Suburban Conversion

[JStokes]

Motor is in!

The Cummins is sitting in the engine bay with the transmission behind it. The body had to be raised to get it in and it was a bear. In the earlier post I asked about cutting off some extra material. Well it turns out I didn't need to remove any more material on the mount, but I failed to cut off the material on the front differential. So besides countersinking the bolts I should have removed more material from that juts out on the fron differential. Plus I had to cut the bracket where the a/c was mounted because it was caught on the V support behind the radiator. This was very tedious, I didn't want to cut the block, and wanted it to look nice. The cutting came out well and looks good.



After getting the motor in and straight with the transmission behind it I started looking at the transmission mount crossmember and it looks like I need to buy a mount to get it in. The GM in too tall and the Chrysler looks taller.



Next I started measuring to see where I needed to cut my torsion bar support to mount my transfer case. Well with the added length of the adaptor plate to put the 47RE behind the 91. 5 12 valve as well as the addition of the 47RH govenor body to convert the RE to an RH, I ended up smack in the middle of the torsion bar with the T-case. Im not sure how to rectify this situation. I called Autoworld and they said I could buy a kit for about $700 to move the torsion support back 4 inches. Well that will not work either because my grease tank is in the way. I really have my self in a pickle on this one. I am considering cutting the torsion support and trying to support it by welding supports all around it on the outside of the tranfer case. It may cause some potential clearance issues and maybe won't be strong enough. Anyone with feedback on this one please?

 

[jonlane]

I need a 6. 5 in good shape, if for sale call me 319-533-7805

 

[JStokes]

Update and questions

I finally got my hybrid transfer case figured out, and I wil post pics. I have measured drivelines and will have them cut Monday. That will leave me needing to add an intercooler and get the thing wired. If there is anyone out there I need a wiring diagram for the 95 Chevy 6. 5 and I would also like the Dodge first gen intercooled diagrams as well please. Any tips like wiring the glow plugs to the gruid heater would be great. Finally I have now purchased two intercoolers and am trying to figure out my best option. I have a Duramax intercooler which sees much to tall and wide. I also have a 99 Powerstroke intercooler. It fits nice but not with my 6. 5 radiator. I've seen installs using both. Maybe I just need a custom radiator, or Ford radiator? Please chime in.

 

[surfbeetle]

Try http://thedieselpage.com/ for the wiring diagram or you may have purchase the set of shop manuals from GM.

 

[GTrent]

On the converted Suburban that I have, the stock Dodge intercooler was used, but the intake and exhaust ports on it were cut off and swapped for extra clearance. Just thinking that you could always mod the IC's if you need to, and probably get away cheaper.

 

[JStokes]

It's a work in progress

Here is the Duramax intercooler with the 6. 5 radiator. What a fit. By the way do these picture sizes annoy anyone but me? This site is a paid site but the picture sizes I can put up are ridiculous.

 

[JStokes]

Hacked radiator support

Here is the hacked radiator. You can also see that a body lift is neccesary if you are going to use a Duramax Intercooler.

 

[JStokes]

Lifted the body 1.75 inches

I took out my teflon body lift pieces I made to support my body lift under the radiator support and added on to my radiator support instead to make the IC fit.

 

[JStokes]

More problems.

After I got the intercooler and radiator suport together it became apparent that the lights now no longer fit in the grille with the intercoler in place. I have the problem resolved by modding my headlight assemblies. I cut all of the material off behind the lens on the bright side. I siliconed some stainless pieces in the hole, removed the bright bulbs and put them in the same housing as the outside lights. I did the same for the signal lights down below. I also am going to have to modify the grille to make it fit with the a/c condensor in place.

 

[JStokes]

Grid Heaters

Does anyone know how to make my Cummins grid heaters function? Will they work with my GM ecu? How do I wire it? Is there a timed relay I can wire in that will fire them for 30 seconds and then shut down? It is 8 degrees and I need my grids to fire.

 

[surfbeetle]

I would think that the best way to get them to work with the GM ECU would be to look at the wiring diagrams for both the glow plugs on the GM and the grid on the cummins and see what is powering them. You should be able to use the wire from the GM that triggers the glow plug to run a relay to the cummins heater grid.

 

[RyanB]

I was having the same problem with mine only in 90 degree weather with my HUGE injectors. I landed up getting the relays off a cummins and wiring them up with a manual switch... it works great. For the first while I just had the switch and then put on a warning buzzer from radio shack just in case I forgot to turn the switch off (lighted switch)



Works great and now I can start it no problem!

 

[JUrish]

Does anyone know how to make my Cummins grid heaters function? Will they work with my GM ecu? How do I wire it? Is there a timed relay I can wire in that will fire them for 30 seconds and then shut down? It is 8 degrees and I need my grids to fire.

Just hook up the factory dodge relays and wire a button up so you can fire em when you need em. Forget trying to automate it. In the summer you don't need grids and can just start... If it s cold you can even manually fire them a few more times to clean up smoke and rough idle.

 

[JStokes]

Thanks for the responnses, I need a new radiator.

