Need some newbie questions answered
 

okay boys and girls, Im 90% sure that i will be an owner of a 12v cummins within the next month. auto tranny (i live in a heavy traffic area and im too lazy to use a stick, I have used one so i do no how)

Off the bat i while be cutting the cat out and muffler. As of now i plan on having my exhaust exit before the pass rear wheel. Buying some sort of cold air intake. (any recomendations)

Assuming the rest of the truck is stock and has under 150,000 Miles on it, no guages and well maintained, what is the next step for power.

I have some idea about fuel plates. Can i slide my stock plate foward at all? What is a good plate or position of a plate for a stock tranny.

If i get a better job and save some cash whats a good thing to do with an auto tranny.

What are the most needed guages? What are good guages to install? Can a man with all tools but a welder and a lift do it? whats the usuall cost?

After that what are a good few thing to do. im limited with cash so i think all mods besides tranny and possibly gauges should be under 500 or so. (per mod)

What are the max your pyro and trans temp be reading.


Thanks guys:U:

first thing you do is get the KDP or make atleast check to see if it has already been fixed. I like my AFE cold air intake but i have seen one on here called an icebox looks bad ass. I would push the plate all the way up but i really dont know if that will screw up the tranny or not. Ill let someone that knows more then i do answer that for sure

whats a kdp? i did hear that icebox mad some good stuff

KDP is the killer dowell pin, its a dowell that works its way out over time and falls in to the gears on the front of the engine.

There are a lot of cheap and easy mods you can do to a 12v, I started with Intake and exhaust than a fuel plate and adjusted it and the star wheel to how I liked it then I did the Governor Spring kit. It ran like a top compared to stock and it cost less than $500 total. At this time my trans was hurting bad so I put a Goerend trans in that could hold any future mods, depending on how much power you want to end up with a Torq converter and valve body from them are the two best things to do.

Check out this thread there's a lot of good info on bombing 12v's
what-can-I-do-get-power

Gauges are pretty easy to install, a good set with the pillar from auto meter or Isopro should run you around $300 and come with a good set of instructions.

Thanks diesel dent.. can anyone tell me were the kdp is and basically what to do with it?

The KDP is in the timing case. Pull the timing cover and look on the upper left side of the timing case and you should see the hole and/or pin. Do a search here on the site for "KDP tab" and there should be a few good write ups that tell you how to do the repair in detail. The whole job can be done in under 2 hours pretty routinely even if its your first crack at it :U:

depends on how far you tear down... i've seen guys remove the radiator,intercooler,front support and such for better/easier axcess. not saying it is necessary but fan shroud and fan are huge obstacles... and the KDP kit is deffinately worth the money. i however have yet to get this done.

I dont think i have to tools or the knowledge to go that far!3

pull the shroud and the fan and you'll be good. its a little tight but you should have plenty of room. if you dont have the big fork wrenches to pull the fan off then things can get frustrating real quick. the parts house should rent it to you for a reasonable price if you haven't got one

oh yeah and dont be like me and try to pull the fan off by turning the nut like a normal nut it is backassward so you have to turn the fan nut clockwise to loosen.:argh:(wasted at least an hour on this part. then it just came to me to try and go the other way with it.