Posted by Paul(in NY) on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 5:38PM :
In Reply to: Re: Extra stuff.... posted by Keith in Washington on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 at 12:45PM :
I used Timbren Helpers on the front. Their web site is www.timbren.com. COst was 148.00 and fit like a glove with .500" of pre load. I told the engineer at timbren what I wanted to do and the deminsions I had to work with. He gave me the part number to do the job.
Regarding the diesel conversion kit; I found that the purchase of the Cummins and a NV-4500 was the small part of the job. I have 3000$ in a 1999 Cummins 4BTA Recon with 25K miles on it. The NV-4500 is a 1999 Dodge, and the T case is NP-205 (1993 Dodge) Married. I found the bigger money comes from all the small things you need to do. Example $900 for all new drive shafts and so much more that I dont keep track of. I have done everything my self, except building the drive shafts. By doing it my self, I saved thousands. If a person does not have access or the ability to weld, cut, design etc and has to have that all done, the price is going to climb right out of sight.
In my opinion putting a 4B series Cummins in a PW without proper gearing, ie Tranny with OD, modern T case, 4.89's is a waste of money. Then on top of all that, you need power steering ( a lot more weight on the front) disk brakes. Like I shared, the engine/tranny is the small part. Before anyone ever starts the conversion process, they better have $8000 of free play money dedicated to the job. If you have any left over, your lucky. There is so many things that have to be fabricated. Example, if you use a NV-4500, you can buy a clutch slave cylinder from NAPA. You can not buy the special hose with special fittings to hook up the slave. Its only available from Dodge for almost $500 (clutch slave, master and hose. I figured a way to make a fitting to go into the slave and then to an inverted flare fitting. Then you can do whatever you want. More time, money, tig welding. The money just does not stop.
If a person was to make a Cummins 4B series install kit, in my opinion the only way to go is a complete kit. Complete meaning everything, everything. Costly, yes, but many dont have access to the needed parts.
What I would suggest, and widh I had done is to make a Cummins 4B series install cookbook.
This document must be extensive, start with what to remove, what to leave, every part needed with numbers, full size plans for engine mounts, sources to have new spicer drive shafts built, a complete list of all nuts and bolts required in sizes. And pictures, detailed pictures of everything.
Such a document would take time to produce, but if it was complete, listing everything needed and step on how to do it, one could sell that document for a healthy price and it would be worth every dollar. Doing a complete, complete and proper conversion is not for everyone, you must be able to figure and design everything you need. You will quickly learn the word fabrication many times over.
I am not trying to discourage anyone from such a project, but rather make sure you have a idea of what your getting into, before you are in so deep and cant finish it.
I will work with anyone by email if you need help in such a conversion. But please dont look to me for a complete cookbook, it would be to involved.
One last tip, worth a lot of anxious moments.
If your planning on putting a Cummins 4B series into a PW or WC and your going to use Saginal Power Steering, DONT use the Dodge NV-4500 !!!! Use the GM NV-4500. By using the GM version which will require a GM flywheel housing etc etc, you will mount the starter on the right (passenger side). The Dodge version mounts the starter on the left and there is serious contention with clearnece with the Saginaw Steering box. Dont ask me how I know ha ha .
Paul
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