Will a Cummins fit/work in a 89 Chevy?

[glhs]

My brother has a 89 Chevy ext. cab 1 ton srw 4x4 w/ a 454 and TH400. He was asking me if I thought it would work but I have no idea. Any help would be apprciated. Thanks.

Kurt

 

[bmoeller]

I would think it will work. Another TDR member or several, have done the same. I know of one guy who put in a John Deere 6. 8L I-6 diesel engine in a mid, late 90's Chevy Dually.

 

[TPCDrafting]

glhs, It was good to meet you at ATS. Anyhow, I write down wyoming member names as I see them so I can include them in pm's about events. There is a member named: dcamilleri who is in Worland. I remember reading his sig that he had a suburban with a cummins. I may not be right, but it's be worth a pm or a search of his posts. Good luck and if he does it, we need pics!!!

 

[1stgen4evr]

fit in 89

I am not up on the Chevy year models. If that is the boxy model before the streamlined newer ones the answer is yes. We did / have one in a four door. I have seen others. The Cummins will make a nice truck out of it. Generally speaking, the Cummins will go in anything. There is sometime a need to do a bit of careful whacking with a small hammer. I have the adapters for the 400. I would recommend the Dodge transmission however. You will not like the ratio behind the Cummins. Desperately needs an overdrive.



There are nice Dodges in the classified that are reasonable. Unless you like the Chevy especially well or just want to do the conversion, I would get a factory job. The conversion is fun and challenging. You will remember it forever.



1stgen4evr

James

 

[glhs]

My brothers truck is the newer streamlined kind. There is an adapter to mate the Cummins to a TH400? That is what he wants.

My dad put a 6 cyl Isuzu in his 79 Chevy crewcab back in 83. Tight fit, but it still works good.

Kurt

 

[1stgen4evr]

adapters

Cummins to a TH400?



Yes we have them. The items came from Cummins and are the ones we first used. There are three pieces to the set. The dealer cost is within a buck or two of 500 dollars. Will take that. Still suggest the Dodge trannys.



1stgen4evr

James

 

[DKarvwnaris]

We have been doing cummins repower in Ford, GM, medium duty truck conversions for years now.

We've done several of the ifs body style GM trucks, 88 throught 2001. The 88 to 96 models had no problems going in, we had nothing but problems with automatics in these though. The 400 trannies came apart in a few months when we tried to use them for pulling.

If you really want to use a GM automatic, try locating a used GM p-30 like a bread truck or Fed Ex truck. These have 4 bt engines in them and t400 trannies. The brackets and adpaters in these trucks will bolt right up to a 5. 9 and any GM auto. We have also used these adapters to install 5. 9's in 1997 and older GM trucks with 4 speed trannies. You have to gear them really tall in the rear ends, or put a Gear Vendors unit behind them. It makes ithe 5. 9 nearly a drop in unit. Espec ially in 2wd trucks with 6bt's ( 6bta's require some refits like moving the the transmission back a few inches.

Only thing I had issues with on the ifs trucks were the headlight assemblies had to be modified in order to fit the inner cooler between them. I did not like this as I try to make everything a bolt in setup in the event of an accident like hitting a deer. Insurance adjusters are hard enough to deal with on a regular equipped vehicle. Try telling them to modify all parts before they are replaced, they'll just total the truck out then.

We stick to NV-4500 and NV-5600 transmissions now. This not only is a proven set up, but you can get off the shelf parts if something breaks.



If it is 4wd, Dodge 241 transfer cases will drop right in with minor adjustment to the 4wd shifter length. You'll need the Gm style sensor for the 4wd engagement. You can also use the GM nv-4500 trannies if you change out the input shaft. Some NV-4500's will be different that others in GM trucks. I believe it was something with the hydraulic clutch and slave cylinder set up. There are different assemblies in certain years. Those are a problem.



Good luck.

If you have questions, please post them here, don't email me directly, I hardly check the account that I listed for this forum, it hardly has any storage either.

 

[EXSTROKER]

5.9 in a 84-88 chev sub

I have a friend who baught a re-man 5. 9 12v I want to have some one put it in a sub 4x4 who will do it and about how much

 

[RyanB]

DKarvwnaris-



Thanks for all the great information. I to am planning the swap into a 1989 GMC 2wd reg-cab Dually.

