Hey guys, sorry this has taken so long. I went out of town due to some emergency circumstances but I've posted pics now in my gallery from the 8.3L rebuild.

My initial idea was that it's bigger, but it really isn't that much bigger than a 5.9L. Listed weight on the cummins website is 1500 lbs. I've misplaced my notes with the exact dimensions on the engine, but as I remember it would fit in my 1st gen with a little modification due to the length. The extra weight is about 300-400 lbs but with a dana60 and some battery relocation, fiberglass hood, it could be done. I know alot of people who jump their trucks with bigblocks and a d60 under the front and breaking the axle housing hasn't been a problem. With some heavier springs and maybe a little reinforcement if you plan to use it hard, I don't think a 1-ton truck would have any problem. The 2ng gen's might have trouble fitting the engine, they seem to be much tighter already with the 5.9L's in there.

It's definately doable, and I don't think it'd be too much modification, about as much as any other alien engine swap. I'm not completely sure but the bellhousing pattern on the block looks the same to me as a 5.9L so wouldn't see why an NV5600 wouldn't work. If you really wanted a 13 speed, or more, then that might be a different story with the extra weight. I think it'd be neat, obviously I'm thinking 4wd, but it'd make a killer 2wd tow vehicle too. Like I've posted before I've seen it in a ford. I didn't notice any radiator support or firewall bashing, and the truck was very functional, he claimed to drive it every day, and I'd believe it.

I'll find the measurements and edit this, so check back.
If I had the financial resources right now, I'd dive right in lol. Unfortunately I have too many unfinished projects already

 

Put the other projects on hold and roll w/ this one....Sounds really cool! ;-)

You know an idea I had was to take a medium duty truck (small flatbed or somethnig) take the body off and put a pick up body / bed on it (instant super duty Pickup that would look really cool) THEN take the medium duty body and put it on the Pickup frame that was left over.....Instant Lo Pro....Both trucks would be way cooler than in their origonal factory state!

An extreme swap would be to use a tractor trailer....

Andrew

 

Hey thanks for the pictures, it looks pretty **** big with those huge bore liners sitting inline. If I seen right, the turbo sits uptop, for a truck setup I think a custom header might have to be constructed so the turbo sits down and not that high. Ive read that the 8.3 is 4 inches taller, so maybe a body lift would be inorder. But then again, if one makes custom mounts then the engine can sit a little lower in the chassis.

Btw, I was thinking, the batteries weight maybe 50lbs each, move them to the back and you'll cut out 100lbs on the front, If their are more then 2 points of mounting the engine besides the trans. Having more then one mount could spread the loud out more evenly on the front of chassis instead of just having two points. Boxing the frame would probably be mandatory, maybe even some rollbars? I've got to check out an 8.3 in some piece of machinery, then maybe it can show if they use more then 2 points to mount it. Also, if the dana 60 doesnt workout, I see that the AAM axles have a capacity of 5200lbs front axle, and a regular 3500 unloaded cummins ofcourse I think is around 4600lbs front.

 

Well the turbo does indeed sit directly atop the manifold, but this was an offroad motor, I don't know if the ones out of the trucks are the same, I'll scrounge around in the lot to see if maybe one of the other trucks has an 8.3 in it. Another thing, which I didn't get a pic of but should, is the intake, it's tall, it has a built in intercooler that has coolant running through it. I wouldn't say it's more than a foot tall though, maybe less. The engine sitting lower,,,might not be feasable, the oil pan is the same style as an 5.9L and I know at least in my truck, the pan is only about an inch off the cross member. The ford I saw had a 6" cowl induction hood, so that may be the answer, that or the body lift,,,although I have a 3" on my truck now and hate it, so any other way would be better in my opinion.
As for the mounts, this engine at least was mounted off the front of the block and the side of the bellhousing, I'm sure you could fabricate something similiar to work in a truck. That stand the engine's on is actually part of the machinery, it sits right in there like that when it's all together.

 

The ISC valve cover is about four inches longer than the ISB. On a second gen I could not see how it could be done or I would have one. I even talked to a body shop about extending the fenders and hood. So if you ever see a long nose second gen going down the road, don't try to out pull it.

Another way would be to use a 1 1/2 ton chassie with 19.5 wheels, set the Dodge cab on it raised enough to clear the air and heater stuff and notch the trans tunnel high as possible with the engine extending back. Would look like a seriously raised 4wd. You would use a drop front axle.

They used to do the v8 engines in the early ford vans that way.