I fired it up this morning and decided to drive it. Bad news, I heard some scraping and it was my rad fan hitting my radiator. I lost coolant everywhere. I wound it up a few times and it looks like my fan cluth has quite a lot of play. I am going to replace it as well as the radiator. I need a radiator out of a 6. 5. I am sure with all these swaps someone has a 6. 5 radiator in decent shape. I already bought a new fan clutch.

 

[JStokes]

Another tidbit

When I was running I was defueling at 2500 rpm and with my 4:10 gears and no overdrive I was doing 58 MPH. How much more speed will overdrive and lockup give me?

 

[Msilbernagel]

JStokes,



On mine, there is a lot of play (relatively) in the rubber motor mounts, enough to potentially cause the kind of problems you're talking about with the radiator. You may need more room than you think - see if you can get someone to rev it up while you watch.



A side effect of the body lift that is relevant (at least on my rig) - there is more body . vs. frame movement because of the lift parts, and therefore more relative movement between engine/fan and the radiator (frame mounted). So that is an additional factor that isn't visible when parked. It also manifests more on a hill (nose high) or when under quick acceleration. . the 'pull' of the body either because of inertia or gravity pull the radiator closer to the engine.



Between the two - you may find that you need another 1/2-1" to avoid a repeat?



On mine, post-conversion, I took out the factory clutch/fan and replaced it with a Flex-a-lite #284 (designed for a Duramax - 18k lbs). Still tight, but works pretty well. Has the advantage of mounting to the radiator, not the engine, so it's not pushing the spinning mass any closer to the radiator either! Good low speed cooling with the electric, but I've towed our 25' trailer up 15 miles of 6% grade and the needle held dead center. I'm happy.



Mines an 04. 5/NV5600 into a '93 Suburban - Ken and Dawna did the conversion (autoworld). They're great to work with... and I love their handiwork!



FYI - Mark

--

I fired it up this morning and decided to drive it. Bad news, I heard some scraping and it was my rad fan hitting my radiator. I lost coolant everywhere. I wound it up a few times and it looks like my fan cluth has quite a lot of play. I am going to replace it as well as the radiator. I need a radiator out of a 6. 5. I am sure with all these swaps someone has a 6. 5 radiator in decent shape. I already bought a new fan clutch.

 

[wicked6]

I fired it up this morning and decided to drive it. Bad news, I heard some scraping and it was my rad fan hitting my radiator. I lost coolant everywhere. I wound it up a few times and it looks like my fan cluth has quite a lot of play. I am going to replace it as well as the radiator. I need a radiator out of a 6. 5. I am sure with all these swaps someone has a 6. 5 radiator in decent shape. I already bought a new fan clutch.

What was the distance between your fan clutch and the radiator surface before they "kissed". . ?? You got me worried now!!!!!



(I have just less than an inch between the two. . !!! check out the pic. . )







Linc

 

[JStokes]

I have more room than you!

Has yours been running yet. Mine may be a screwed fan clutch. I am going to trim as much as possible off the radiator support and pull mine forward as far as possible. I am also going to trim down my transmission mount and hope to get some more clearance. Now how the h@)( do I get this fan clutch off. Mine doesn't want to come off. Oh I don't know if I mentioned it before but when I bought my autoworld mounts they sent me the ones for the fan hub like the one you have. I bought a fan hub like yours to make up the difference and added length in the process. Anyway, I'm certain if I would have gotten the right kit I would not have problems I am having now. If you haven't run yet you may want to run a fan hub off a first gen intercooled motor. If you are running, good news I will replace my fan hub, pull the radiator forward as far as possible and hope for the best.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Very interesting thread. Did I understand that correctly with the WVO that it is a metal line inside the rubber coolant lines? It that all from Plantdrive.com?



What did you do with the piston style pump? Are you sure they are from later 12 valves? I thought they were from 8. 3s or something like that and that they required some sort of bleed off return because they move too much fluid? Or at least this is what I have heard from somoene on the 4BT email list... ? Can you possibly post more/better pics of the piston pump, including model/year/part number or anything like that?



Other than that, pretty neat, keep us posted with the wiring as well!

 

[JStokes]

Thanks

The aluminum tube inside the coolant line or Hose in Hose HIH, is actually a Frybrid idea. You can check out the site at ww. Frybrid.com. With the Suburban I used my own kit and bout parts from a number of vendors as well as fabbing my own parts. My heated fuel pickup is a Hot Fox and came from Plantdrive.com. I have a hot head fuel filter from Vegpower.com, three way valves from the local hydraulic shop, 26 plate heat exchanger via Omar sales on Ebay, and a controller via VoControl.com. When it is done and it will be one of the at least for me coolest Suburbans on the road. After I get done I have a few scrapes and nicks I am going to have painted. I am also planning on repairing the torn leather drivers seat. Besides that my wife is about ready to have a fit. She is so sick of me working on this thing and is laying down the law on me working on the Suburban over the holidays. It should be running around by early next year. Oh and I forgot, I am also planning pump mods, injectors, etc... I hope to make somewhere between 300 and 400 HP so this rig will be as fast as a lot of sports cars to boot.