Hello all! I bought a cummins finally!! The issue is now all I want to do is get down the road. I have to rebuild the auto tranny.

My question is;
Do I have to go with a aftermarket torque converter or can I just rebuild my stock TC?

I am working and putting myself through school, so I don't have a lot of extra $$$$.
I do plan on adding an intake elbow, getting a fuel pin, and increasing the timing just enough to get more mpg. I'm not looking for more power. I don't pull very much, but I do have a utility bed on the truck.
Thank you for your input!

 

Starting with the Engine ..... start with studs or you will lift the head ..... just do it and be safe before you blow the HG ..... I did this and no one told me how easy it was to lift head with head bolts .....

get a good Low stall converter ( got mine from Car Quest .... Low stall HD converter )... no you cant rebuild your converter .... unless you know what and where.....
get a hold of goerend for parts and dont cheep out ..... you will be sorry if you do ......

 

thank you for the reply!
Should I do 60 PSI springs too? I don't plan on doing anything crazy, just the things I talked about.

 

If you keep your timing under 16.5, you shouldn't need studs unless you plan on running a lot of boost. Save your money on an intake elbow, you can get more bang for your buck elsewhere. You don't need to worry about 60# valve springs unless you plan on getting a 4k gsk or running an exhaust brake. If it were me, for your goals, I would do some of the trans work, if you need to rebuild which you say you do, take care of that and a decent valve body and torque converter. Go with a #10 or so plate with boost elbow, a BHAF and a 4" exhaust and a 3k gsk. That should get you where you want to be.

 

Thank you for the reply!
The truck already has a 4" pipe! I'm thinking about getting a TC fro Diamond T. If I go with a low stall TC, will do I have a possibility of breaking my main shaft input or something else?
Sorry about the dumb questions, I'm used to gassers and imports.

 

No dumb questions, don't worry about it. I don't think you'll have an issue with those parts at the power level you're looking for.

 

Whatever you do get a billet T/C, even if you just go with a single disc. The stock T/C has issues holding up to stock power levels.

 

The only dumb question around here is "how do I get more smoke?"

Is the KDP taken care of? If you don't know it has, that should be step one.

Step two is gauges. At the very least, trans temp and EGT. Then start playing.

A good billet single disc TC will hold everything the stock turbo can put out... if you have enough line pressure to keep it clamped. You'll have to either rebuild or upgrade the valve body to accomplish this. I'm lazy, I just bought a performance VB, but most folks 'round here did it themselves. The rest of the trans won't hold up to a fully tuned 12V, but if you drive with your head (or leave the 12V somewhat de-tuned, which sounds like what you're planning) you should be fine. That you don't pull much will help huge, although the utility body is probably heavy. I highly recommend a low stall TC, spinning (slipping) 2K all over town just to get out of your own way sucks.

Similarly, if you're going to do a GSK just get the 4K. It will only spin that high if you tune it to, and if you don't tune it to, you won't need valve springs. At 16.5° mine will only spin to 3K with the 4K kit, but still fuels harder across the band. Not to mention, my injectors are old and probably tired, so the total timing result is probably even more advanced than the pump is set at thanks to the pop-off pressure of my old squirters.

A BHAF is a good cheap investment as well, there's a topic floating around here somewhere with part numbers from various part stores. I picked up 2psi of boost with no other changes just dumping the factory air box/panel filter and putting a BHAF on.

 

Cool, thank you Dave!

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Sounds good, thank you for the reply and info!

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Thank you for the reply! Hahaha yeah, no need for more smoke!
I need to take it apart to look for the KDP. I figured I should do the water pump and oil pump since I already have the front of it apart?
I also need to replace the oil pan bc it looks like someone lifted the truck from the bottom of the engine. I'm thinking about just clocking the pump, just to get the economy. Will the GSK give up more MPG?

I'm thinking about a BHAF, do I want that more boost running through my stock heads bolts?

 

The head studs should be fine to well over 30psi. Don't quote me, but I believe they're good to about 40psi. Either way, just changing the filter isn't going to make a big enough difference to put anything in jeopardy that isn't already.

That would definitely be a convenient time to do those pumps, yes. The GSK will only cost you as much mpg as your self control allows. Actually, bumping the timing without the GSK could cost you some. Probably won't, but it did for me. I bumped the timing and lost 2mpg off my highest averages. My towing mileage went up, but that's how it works- the advanced timing is meant to help at higher rpm, when the engine is working harder. Once I put the GSK in, I not only got my mileage back, but I picked up another 2mpg over my old averages. These pump mods sometimes work better together than separately. Ultimately though, once you start waking that pump up and feeling the difference, feeling the difference gets addicting. It will be capable of better mileage with these pump mods, whether or not you're capable of better mileage is a whole other story.