CTD + Crew Cab - who's doin' 'em?

[Shadrach]

OK That settles it. Two bodies into one it is. Call me crazy ( it's been done before ) Just think of it as saving a crew cab from the scrap heap . It will cost about the same having my bodyman friend weld the two together as it would to buy the other crew body from him. And things will the fit better. The cowl crack will get fixed as well of course.



The two will be joined at the factory floor seam and in the windshield posts. I will use the 92 cowl from one of our parts trucks and the dash, that way I can register it as a 92 Dodge/Cummins, as thats what that truck was. It was a std so it already has the clutch pedals. Add the interior, front clip, box, diff, etc... from my 92 parts truck and the rear doors I have, along with the spare crew cab long box 2WD frame and you have a "new" 92 crew cab. Oh yea... add lots of cash as well. :-laf The only part that will be left from my white 92 is the club cab shell, with dash, and the bare frame. I will even use the front suspension and rear springs. Both 92 club cabs have grey interior so I can join the headliners and carpets for the longer body. The truck will be white with grey on the side just like the factory would have done it.



I have a few things to fix on my 84 crew and then it goes up for sale. Between my friend and I we have 10 Dodge trucks at his acreage, ( my "new" crew will make 11 ) My 97 is the only non 1st gen. Two are Ramchargers. When done we will be rid of 4 of them. Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

I think mine will weigh about 7000#. It is a 2WD, but will have a divorced NP205 ( because I want low for spotting my trailer and I had one lying around ) and an aux rear fuel tank from a Ramcharger. The engine is a 97 and trans is a G56 with a Dana 70. Shadrach

 

[Flexiheep]

[

The two will be joined at the factory floor seam and in the windshield posts. I will use the 92 cowl from one of our parts trucks and the dash, that way I can register it as a 92 Dodge/Cummins, as thats what that truck was. ]



Not to argue but my 93 had the vin on the dash, it swapped over to the 85 body with the dash. If someone really wanted to push it and new what they were doing they could prove either truck was "wrong". I am not aware of any other vin on the body structure that could argue with the dash vin. The difference is my firewall body code tags match an 85 crew and yours will say it is a 92 clubcab. Either way just have a receipt for what you paid for the cab so you can prove it was a legit purchase in the . 0000001% chance anyone would ever care... .



Might want to think about the frame you use, that should have the vin stamped in it and it should match the body in a perfect world.



Ok, I just remembered that I lost the sticker in the rear door jam as the weights, tire pressures, etc were no longer correct. Oops. :-laf



I only think of these things because in WA state where I grew up they checked vins on out of state cars very carefully. They found a Honda we bought in Oregon was actually a reworked chop job because the engine code matched a 90 not a 91 civic. In the case of a body and frame that don't match you better be able to explain it (pictures are good along with reciepts) and in the end you will get a WA state assigned VIN number with the whole story attached to it in the state record system.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Shadrach - Do you have a plan worked out for the headliners? I am in the process of planning mine so any thoughts would be great!



As for weight, I am guessing 9000 LBS ish.



Robert

 

[Flexiheep]

I believe the ramchargers have a 2 piece headliner with a trim piece to cover the seam.



I talked with my local highly recomended upholsty shop and the built a nice one piece headliner for me for 400 bucks that looks just like the stock one.

 

[Shadrach]

No offense taken. By using the 92 dash I get the newer style, without the speaker hole, and as a "bonus" I can register it as a 92, and the dash is the right color ( grey ). For all intensive purposes the only real difference from what you ( Flexiheep ) did, is that I am not cutting and stretching my frame. There will be no door sticker ( even my 84 crew had it sandblasted off ), but I will have the matching cowl option tag. I don't expect any problems getting plates as they will never see the truck anyway, since it is not an "out-of-province" or imported vehicle. ( I just take my bill of sale and my proof of insurance and get them. We don't go by horse power or wheel base - everyone pays the same for private vehicles. ) I also could get a gov issued VIN if necessary. They are not as picky here as in some States. I converted my 84 crew to propane and all I had to do was tell them when I got it registered to change it. I could easily have asked them to change it to diesel without any hassles. I could actually use the VIN from my white 92 D250 club cab or the VIN from the one I am using the cowl panel from, as long as I have a bill of sale for that vehicle. It is a 92 D350. The dash from the white 92 D250 need some repairs from all the gauges and things mounted to it over the years.



When I go to get insurance I will have to have a safety inspection anyway, simply because the vehicle is more than 10 years old. Cutting and stretching the frame would have caused me more hassle. I would have had to have it done by a certified shop. On my buddies 93 W350 service truck he wanted a 10' service box so we took 2 frames and cut one just before the axle kick up and the other at the back of the cab so their would be only one weld. It was then fish plated. Since it is a commercial vehicle the gov is pickier.



Are you all confused yet? Shadrach

 

[Shadrach]

Shadrach - Do you have a plan worked out for the headliners?

Robert

Not yet. But I will keep both pairs of headliners and carpets and attach them somehow. I have a long ways to go to get to there. All I know is I want the truck to be quiet inside and look decent as well. I will be using some kind of sound deadner on all the inside panels.



