Cummins in a Burban

[skobylenski]

Yeah, yeah, I know, member ttammeslehto, in Finland, has been converting a '90 Burban to a Cummins. I'm WAAAAY to lazy to read all 10 pages of that thread to find out what transmission he's using.



All I want to know is whether the stock Chevy 4 speed auto will bolt up to an engine out of a '92, or do I need to plan on taking the old DirtBag/clutch/"crap that goes along with it" out and transfer it to the Burban?



Thanks for any help I can get with this,

Scott



BTW, I'm looking at using probably a '91 Burban, although I might go for another year, depending on what I can find that has a solid body.

 

[BJMarshall]

If it is a 4l60, it won't be able to handle the torque. If it has a 4l80, you can build it to handle a moderate amount of torque. I would keep it between 500 and 600. I had the Cummins part #'s for the adapter, crank hub, and flywheel that the Chevy transmission bolts to. New I believe it was close to $1000 worth of stuff new. You might could find used stuff off the back of a 4b from a Frito-Lay truck since many of them came with 400's. A 4l80 will bolt right where the 400 was. The 4l80 is electronic controlled so you will need something to make it shift. There are several aftermarket companies offering controllers for them. A throttle position sensor will also be needed. If your engine doesn't have one that will work, that is easily fabbed up.

 

[skobylenski]

Uh, wow, thanks I'm gonna have to reread that a few more times before I fully know what I might be lining myself up for



Anyway, I'm using a stock (for now) '92 engine, which is 400lb-ft. , so I think I'd be pretty well off in that department. So here's another question - I came across an older burban tonight that has a 4-speed manual in it. Could I take that chassis and meld it together with the better body, but use my current Getrag and components instead of the V-8 and 4-speed that's currently in it?



I may be getting way to far in over my head at this point, but I'm just curious as to what it might take to do this. I'd probably be better off just selling my truck and buying an extended cab...

 

[BJMarshall]

"I may be getting way to far in over my head at this point, but I'm just curious as to what it might take to do this. I'd probably be better off just selling my truck and buying an extended cab... "



Money wise you probably will. I've never gotten into any swap project that didn't cost me way more than I bedgeted. On the other hand, you can build something just like you want it. It's hard to buy one that way.

Lots of things will physically interchange from early 80's to 91 Chevrolet truck stuff (Suburban Included). Even prior to the 80's all the way back to 73, but fewer and fewer things the farther back you go. So you should be able to place the clutch pedal assembly from the earlier Sub into yours. I personally would go with an automatic in a Suburban though.

Just my 2 cents



Just another thought, a 400 and a np205 combo would work well too and require no electronics to run the transmission. If you needed more gear, you could always add a gear vendor.

 

[ttammeslehto]

The transmission what I'm going to use is 47RE but I'm still busy with the engine, after the engine part is done it's time open up the transmission and do some tricks for it to hold up the extra torque what the engine will produce... . but more of that later.



Timo