That's not a bad idea. We don't necessarily have a shop, but we have a huge a$$ pole barn with a lift and space to do all sorts of crazy crap in. It helps when our neighbor is a mechanic
In your valve spring kit, did it come with 6 springs or 12?

 

awesome build! cant wait to see more pictures!! welcome to diesel bombers and i like the exhaust idea. the only trucks ive ever seen that have this are some of the big UPS trucks. its unique

 

I think the original idea came from when I was considering putting a 4bt in our jeep instead. I didn't want a stack and I didn't want a straight out the back tailpipe, so I was gonna cut a hole in the side behind the tire. Then the idea just kinda continued when I got this truck. Glad you like it, I'm about to start puttin the motor back together tonight, hopefully going to get a good chunk done.

Coors man, can you throw some links to the custom leveling kit your friend makes? Pictures would be mighty helpful!

 

We've gotten a fair amount done on the motor the past two days. We've painted pretty much the whole block, and are about to put the head and fuel pump back on.
We are painting the motor with 500 degree heat paint, and I'm wondering if we should paint the exhaust manifold. I tried to find some info on general manifold temperatures, but didn't have a whole lot of luck. So should I paint the exhaust manifold/head or leave it alone?

 

Lots done in the past few days.




Installing that 2 inch leveling kit has GOT to be the most time I've ever spent cursing and hitting things.


Kit installed, still a V8 though.


Started unhooking the V8 for removal.



Now on to the dash. Obviously I'm going to need a new instrument cluster, and I'm assuming one for a 95 12 valve is the only one that works. I found a 96 12 valve cluster, but before I buy it, can I just straight swap it for the old V8 one or do I need to buy more to get it wired properly?

 

The V8 is gone, the tranny is gone, and the Cummins is almost completely rebuilt. I picked up a 96 instrument cluster, so now I just gotta figure out how to wire it up properly. Anyone know of any good places to find this info?
The motor should be in by the end of this week
Then it's a wait for the tranny to be rebuilt by our neighbor

 

No photos for update, but I have done quite a bit this week. The motor is almost entirely back together. Only parts left to get for this thing to be done is a power steering pump (on its way), fan pulley, and throttle cables for the TPS bracket (the guy that I bought parts from today didn't have the cables on him, I'm supposed to meet him this week though). I found a guy on craigslist with a TON of Cummins parts, so I went out there today and bought a flywheel, fuel lines, two valve cover bolts, an AC line for my buddy, one turbo boot, and this is the find of all finds: He had a 12 Valve Dually... The catch? It was a 98 Updated interior! Bought the ENTIRE dash setup, the metal frame, top, bezel, instrument cluster, switches, radio and all, for $300!!! Made. My. Day. On top of that, there is only one teency-weency crack all the way at the front of the dash, and you can't hardly see it. I will be getting a dash cover for it though
And then last but not least I have to get the transmission back from our transmission guy. I have also decided that I'm going to go ahead and drop in a set of 370 marine injectors and pay off the guy month by month little by little.
Upgrades to date:

Motor-
4K governor springs
AFC spring kit
60# valve springs
#5 Fuel plate
370 Marine Injectors

Truck-
2.5 inch leveling kit
35 inch super swampers with black laquer coated rims
5 inch turbo back Diamond Eye exhaust
COMPLETE dash from a 98 12 valve with some kind of funky aftermarket radio.... that thing is getting replaced

SOOOO, all in all.... This baby should SCREAM!!!!

 

All in a days work. Nothing, that is. We got the heater and evap core replaced, but after about an hour and a half of fooling with those darned AC lines, we gave up and moved on to replacing a couple things on the new dash. It looks like everything is going to hook up quite nicely. I used the glass and the shift indicator from the V8 one to replace the cracked glass and no-shift indicator (that cluster was from a manual). I also stole both power-plugs/cigarette lighters off of my old dash and got one almost installed (it's somewhat broken so we just plugged it in to keep the wire from falling back inside the dash).
Tomorrow the dash goes in, and maybe even the motor if we have the extra time. Then I think I'll spend all of Wednesday hooking up what I can on the motor.

Question for everyone- How in the world do those AC lines (the little donut gasket thing) hook back up?? I've looked everywhere on the internet and everyone tells you how to disconnect them, but not put them back on. We seriously spent close to two hours trying to reconnect the silly things, but we can't get the spring inside of the donut to go past the flange on the other hose. I would really appreciate some help with this, it's madness!

 

Sweet cpnversion man!!! I love those lifted 2nd gen 3/4 tons!!! I think it would be an even sweeter truck if you added some pipe bumpers.


Thats how it goes for trucks. Something stupid ALWAYS holds you back. My brothers 95 Dodge 12 valve just had its tranny fluid lines by me and him, and the connector that went into the side of the tranny would not come off because it had this wierd metal retainer something something ring that would not budge or come out with anything after an hour of prying at it! Then finally, it occurred to me to try to push it in with the end of the leather punch on my pocket knife. As soon as i did that...........POP!!!!!! It falls off immediatly!! Does yours have a retainer ring, push ring, crimp ring etc.?? What kind of ring is in it? Do you have the wrong sized spring?? Need more info here........

 

Thanks, I think it's going to turn out to be a fantastic truck! All of the connectors have the proper springs in them, we just can't figure out how they pop back on. I took some photos to help.