutch pedal leverages it OK. I even have the large-bore slave claimed up in the 2nd gen conference, the NAPA part that helps this issue with upgraded clutches. No Joy, I need to remount the master before I go anywhere - going to rip the rails out of the seat if I keep pushing that hard!



later, I'll pay attention folks, jon.

 

[Nordby]

The installed engine. This was started pretty much like as you see in the picture, with an air cleaner on it though! Since then, I've plumbed the intercooler lines back on, topped all fluids (radiator, transmission, xfer), etc. , and driven it outside. You can see where I am starting to mesh the dodge engine harness and the ford chassis harness. Lots of dodge wiring here - the dual battery setup/lines, the power to the solenoids for the starter and the fuel shutoff, etc. Trying to keep the colors correct, and have most of it stuffed into that black plastic wiring conduit you can pick up at the parts store. Back firewall is soundproofed with a Napa/Marin Senor 4514 Sound Spray/Undercoat.



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[Nordby]

I meant to only paint the back of the cab and front of the bed. I ended up using Quiet Car from quietsolutions.com on the outside of the back of the cab, front of the bed, inside bare metal that will be under the carpet or headliner, and inside of the front fenders so far. Also used GSI Soundmat (JC Whitney version) on the backwall, and the floorboard/firewall where the turbo/downpipe are.



I wanted to drive the thing, but would have had to tear it all back apart if I put it together without paint. So, it all cascaded into the stuff below. More pictures in readers rigs too.



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[Red Stroke]

Nice project, I did mine a year ago, look at my photo bucket for pic, questions? ask away if you want. Looks like I should have done a supercab also



http://photobucket.com/albums/e228/RedStroke/Ford-Cummins/

 

[Nordby]

Great helpful photos of yours RedStroke. Cool utility box. I'll bug you with questions if I bump into something in a couple weeks - I've got to finish painting the doors, reassemble and install them, and reassemble the cab before I get back to wrenching on the conversion aspect.



One question that does come up is how to set up the charging system. I plan on using the ford regulator to generate the field on that cummins/dodge alternator - am I missing something there or is it that simple?



Thanks, jon

 

[Nordby]

A few baby steps in the driveway last weekend. Painted inside, put the doors back on and reassembled, and painted the hood before stuffing it on there too. What a marathon - I have lots of respect for the talented paint and auto-body guys now! Still have to paint the bed, and the top. The bed is not bolted on yet, missing the 2" lift kit. Topper has to go, but easiest to store it on the truck.



Some wiring to do as well, and hood/panel alignment, and the grill. But, she is up to temp for about 20 minutes of idling, and hit second gear going back to the shop! Needs shocks and the bed bolted on before 3rd gear and out the driveway...



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[Nordby]

Meant to point to the larger picture!



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[Red Stroke]

I used a alt bracket from from ford cummins and used the stock 79 alternator with the pulley off of the cummins alt. But it looks like you prob already have this fugured out.

 

[Nordby]

Thanks, and nope, haven't finished the wiring on the charging side of things and driving off the batteries for the time being. Before I go splicing the ford harness into the dodge alternator - which I like because those things put out huge amps - I'll look into swapping the pully and using the ford setup. Sure would wire cleaner with the old ford alternator in there .



jon.

 

[Scot]

I swapped in a 140 amp Leece HD555. You can find it on this board.

 

[Nordby]

Scot - what did you use as a regulator - I suspect the ford one worked fine for you. Or is the Leece self-regulated?



I tried to use the Ford reg on the cummins (nippondenso) alternator and it doesn't seem to generate the field correctly.



I am currently looking into a first-gen (1989-1991) regulator to swap in and do the job for me - if the price is OK. Else, I'll look into the Leece HD555 and go from there.



Thanks again, jon.