Duramax in a Half Shell

[TheBac]

:roflmao: I guess you could say Im a happy camper now. Definitely money ahead, Levi. :thumb:

Truck I bought from Mike was a decent, well maintained one. Was given all maintenance records of the truck, which is invaluable to me.
Has 229,308 miles, engine runs very smooth, and its quiet for an LB7 (or Im just used to mine which growls all the time). Injectors replaced @ 154,000 but balance rates are all still less than 2.

Trans cooler was sprung (no surprise), so bypassed it with a hose and added 2 qt fluid....trans shifts good. Tcase works. Plus, I got a set of rear airbags out of the deal.

Ive got just about everything I need to do the swap now. :woott:

 

[ChevyDieselLLY]

Get to work now Tom, lets see the brick go down the track :woott:

 

[Schwinn68]

Good to hear Tom. I hope you get it together for this season. I think I would make the trip to see it run down the track. We spend a lot of time in Michigan camping all summer anyways.

 

[TheBac]

Well, we'll see how fast this goes from here. I have to have the garage to do engine swaps, and as seen from my rebuild thread a couple years ago, thats not really a fun thing to do in the winter. :rofl: Think Spring.

Searched the VIN...truck has a G80 in the rear axle, and 145amp alternator.

 

[Chevy1925]

Awesome tom!! Cant wait to see swap pics!

 

[whitetrash21]

X2....good to see it happening now....

 

[lotsofmiles]

Good to hear Tom. I hope you get it together for this season. I think I would make the trip to see it run down the track.

x2.

 

[TheBac]

Well, found out tonight that 3 out of 4 bolt holes line up between LS and Dmax motor mounts. Only one that doesnt is that offset one on the Dmax mount. It'd be nice if all I have to do is weld a tab onto the LS mounts in order to mate them to the Dmax.
The angle between the perch and the engine faces seem to match up too.

This was just another thing to "check off" before April.

 

[JoshH]

Well, found out tonight that 3 out of 4 bolt holes line up between LS and Dmax motor mounts. Only one that doesnt is that offset one on the Dmax mount. It'd be nice if all I have to do is weld a tab onto the LS mounts in order to mate them to the Dmax.
The angle between the perch and the engine faces seem to match up too.

This was just another thing to "check off" before April.

I guess the next question is, is the width of the block between motor mounts the same?

 

[RPM Motorsports]

Make a plate to bolt to each side of the block, drill and tap for SBC or LS solid motor mounts

 

[TheBac]

Josh...we'll find out come spring. Physically, the rubber in the LS mount is smaller than the Dmax one, but it is completely "captured" by a metal strap. The mounting faces are the same width apart, though. Should drop right down on the pads. Im hoping they work out. I still dont understand why there are no urethane mounts available for LS motors, should be simple to make one.

Russ....yep, could do that too. There's all sorts of adapters out there for LS-to-whatever mounts. Two pieces of 1/4" plate are pretty cheap.

 

[mudbuster]

can't wait to see this done and like I told you today I've got a couple welders we can make anything work

 

[TheBac]

Lets get this party started, shall we? :rofl:

Worked on the motor mount adapters, they just need paint. Very, very simple. I dont remember if there is anything sticking out of the Dmax block that will hinder where the plates bolt to, so will just have to wait and see if they do work. If not, I'll just adjust the plates to work. No big deal.

I/C and radiator placement will be interesting, to say the least. It may be more modding than I want to or can do. Will have to use the top bar and side supports from the HD truck due to the I/C mounting, but all that will be moot if I cannot fit it in the first place. It does fit between the headlight supports. Have to use a holesaw and make a couple new bottom mount holes in the lower plate just to get the I/C to sit correctly, then go from there. In the pic, the I/C is sitting on the frame next to the core support, and is still 1-1/2" or so taller.
2" progressive lift will obviously be easier. Darn it, Im not giving up yet. :rofl:
Took a while to get the I/C out of the donor due to the front end damage, so it was getting dark. I'll get more done on fitment this week.

 

[RickDLance]

If the IC is too much trouble you should be able to get by with a smaller one down behind the bumper. Similar to the way the v-2 was placed on the over heaters,

 

[TheBac]

Good idea. :thumb: As a fallback, Ive got a 2nd Gen Dodge I/C sitting in the garage. Its shorter than the Dmax I/C, but a lot wider. I plan on trying that in the core support this week, too.

 

[buildingup]

I really need to get over to the Lansing area sometime soon to check this out. Tom, its good to see this coming along! I'm sure your having a blast working on it with your son.

 

[TheBac]

Well I'll be darned, the Dodge I/C is the same width as the Dmax one. It fits within the core support, too. The V8 radiator should fit between the outlets, too. Radiator will have to be spaced out about 1-1/2" to clear the I/C, but it should end up in the same location as the Dmax rad would be. :thumb:

 

[Big Block 88]

Sweet project Tom, it's gonna one bad little dude. I would think if could find a d-max in a wrecked van it would be cheaper due to the lower power ratings they have. May not be a bad option also if they are new enough maybe a 6l90 could be had with it. A guy at work is outtin alot of power through one in a turbo 6.2 denali, so thye can be built decent. Mike would know for sure if they can live behind a high horse diesel

 

[TheBac]

It looks like one of my evil ideas is going to work. Not gonna say which idea until everything is bolted together.

Still working on the stack.

 

[chambersj]

How are you going to do the dash wiring? Easiest thing to do is to take it out of the donor and put it in the 1500. And while your that far into it do the hydra boost swap. Just throwing in my .02 cents lol