'82 Duramax Swap Pictures

tinman22

tinman22

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Feb 17, 2007
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damn. I took the body lift out cause I hated it. but I want to use motor to T case from the D max and also try to graft in the dash for the D max. I was thinking it might be possible to cut the fronts off the cabs and attach the firewall and dash from teh D max donor into the 79 cab. just a pipe dream for me at this point. need some funds and a donor truck . maybe some day.
 
Lonnie

Lonnie

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Oct 18, 2007
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Simon,
Any word on the trans dip sticks? I definitely do not have room for the stock one.... too bad I spent so much time painting it.


I posted 30 more pictures in the engine & body section of my site below. I'm finally running out of things to paint.
 
SmokeShow

SmokeShow

Well-known member
Nov 30, 2006
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Lonnie, I think I'm about to take the plunge and do this same conversoin except not a show truck... just a DMax in an older square body Chevy for truck pulling...

Anyways, I've got a few questions I was wondering if maybe you could help me answer...

Q1) Do you have a complete donor vehicle? If so, where do you recommend a fella look for one at? If not, what are the essential components I will need? For instance, do I really need the ignition switch or BCM or gauge cluster, etc. or can I get away with just the ECM, engine wiring harness, TCM and corresponding wiring harness? Bare bones to get the thing to run properly is what I'm looking for incase I can't find a good donor cheap enough.

Q2) What to do about the fuse box(es)? Get one from Duramax vehicle or utilize the old one?

Q3) What kind of brake system?

Q4) How to get the old power steering setup to work with the duramax?

Q5) Location of engine in frame... is it forward, back, up or down in any direction from stock GM gasser engine? If yes, which way(s) did you move it? What did you do about engine mounts?

Q6) Any frame clearancing for fit? If so, where? Any pics?

Q7) How about body lift/fire wall clearance/trans. tunnel clearance? If so, how much? How much room is there between charger and firewall and between allison and trans. tunnel?

Q8) What about transmission crossmembers? What are you doing for this?

Q9) What are you doing for transfer case and front end? How you hooking to the Allison?



Sorry for the bombardment. I'm a little excited :D but do have a LOT of questions... This will be a VERY slow process but hopefully get started soon enough with the purchase of the truck.


Thanks for any and all help. If you would rather PM me the answers rather than clutter up your "build thread" that is perfectly fine also.
 
Lonnie

Lonnie

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Oct 18, 2007
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I'll try my best...

Q1) Do you have a complete donor vehicle? If so, where do you recommend a fella look for one at? If not, what are the essential components I will need? For instance, do I really need the ignition switch or BCM or gauge cluster, etc. or can I get away with just the ECM, engine wiring harness, TCM and corresponding wiring harness? Bare bones to get the thing to run properly is what I'm looking for incase I can't find a good donor cheap enough.
Donors are preferred because miscellaneous parts are expensive & will consume a lot of trips to the junk yards. You need the ECM & TCM, & if you want to run the electronic transfercase, then the BCM as well. You can bypass the ignition switch antitheft with EFi live. Try the places selling rebuildables, they often go to auctions selling the totalled vehicles & can find you one. You do not need the gauges.

Q2) What to do about the fuse box(es)? Get one from Duramax vehicle or utilize the old one?
I recommend the entire wire harness so you are not starting from scratch. You can fuse the power wires to the computers & the stock box will serve your existing truck. i'm actually swapping everything.

Q3) What kind of brake system?
Q4) How to get the old power steering setup to work with the duramax?
Use the new PS pump & make hoses to connect to the old steering box. You also need a hydroboost setup for the old style truck.

Q5) Location of engine in frame... is it forward, back, up or down in any direction from stock GM gasser engine? If yes, which way(s) did you move it? What did you do about engine mounts?
You will have to move it in basically every direction, engine forward, trans mount back. New mounts must be built along with a new crossmember.

Q6) Any frame clearancing for fit? If so, where? Any pics?
None required, but the front crossmember under the engine will not work & you will need to modify or build a new one.

Q7) How about body lift/fire wall clearance/trans. tunnel clearance? If so, how much? How much room is there between charger and firewall and between allison and trans. tunnel?
Turbo clearance is great, trans to floor is very tight. You will need to cut the floor or use a small body lift.

