Dude, I guess you have no idea how HUGE and HEAVY that 6v53 Detroit is!!!!!!

 

putting another 6.5l in it would definitely be the cheap easy route that makes the most sense. a ford motor i wouldnt even attempt. but like 2muchjunk said, use the money, buy a dodge, and drive the **** out of it. you cant beat a cummins and its cheaper easier and more reliable to buy the truck it came in

 

Hey guys Im new to this forum..tltruckparts I was reading your sig I have have a reg with with a 350 tbi and getrag tranny that I was planning to sas and 12v.. I was wondering how did the 12v mount up to the tranny and if you would shoot me some pointers or any other things that would be helpful...Thanks

 

holy crap son!!! $20k?!? Glad I have a Ford

Everything in mine I spent $3200, with about $2200 after I sold back my old engine and trans, and donor truck Dana 80.

1) I got my 96 5 speed donor truck for $2200, but was listed for $2500. I think $1500-3000 should nab you a lower mileage engine.

2) Yes if you have the money and time for it

3) Craigslist is the first place I would look

4) Not really. It can make a little extra, but you'll have to change pretty much everything to make big power........ so no.

Ive seen in done, in a old Dodge (?powerwagon?) SUV. Its on youtube

But yes it is a heavy engine, but they sound awesome. I think a 4v53 is a much more feasible swap

 

The only way its worth it to do a swap, is if you love the OBS trucks.
I love my 97, thats why I'm doing my swap, LB7.

If you want power, without dumping tons of money, buy a newer truck.
I'm glad I have gotten into the mess of doing the swap, but I'll never do another...

And I won't have 20k in it till I'm done, but I'll have about 10k tied up till I'm done. Once I sell some parts I'm not using I hope to have it done for between 6 and 8k.
The amount of money you put in depends on how much you can do on your own. That means confidence in your fabricating abilities as well as wiring, if you don't have a complete harness.

My .02

 

I would hardly say its worth it to do these heavily modified swaps. It is more of I want it than anything. I am not saying that some times its not cool.

If I was going to do one it would be cool to have a D-Max in a obs.

 

It just depends on the swap IMO. For me, it was cheaper to buy the Ford off of my dad, and do the complete swap, than it would have been for me to buy a 94-98 12v Dodge that was in good running shape.

But its not for everybody, or every swap.

 

2muchjunk is right, I love my 97, so I made a choice... Its all about how attached you are to something, whether it be a truck, the body style.... Or maybe you just want to be cool

Spending money because you have a truck body and trans is not a good reason to get involved in a custom swap. My advice to you, unless you have a good reason to swap it, would be to part the sucker out.

If you just have this insatiable urge to do something completely unreasonable then go buy a wrecked donor truck and pull a newer CR cummins, better yet a dmax and really have some fun

Besides, no one get mad at me for this, with the common rail systems and the tuning software available, you can have an 6-800 hp daily driver thats clean as a whistle. Try doing that with a 12 valve, not saying it can't be done, but as soon as you start building real power, you lose drivability on a mechanical engine...

 

I'm sure glad I didn't have to spend 20k on my truck I'm not even 2k in mine and I'm almost done but I guess I did get lucky I was already strait axle and my motor and tranny were only $500

 

Yeah but how many people have the money to build up a 6-800hp daily driver? Im sure the most power most people will see is 4-600hp, which can be easily streetable in a 12v with a small set of twins. That should be plenty of power for most anybody. But now if you've been blessed with money (you're rich), feel free to swap in a CR and have an 800hp DD

For most people, the 12v will be much easier and cheaper to swap in. Also I think its alot easier and cheaper to get a 12v to 600hp vs a CR. Free tuning and timing on a 12v, cheaper injectors, no lift pump upgrade needed, and no upgraded injection pump needed. Turbo, studs, tranny mods and everything else will be about the same. from a 12v to a CR an upgraded CP3 will be $15-1800, lift pump $500, and a Smarty is about $700. So if you're shooting for about 5-600hp, you can bet on spending an extra $2700-3000.