Right now I have the whole truck stripped and am doing to total frame off and full restoration on it. At the same time I have decided to do it right and get rid of all of the electrical crap and problems I was having with my 350TBI. I have decided to go with 1997 12 valve and mate it up to a NV4500 or NV5600 transmission. I am still unsure of which trany to go with and for the extra $$$ and the extra strength I believe that its better to spend a little more now than alot more later especially when I have the good old 12valve bombed!!!



I am also converting the truck to 4wd and will be using a Dodge coil sprung D60 which I believe will fit up to my my coil pockets that are on my 2wd frame.



As far as the cummins swap goes. The only thing I am really stuck on is the rad support and which intercooler and rad to use. I just bought a huge 3 core last spring that is mint that I am going to use and I also have a Chevy D-Max intercooler that my rad will fit right in but I will need to modify the core suport quite a bit.



When doing the swaps in the past did you use the mechanical fan or did you have to go with electric fans?



Are there any other things you can think of right now that might cause me problems???





Sorry for the long post but all the help I can get would be great.



Thanks..... Ryan

 

[JBertges]

cummins in a chevy

DKarvwnaris

do you make motors mounts for this swap i have a 1989 1 ton Chevy extended cab dually and a 1989 cummins i want to remove the 350/t400 and install the cummins with my nv4500 the cummins is none intercooled for now i just want to install this engine and go i have no time to fab any parts all the time is used in the race car i need quick bolt in parts and the mounts are what i need thanks for any info

 

[DKarvwnaris]

Due to the emails I have been getting over this post, I can't answer them all. I will try to get as much as I can posted here for everyone to be able to benefit from. Personal emails are too hard for me to keep up with so please don't get mad if I don't reply back personally.

If you need any info on Conversions, feel free to contact the shop I used to work at doing the conversions. Owners name is Kenny Kraus. Shop name is Autoworld Hi/lo truck sho. 406 727 8915. Kenny is a dealer for banks, gear vendors, etc. He is still doing conversions for customers weekly, I can't wrench anymore due to allergic reaction to synthetic fluids.

He has several sets of engine mount templates, so just let him know what you need. He is a good guy, straight shooter. A word of advice, if he says something won't hold up you are considering using, take his word for it. I've seen too many try to prove him wrong and just waste money doing it.

As for radiators, stick with the Aluminum and Plastic tanked units. I have yet to find a brass or copper radiator hold up more than a few months with cummins set ups. Dodge rad's will bolt up fairly easy with little modification to the GM core supports other than cutting off the stock lower lip edge.

I use Dodge inner coolers so I couldn't tell you how the DURACRAP coolers will fit. I use as little of anything GM diesel out of sheer principle. GM does not deserve to even put the decal diesel on anything they have produced in my recollected history. I am ashamed to think a domestic manufacturer can go over 20 years trying to produce a diesel and still fall on their face.

 

[britannic]

DKarvwnaris: I called up Kenny Kraus at Autoworld on your recommendation and have to say, he is really knowledgeable and helpful. He's going to build me the motor mount perches for my frame. Explained that the t-case is going to be about 3. 5" further back than it is currently, so the main driveshaft will need shortening and the front one will gain a few inches.

 

[DKarvwnaris]

I am not one to give out bad recommendations. I have always been treated right by Kenny. He has been putting cummins in since before Dodge was doing it. He has a 73 chevy crew cab with 90 front clip. It is pushing well over 400,000 miles since he first repowered it. It has held up better than most stock trucks so I can tell you he doesn't cut corners and knows the best way to get you going. He is a great guy to know, nearly all his customers are referrals from current ones.

I really miss wrenching with him, but after ending up in the ER twice from allergic reaction to ATF and Synthetics, I just can't take the chance anymore. He does all the work I can't do anymore on my rigs. He is one of two shops in this town I will hand my keys to. I'll try to put alot of my tips on the forum as time goes on as you get further along. ( also pics when I get time to start uploading some).

Keep his # handy for when you get into the project, he'll have alot of tips to make it go smoother. I figured you'd be happy to know him.