1978 Crew Cab 4x4

[Scot]

That alternator has an interrnal regulator. It also has the "W" terminal that allows you to drive a tach.



I stripped out most of the excess wiring in the harness when I made the swap.

 

[KellyClark]

I'm doing a very similar swap. 1977 1/2 Ford F250 crew cab 4X4 (basically a 1978 with a '77 grill). I want to put a new HPCR motor in it. I have heard from others that the wiring is pretty simple. I'm still trying to decide on a transmission. I'm leaning towards an NV. I guess it depends what motor I get since I've been told the ECM's are different and not interchangeable between manual and auto.



What did you use for a fuel system? What tank, delivery lines, lift pump? Can I use a plastic fuel tank?



Also, I have A/C. Will I have room for the turbo?



rbertalan, I live in Placerville and would like to see your truck if you wouldn't mind. You can PM me or email.

 

[KellyClark]

Does your truck have a body lift?

 

[Nordby]

Thanks Scot - I tried again with the Ford regulator yesterday and no joy. Going the Leece single wire as well. And it sure does look like it cleans the wiring up nicely on that passenger side!



Kelly, I used the stock ford tank. Yes you can use a plastic one. Avoid galvanized aftermarket tanks sold for these trucks, diesel does not get along with the coating very well from what I'm told.

I used the fuel lines from the 1997 D2500 donor truck, so running the dodge metal lines. I plumbed the return line into the ford tank on the vent up top (per Scot's advice I bet!). I ditched the lift pump that I had (it failed during the conversion) and am running a Holley Blue electric, on the frame back near the fuel tank.



Talk to the folks at autoworld in billings I believe, they can sell you an A/C bracket that leaves the turbo in place. Their contact info is in the conversions forum, they did the 2006 Ford repower in here recently. I have no A/C yet in mine - but will over time.



My F250 has a 2" body lift on it. It really needed it to clear the NV4500 bell housing (and fit the radiator up front), as well as for the turbo downpipe to clear.



Thanks,

jon

 

[KellyClark]

I'd rather not use a body lift since I already have a 6" suspension lift. How close was your transmission to the cab without the body lift? Do you think it's possible to go without?



Thanks for your help.



Kelly

 

[Scot]

Kelly,

I did not do any body lift. I dropped the transmission crossmember 2" and it cleared the bellhousing and transmission. The 4spd trucks had a bolt on hump that will give you the clearance you need.



I talked at some length with the guy at Reliable Deisel in AZ prior to starting mine. He said he flipped the exhaust manifold and it set the turbo high enough to clear the factory airbox.



I used the original tanks and lines. You need to add a return line. You can run it into the vent holes or through the fuel sender. A plastic tank would be great. If you use the original one, spend the time to clean out 2X yrs of crap off the bottom. I wish I had...



I built a compressor bracket and drove it off of a add on v belt pulley from Cummins and used a Air-Tique King Cool. Love it!

 

[Nordby]

Kelly, I agree with Scot - the 2" lift is not necessary. I did it so I'd have a little more slop to play with. My wife is always chiding me about how I "measure once, cut twice, go back to the store and try again", so I built in a little room for error.



Your control points are the bell housing on the back (how it fits to the firewall) and the radiator up front - with that cross-member on the bottom. I dropped mine 2" as well, so when that motor torques it does not turn into it. Again, I overdid my clearances, but my truck needed off the ground for the high-boy look anyway and to fit 33" or 35"s.



Progress on mine is finally has 4 shocks on it (p-s-t.com has great prices/free shipping, $189 for KYB's), and the bed is bolted on. The 2" lift came with lame bolts hex bolts and washers (vs factory carraige bolts, so I had to fine some other carraige bolts to match the orginals. For now had to use non-grade hardware from Home Desperate, need to source some real ones and swap them out.



Traction in the gravel is hilarious with that single tire in the back spinning. Guess I need to look into a limited-slip for that Ford D60 in the back.



later, jon

 

[Nordby]

Wanted to log some part #'s here for folks trying to solve similar problems - and so I can throw the boxes out!