 

4 inches sounds about right, but that doesn't seem like a very big hurdle to me. Haul out that humongous heater box and make a notch in the firewall if need be, you'd never notice it in the cab, you could use an aftermarket heater, which I've had experience with in cars, they work fine I would imagine they'd work even better in just a truck cab. Take off the fan and go electric, that ought to make plenty of length. Maybe you could flip the radiator, put it on the front of the support,,,I'd have to look at this stuff closer on my truck, but I think you could get more than an extra 4 inches out of the engine bay,,,at least on a 1st gen, a 2nd gen I could see the trouble.

 

If you look at a 1st gen and a 2nd gen side views, you can see that the 1st gen has about 8inches or so behind the front fender flares and then the fender ends into the door jam. A second gen has the front fender flare almost at the end of the fender, then starts the door. This means that the door on a 2nd gen is probably longer and the dash is longer, thus the means of having the original 5.9 under the glass.

Now a 1st generation Dodge Ram already has the extra length in the front fenders but doesnt have the extra dashboard, door, and firewall recessed like a 2nd gen b/c it doesnt need it. If the heater core like Smokinfive said, the engine weight can be taken a little off the front end. Batteries would take some more, and maybe a flip forward front clip would be better all the way around, lighter, and easier access to the engine. Now its just a simple task of finding the huge engine cheap, transmission I'd go with an eaton 9 speed, but an allison would work well to but the price is a turnoff. Allison & Eaton weigh about the same, 600lbs.

 

The cheap part, that's the biggie lol. The overhaul kit from Cummins, including new sleeves, pistons, rings, wrist pins, rod and main bearings, vavle seals etc etc, was over $3200, not to mention the cost for the wrist pin bearings in the rods, those were seperate and due to the tapered design had to be pressed out and new ones installed by a machine shop. I haven't even gotten that bill yet lol. But I'm pretty sure it won't be cheap. I think anyone's best bet would be to find an older medium duty truck with one that's running good, maybe you'll get lucky and find one that's had an engine overhaul recently and a working tranny? I've seen some used dump trucks and such go for 3-4k around here, still running good. They're older of course, and the rest of the equipment needs major work, hydraulics, axles, body and stuff, so that's why they're cheaper. But after you yank the motor and everything you need, you still have parts to sell. I know that a new long block motor from cummins is a little over 10k. And when you think about it, if you find a nice 1-ton 1st gen, with a blown gasser motor, or bad tranny, you can pick them up pretty cheap, have it repainted, put a new interior in it. Do your mods and get the long block from cummins with warranty and all, and I'd be hard pressed to spend 40-50k like I would on a brand new truck with an oilburner. That's assuming you do your own work. Then again what kind of bank is going to give you a loan on something like that? LOL.

 

The transmission I have day dreams of having is the old RTO913. It is the smoothest shifting trans that you can use and by flipping the gears you have double overdrive to handle those high ratios that the larger rears like to have. With that trans, you use the clutch to start if first and never touch it again til you stop. I like having a good cruise ratio no matter what speed I am running.

 

Also, those 8.3Ls that are found in medium duty trucks, they have air compressors I believe and that would be great to have, air compressor for flat tires, air ride suspension, and whatever else pnuematic you'd like to have. IE pneumatic powered steps that comedown with the door open and slide back up when the door is closed.
Another thing I was thinking, is their a way to get the engine to revv past 2200rpm? I find on the internet that its the limit for the engine. Also do you guys think this swap would be any good for a ramcharger? They seem a little short on wheel base, like a single cab short bed truck. Is their a reason they dont put cummins into a combo like that? Too much weight gets consentrated on front and barely any on the rear?

 

The Holset Econ compressor is great, makes a real good setup. Have that on mine. If anyone does this, contact me and I can help with the power steering pump issues. The injector pump on the 8.3 is not a Borsch but is a Cummins mfg. pump. The older trucks are mechanical the later trucks are computer, both could be fudged to somewhat higher.

 

I thought the 8.3L's the mechanicals anyway had p-7100 pumps? Thats what it looks like on the pics.

 

Since that 8.3 uses sleeves instead of a parent-bore (like the 5.9), make sure you use a coolant that has the anti-cavitation additives.

JLH

 

Try to find an exhaust manifold that allows the turbo to set at the bottom. As far as I know, all medium duty trucks use the bottom mount design. If it were me I would go ahead and pull the aftercooler off of the truck and go with a charge air type intercooler. The aftercooler are good in the winter to allow your coolant to heat your intake air. But, it does make it a tad hotter in the summer.

 

Or just keep the top mount turbo and twin it

Question though. COULD you use a P7100 even if the stockers didn't come equiped with them? I'd assume you'd have to use an aftermarket one to even get the amount of fuel required for a bombed one though.