93allblack

I'm in a bit of a bind with my trucks and i'm not really happy with them right now so I'm turning to the experts for advice. I've got 2 trucks - a 76 m880 4x4 military truck and a 93 d350 2wd cummins.

The 93 d350 was pretty sweet. No rust and 175k and everything worked. I had had it for about a month when it rolled down a hill and hit a tree. I replaced the front end body parts with non OEM stuff right away and now the fenders don't match the doors since there are no trim pieces on them and the cheap bumper already started to rust and the plastic grill is broken too. it's been a couple years And now the drivers door is stuck shut. no matter what i do i can not get the thing to open. i'm about to cut it off and buy a new door. Oh, and I think the front end needs to be rebuilt. AND getting stuck in the wet grass or slightly damp ground or 1/4 inch of snow every time i use it is getting really old.

The 76 i bought for $600, replaced the rear end, and used it for 2 years before the 318 breathed its last breath. been sitting for about 3yrs now

So i would really like to have a 4wd manual trans, cummins truck. something that i could beat on every once in a while but not a daily driver. So i'm thinking i have a few options here. I saw the there is a 90 that TDimark is parting out in the classifieds. I could get that truck, use the motor to re-power the 76 and use the body parts to hopefully solve the problems in the 93. I'd still have to rebuild the 93's front end though. the advantages to this is I end up with a 'classic' 4wd truck that I can toy around with, and still have the 350 dually for the heavy hauling which I occasionally do. Anyone done a 6bt into a truck that old? what's involved? how difficult would it be? is this still going to end up costing a fortune?
OR
I could try to convert the 350 to 4wd from a parts truck. i am having a really hard time finding that parts truck though. I can deal with the body issues and just fix the little stuff. Something about this route seems it is going to nickel and dime me to death.
OR
Give up and sell both trucks and take the loss. spend an extra $5-7k for preferably 1st gen 4wd dually 5speed that is still in good shape.

I'm not afraid to do the work, but i've got two little kids that can seriously dampen the amount of time i've got. But i don't really want to spend the extra $ for a new-to-me-truck either as all of this falls under the 'want' rather than 'need' category. So what would you do?

Thanks for the advice guys,

Lucas1

ill be honest i didnt read all that mumble jumble

what i see is you want a toy and have a cummins.


well if i had the drivetrain a dodge first gen is the near last thing id put it in.
mine was already installed si i kept with it

and when i sell it i will pull the motor/trans and replace it with good runners and put the built motor into something more toyish

either old mack or diamond T truck
2.5 ton 30's/40's truck slammed dually rat rod
or a brand new ford crewcab


TO EACH THERE OWN................giver!!

texsasdiesel

the 76 wouldn't be difficult to do w/ a non-i/c motor, pretty much a bolt up affair other than maybe the trans mounts and engine crossmember. you'll have to determine what trans you want to run, i'm guessing the 880 has the divorced 205? i can't remember on those, but if so you can run a 2wd trans in the 76 and then use that dually in the classifieds as your donor for both your m880 and the d350. that's probably the route i would go and i would think it would get you the best of both worlds. and who knows, you might determine that after you get the parts truck you like it better as a runner/driver and can use the 93 as a donor for the parts truck and the m880.


also, here's a bunch of helpful conversion links:

http://ramchargercentral.com/diesel-...ks-to-threads/


James

winkdemon

i have a 1975 2500 thats a cummins now , it's pretty easy just nuts and bolts and some wiring.

NJTman

This isn't your truck, is it ??? I like green, but that's a little wild...

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=1976+...:0&tx=89&ty=55

93allblack

@texasdiesel - thanks for the links. the 880 has a np203 tcase, and i would probably use an auto trans since that's what it's set up for now. i might swap it to a 5 speed though if it was available. I don't know about cummins to gas motors trans swaps. I am pretty sure i would need to swap the dana44 out of the m880 for a d60 with a 6bt sitting on top of it.

@lucas1 - i surely could just build up some other truck that is not a dodge, but that's a whole other bag of worms. I'd want a truck that is simple and tough including the interior/body. something i can use for work and play and not have to worry about the paint. the ideal truck would be some sort of overland type of thing. maybe a landcruiser or even an old suburban. the dream is a dead reliable and simple truck that will last longer than i will and can handle work as well as play without breaking the bank.

GIT-R-DONE

That just isnt right !

lovin1stgens

[QUOTE=the dream is a dead reliable and simple truck that will last longer than i will and can handle work as well as play without breaking the bank.[/QUOTE]

welcome to the club brother lol i guess the term "breaking the bank" is all relative though lol

texsasdiesel

i'd say if it's the HD44 that you'd be alright until you could find a 60 or you could build up the 44 enough to handle the 6bt as long as you're not pushing lots of HP through it, which it doens't sound like that's one of your goals. Good luck, sounds like a fun project. I'm in the middle of my own build of a crew cab that I converted over to 4wd.

James