Got my charging system working - with help from some folks on here. Used the alternator (nippondenso) that came with the 1997 cummins engine. Used a regulator from a 1985 Dodge pickup, about $15, Napa part #VR38SB. The V could be a U, hard to tell on the box. Bought a plug to fit the regulator, Napa part #VRC38, about $8.



The regulator was two-wire, the green goes to green on the alternator for the field (if using the stock chrysler wiring harness off the alternator) Green is the small post on the alternator furthest away from the thick power wire post.



The white goes to the white with blue stripe wire for the stock chrysler harness, both are connected to ignition power. The white wire is the small post on the alternator closest to the power terminal on the back of the alternator.



Ground the body of the regulator, and you are good to go.



Thanks tdr folks,

jon

 

[Nordby]

More part #'s so a search on the specifc part finds them:



The two parts below are for NAPA numbers, but the boxes say Chicago Rawhide on them as well, so should cross reference to a CR number.



NAPA NP241 DLD Output Shaft Seal is 18992.

NAPA NP241 DLD Tail Housing Yoke Seal is 18891. This looks different than the one that came off - less dust seal than the one on the tailshaft housing, but seems to fit and work fine.



thanks, jon

 

[Nordby]

Update on my conversion: the Fordge it has been named.

Been a while, and have been meaning to post a completed photo for a while. This is Christmas 2006, in all that snow we've had in Colorado this year. Truck is now a daily driver.



Truck hasn't looked this clean since! I live on 1/2 mile of dirt - mud as the snow melts - so it gets pretty dirty. I drive it most days - and only a couple issues. The return line blew off, and since the truck was still running, I didn't know it! Donated about 2 gallons of expensive fuel to the road on the way to work. The only drips on the garage floor after 1200 miles are from a used DLD transfer case. Going to have to pull the rear housing and reseal it up. The Holley Blue electric pump, in place of the lift pump, leaked from day 1. And it was noisy. I punted it and put a new Carter lift pump back in. That and an overflow control valve really reduced white smoke on startup - I was loosing prime I'm sure. Was on a straight pipe, but I spent too much time and effort soundproofing it to make all that noise, so I put a Flo-Pro in it. Nice and quiet, but still powerful and didn't seem to add to turbo-lag. The truck is quieter than my 1992 Cummins dodge - not saying much, but for an old tinny Ford to be quiet at 70mph is impressive.



Gauges going in right now (showed up tonight). Still need to Line-X it, and a million details like a real stereo, better theft prevention (cut-off switches and alarms), hitches, tires, etc. etc.



Might have a driveline angle issue - lost a U-Joint in 1200 miles - it is a large Spicer built for the cummins torque. Working with a shop on this.



Just driving it and grinning! A few folks have approached me when they saw it or heard the rattling engine.



thanks, jon

 

[Diesel Dummie]

Nice truck and nice read, i just read the whole thread, i think you did a great job explaining everything you did. Looks sweet!

 

[Nordby]

Thanks previous re!



Just put the gauges in - Sorry about the blurry photo. Hard to get it all in focus/flashed right. Maybe I'll try a daylight shot. I had to angle in from the passenger side a bit, else the flash glared the speedo too bad. My point with the photo is that a couple Westach 2" gauges work nice on the column, and do not obscure the factory speedo cluster. I put a fuel gauge in on the left, and the combo boost/egt on the right. I peg the fuel gauge at idle - sigh. Might customize something to make it read half (a resister?). I had to drill/tap the 19mm banjo bolt that is the inlet to the P7100 coming from the filter. Not too bad - the 12V forum has a thread that shows this nice (search for "fuel pressure sender"). Also tapped the pyro - pre-turbo. The holder/pod for the gauges is for a 2003 Dodge Ram column. Fits the diameter nice of the column real nice, and matches the color well too. The sides are a bit rough - the old ford column is not as wide on the "skirt" of the pod. All came from genos garage, part numbers are:



WM-CG-HO-BLACK - Combo gauge 1/8NPT Pyro 1500 degree, 0-50psi boost

WM-FPKT-30-BLACK - Fuel pressure gauge 0-30psi (get a 0-100psi!)

GM-DG15014 - Gauge pod for a 2003.



