first cummins project
 

Hey guys new to this forum and figured this would be a good place to get help with my build.... Im taking a 96' cummins out of a bus and putting it in my 2000 chevy k3500 with a VN4500. right now the truck has a 7.4 vortec in it with an automatic trans in it, and I plan on keeping the pcm in it to make all the factory guages work properly. But the point of this post is I have a few questions.

Where and how is the the tach out put hooked up for RPM reading.

Anyone running a 4:10 gear behind there nv4500 hopping it doesnt make first gear useless unless your pulling a house down and what kind of rpm are you seeing running in the 60-65 mph range.

Also I will be either setting the engine up or doing it all at once but I'm looking to make as much power as I can while the truck still gets the best fuel economy and can still pull a trailer with out running my egt's through the roof with a heavy load.

Any help with these questions or any more in the future are greatly appreciated!

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anyone....?

Try searching/posting in the diesel engine conversions forum if you haven't already. Sounds like a good project, keep us updated. :c:

Run the numbers on your motor to see what pump it has and HP/torque rating. Comming out of a bus you may have a different pump and maybe injectors and delivery valves. This will give you a baseline.

Was the bus an auto? or manual? this will also make a difference.

the tag on the motor says it was a manual trans. 215hp at 2600 rpm and 440 torque i believe it is at what ever rated rpm and is a P7100 pump

That's a good thing, you are starting out with the best base line (Big Pump).

thats actually why i bought it. i know a pretty good deal about diesels in general (mostly about Duramax) but i want simplicity and the reliability with my swap when i throw some power to it even if a computer controlled engine is way more "tuneable" for drive ability.

I did the "Power Stroke" thing before the Cummins. Those monsters will make some crazy power but you better have deep pockets.

You will find the old 12v much more fun to play with. The fun to $$$ ratio is much better.