Q8) What about transmission crossmembers? What are you doing for this?
Either build a new one or you will need to make a spacer to fit between the new mount & old crossmsmber. It also has to come back about 7-8"


Q9) What are you doing for transfer case and front end? How you hooking to the Allison?[/COLOR]
Stock transfercase that comes with the Duramax & Ford front axle (same as for SFA conversions)

Q1A) What to do about the OBDII port?
You need that donor wiring

Q2A) What are you gonna do about the gauges/dash cluster?
I'm using the newer gauges, but will require major work & mods to fit. This is the hard way, but I want to be different. You can use aftermarket gauges in the stock dash easily.

If you are planning a pulling truck, reserve about $6-8K for the engine/trans/wiring, $3500 for the trans rebuild kit, atleast $1-2k for the front axle, $1500 for driveshafts... it never ends. Plan on spending more on it than you would just buying a comparable '05 truck in decent shape.

It is not something that will be economical.
 
MaxFarmer

MaxFarmer

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Jan 22, 2007
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Lonnie, it looks great! I hope you dont mind, but I put in a good word and a link to your website with Kevin Wilson (Diesel World Mag) today.
 
Lonnie

Lonnie

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Oct 18, 2007
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Thanks for the compliments.

Kat,
The truck did not get its needed attention last week...... I had a run of fuel systems to complete, so I could not work on it.

I finally got caught up on my work Saturday, but it ended up being 68deg here (70 was an all time record for that day in Pittsburgh), so I had to take the bike out & play... the need for speed took over. After a few 150mph passes I felt a lot better.

Good news is that I got my new TIG welder yesterday, so I can start my exhaust now.
 
Lonnie

Lonnie

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Oct 18, 2007
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Actually it has been a very slow process as I seem to only get about 1 day a month to work on it if I'm lucky.

In November I got the front end on.

Bed is still held hostage at the body shop. Unfortunately, I need the bed to get the body aligned properly as I'm trying to juggle the trans clearance with the floor. It's very tight & will likely have to shim all the mounts front to rear to get the body on properly. Then I can get the exhaust & all the wiring pulled.

No suspension yet, as the body fit will help determine the overall height, then the spring arch can be calculated.

Sort of like having 1 foot nailed down at the moment.
 
Lonnie

Lonnie

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Oct 18, 2007
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Made some more progress today...

Got the wiper components & motor painted/installed.

Made up a template to cover the firewall openings.... will be a nice smooth cover on the pass side. Getting it water-jet cut... will be nice to get a part that I do not have to grind for a week.

Tried to get the dual climate control heater box under the dash today. Things are going OK, but for anyone considering this, please reconsider an easier alternative. The box is huge... or should say, was. Removed a few inches of un-needed stuff & cut down the corner of the evaporator. Will modify the heater core outlets next.

I had to cut down the glove box internals to get it to shut. Looks factory after a few hours of melting plastic together.

Now I'm reconfiguring all the air inlets/outlets to fit. It is a lot of work just to allow the passenger side to be a different temp. My advice, if your passenger is cold over there, tell them to wear a f-ing sweater...

I'm doing all of this to keep from modifying the firewall & hacking up the truck. So far I have not cut a single body panel or the frame.

Ordering the radiator & AC condenser this week. Hoping I can use all the '05 Ac lines & radiator hoses. I will definitely have to run electric fans, because it is very tight up front.

Mocked up the master cylinder & it is very close to the wiring connectors on the engine. Not sure if I'm going to use the '05 hybroboost or the original style unit. I may use the old style booster & the new master cylinder.

Another few thousand hours & it will be done.....
 
Lonnie

Lonnie

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Oct 18, 2007
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Radiator & AC condenser is arriving tomorrow. It's starting to resemble a truck now.

I did a lot of searching on electric fans.... Any advice on what CFM I should need. Will not likely tow anything over 6000lb & definitely not over about 30miles in distance. I hear about Taurus fans and about 4500cfm? Anyone agree/disagree?

Will try to run 2 at different temp settings to minimize the alternator load.

Still not sure how much room I will have as it is tight up there.
 
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