Total was about $300.

 

[Nordby]

The Fordge goes to Bandimere -

Hi folks, been a while, but thought I'd share some racing photo's with you. Sunday I drove up to the Cummins Rocky Mountain Truck Fest at Bandimere, ran it in the ATS Diesel class, and drove it home (about an hour's drive 1 way).



The photo shows what should have been a Duramax's worst nightmare - getting beat up by a Ford with a Cummins using a Chrysler/Dodge drivetrain! I had him by . 4 at the 60' mark according to the timeslip - then I missed the 3rd/4th shift. He was out of the frame of the previous photos - the one with him halfway on my bed is really him going on by as I search for 4th. Once I found the gear, my front bumper stayed on his rear bumper. So I then missed 5th. Never found it, coasted through at, ahem, 61mph, 19. 1 or so. Sigh. He ran a 17. 5, had A-pillar gauges, but I've no idea what other mods (if any). He was there having fun too, and trying not to break anything as I was.



Betting the Fordge can run a 16. 8-17. 2 if I could shift it, 2wd launch. Everything is still stock in the engine with exception of a TST #4, BHAF, and Flo-Pro muffler. The getrag in my 1992 shifts way different - didn't miss those shifts at all in previous years. Guess I better quit babying it and drive it for real! It has about 2300 miles on it now, get 19-20mpg or a bit better.



I finished this phase of the project to prepare for the show though - new tires (285/75R/16 BFG), Line-X the bed, new carpet, and seats from a 1999 F350 Crew. I put it in the show too, with the hood up in the Full-Size 4x4, just a bit South of the ATS diesel booth if you were there.



Just updating a stale thread!

jon.

 

[HRDROKN]

Hey Norby..... Nice job!!! Oo.

 

[Kiohio]

Awesome Looking truck Norby... .

Thanks for building my dream truck... ... .

Still waiting on you to deliver it LOL



KO

 

[Nordby]

Thanks KO, and hrdrockn. Cracking me up: Still waiting on the delivery.....
gonna be a while pal! In the meantime, you will have to rest easy knowing at least the tires have your initials on them - you guessed it, 285/75R/16 BFG All Terrain T/A KO's.

Later guys, I owe a 3000 mile post and lessons learned info too..... I need to get a picture for the calendar contest too.

jon.

 

[Nordby]

2007? Really? Sorry to not update this. Still running. Glad I did this conversion, it has never let me down. I hit 10,000 miles in June 2010, and 11,000 in October 2010. This is my primary driver so putting the miles on slowly. I have a 15 mile commute to work on my mountain bike, so do that 2x/week 6 months a year, and recently bought a dirt bike that is street legal (dr400z) so I ride that 2x a week as well. 1x a week for the Fordge, plus some truck duty on the weekends.

Keep converting these trucks guys - it is worth the time and energy we put into them.
Jon.

 

[jgoff]

jon i thought you would be interested in the project i am just now finishing I have been working on it for almost a year, i took a different tact, my donor truck was a 03 third gen. with only 43k on it and the nv 5600 so i did a body swap,shortening the frame 10in. and moving the motor,trans. and transfer case back 3in. in the frame, tons of work ,it also took 3 trucks to find enough body parts, and i still had to cut the bed down 16in. to make a good sort bed. i am not finished with the interior or sound proofing yet but it runs out great i will try an post a couple of pics

 

[Nordby]

Nice job jgoff! That Ford crew looks super clean and straight.

Sounds like a major undertaking you are doing - moving everything back 3" had to be quite a pile of work! Sure looks like it was worth it - and real nice to have all that modern drivetrain matched to the torque of the cummins! Those are nice axles - and the rear with LSD that I miss terribly somedays with my old Ford D60. The 6spd, and nice gear ratio probably make that really driveable down the road. Good work.

Keep me posted on how it soundproofs and the details you are finishing - that 24v should be a bit quieter than my old 12v, with some soundproofing it should really quiet down pretty good.

jon

 

[jgoff]

thanks, it will be a while before i can spend any quality time on it until april, i have a very unique work schedule 7 months with lots of hours and 5 months basically off, if i accomplish anything of significance i will post