"As for weight, I am guessing 9000 LBS ish. " Yeh like thats a problem with a Cummins. :-laf



Shadrach

 

[Flexiheep]

Not yet. But I will keep both pairs of headliners and carpets and attach them somehow. I have a long ways to go to get to there. All I know is I want the truck to be quiet inside and look decent as well. I will be using some kind of sound deadner on all the inside panels.



Shadrach

When I get back to the states (out in the bush in the land down under, not sure what I am under, but may not want to know either) and get some time I will dig through my pictures to find some of how I insulated my cab as well as I could. I started by applying a coating called Quiet Car (painted on) to all the inside surfaces to help absorbe sound, then I used contact cement to glue a layer of 1/2" jute mat with foil on both sides to any surface I could (ceiling, inside doors, back wall, floor, and firewall). I wanted to not only do something about the noise, but heat as well being in the southwest. I am pretty happy, it is quieter than it was when it was a clubcab, and it wasn't that hard to do. The shop that built the headliner was impressed, they said the jute on the ceiling would make a huge diffrence in heat and sound especially with the headliner installed. My biggest problem now is wind noise from poor front door fit and the square shape. #@$%!

 

[RSchwarzli]

Yes, the Ramcharger headliner and carpet is a 2 piecer. Picked up a complete Ramcharger headliner and two Reg Cab Ram headliners a week ago. This is what I found:



Ramcharger - No good. The rear is too narrow thanks to the windows going up to the roof line and the front is a different shape due to the double walled roof panel.



Rams - I think this is the way I will go. The 2 reg cab liners seem to match the humps fairly well. I did pick up the strip from the Ramcharger and may be able to somewhat make that work. A little narrow (like the headliner) but I think it will work. May just end up with a custom one too in the end! Will have to see how it goes!



As for the carpet, I ordered an extra long piece from Legendary Interiors. Now it should be no issue!



I also insulated the truck. Used 100 sq ft of Dynamat plus a 1/2" thick ruber mat and ainsulater layer that was ordered with the carpet. Oo.



Robert

 

[Shadrach]

Long Wheelbase Questions

For those of you who have stretched their frame, or transfered everything over to a longer wheelbase, what did you do for fuel lines, parking brake cables, and wiring ? I have some ideas already but want to see what others have done. Shadrach

 

[RSchwarzli]

Fuel lines custom made, brake cables and lines, custom made, wiring, snip snip, sodder sodder... .



Does that help?

 

[Shadrach]

Fuel lines custom made, brake cables and lines, custom made, wiring, snip snip, sodder sodder... .



Does that help?

I sure learn a lot on this site



But seriously folks. What did you use for the fuel lines? Wire braid? Plastic? How is it attached to the fuel tank?



Shadrach

 

[Flexiheep]

When I went from the club cab to the crew cab I must have lucked out...



I pulled out the ABS valve and the brake line was just thr right length when I straightened it.



My wires for taillights still reached



Fuel lines are custom due to dual tanks and selector valve I used. I bought hard line from the hydraulic shop and then used short pieces of rubber to go from the hardline to the fittings on tanks, valve and engine.



E brake I used threaded rod and coupling nuts to build an extension to go between the clubcab cable and the metal wing that goes to the two rear cables.

 

[RSchwarzli]

Seriously, that is what I did!



Made all new brake lines for the entire truck. Wiring I extended a few inches, and fuel lines, well, they were all cutom due to my dual tanks. I ran fuel line from the FAST pump to the lift pump so the lines are all new rubber hose.



Hope this helps more than the last post!



Robert

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks Guys. Sound like we are all on the same track. Scary

Shadrach

 

[ESlaughter]

Hello all, I thought it fitting my first post should be where I plan to spend most of my time. I just picked this baby up off GSA with the plan to do a CTD conversion but with a big twist

#ad

 

[Shadrach]

Welcome to the long wheelbase club. Hope you have lots of cash and time :-laf That's 79 isn't it? 360-4V and a 727 or is it a NP435? So dare I ask what's the "big twist" ? Shadrach

 

[RSchwarzli]

Welcome to the funny farm!



Nice looking truck!



What this suprise?

 

[ESlaughter]

Thanks for the welcome! As most folks these days, I have more time than $$. Shadrach, you description is spot on, although I'm not sure if the NP435 is an A or L yet... all I've done is get her home. It's an old Dept of Commerce vehicle and the 360 has just under 36K original miles on it.



Hopefully the Dodge purist here won’t curse me but the plan is to only use the rolling chassis... the cab and bed will be replaced with an IH Travelette. I picked up the IH almost a year ago with plans to replace its current 392 with a CTD. Well, as plans always do, it has gone from engine swap to a complete chassis swap.

 

[Shadrach]

... Hopefully the Dodge purist here won’t curse me but the plan is to only use the rolling chassis... the cab and bed will be replaced with an IH Travelette. ... .

I like my old Dodges but the main thing is it will have a CUMMINS in it. Be flexible in your plans. Be patient. Be realaistic and allow more $$$$ than planned.

Shadrach