OK, thanks. i think ive got everything down except for if there is anything on the engine side of my firewall that needs to be swapped into the new cab?
thanks.

 

You'll have to move the hole for the wiring harness connection in the fire wall a little towards the driver side. If you have a standard transmission you'll have to remove the bracket where the clutch linkage goes through the fire wall and bolt it or weld it to the '85.

 

Man this is a most excellent time to really lay down some soundproofing and rust guarding!

Depending on your state, you may want to be weary of tampering with the VIN? Here you can reregister the "new" vehicle as a rebuild with a little bit of trouble and paperwork. For reference purposes (and insurance too I guess) you'll need your original VIN. BUT, my guess is that if you use the rivits as suggested, it will look OK and since the vehicle will check out legit you should be good to go right?

Make sure you have any wires or lines under the cab unhooked too. That thing gets real "heavy" when a little accessory wire is still hooked to it

 

Ok, thanks. what would you recommend for sound proofing? Also, has anyone ever painted a truck? I plan to use paint from tractor supply company. not going for anything real fancy, just a decent looking job. what color should i do?

 

I think the grey/silver, green, and black are my top 3. I really dis-like red, red combo, ones. Though Wanna's maroon/silver looks sharp!

 

Ok, thanks. I have another question, would there be any difference in wiring in the cab between my 93 w350 4x4, and a 89 d250 2wd? other than the 4x4 light indicator?
thanks.

 

I ground off the back of the rivets so i could remove and keep them with the tag.They appear stock when looking at the vin tag. Then just use weatherstrip adhesive to mount the vin tag.

 

You should keep a copy of the title from the donor truck handy in the glove box.
There are vin #s all over those body parts.
If that truck is ever registered in a different state, the inspectors might check the secret #s.
Been there, done that!

Tom Wiggins
VC Ks

 

Something else small you're going to run into is the throttle cable. The old (80's) cab will probably have a square hole and your Cummins throttle cable is made to go into a round hole. I'm just going to cut a chunk from my wrecked diesel cab and pop rivet over the square hole on my 84.

 

I did a cab swap on a chebby years ago. Too be legal I called my local police to come to my house to verify that I wasn't stealing truck parts and had them witness the vin change.

 

OK, thanks. does anyone know if the wiring harness and dash for an 89 2wd D250 cummins is the same as my 93 4x4 cummins? both trucks are autos. other than the 4x4 indicator, is there any difference in the wiring? could you put in the 4x4 indicator?
thanks

 

I don't have time to look over the wiring diagrams on that tonight. I'll try to get on it tomorrow.

 

ok, thanks. i was thinking, does the 89 have the same computer as my 93 or no?

 

Better be careful with drilling the rivets out of that vin plate unless you don't mind spending a little time in the state penitentiary. THAT IS A FELONY in the State of Illinois, and I would bet it is in most all states as well. The proper thing to do is call the state police or secretary of state and let them do it for you. They have a particular protocol to follow and the necessary paperwork to do it legally. If they suspect someone removed the vin plate, it is likely yout truck will be impounded until they decide what to do with you and the truck.

 

I would swap the dash from the 93 cab into the 89 cab so that the VIN still matched your title. Also, the computer's will definetally be different. Just swap the 93 computer into the 89 fenderwell.

The hardest part of swapping body panels around is getting everything to line up and getting the body lines all sqaured off. All in all, I spent about a day aligning the front clip. You just need to watch the joints between the fenders and the cab and the hood and the fenders to make sure everything is gapped properly and sitting the way it should. Body panels have a funny way of settling on their frames and swapping them around starts to mess with things.

It's definetally easier if you have someone helping you, the hood is a pain to move around on your own. Just take your time.

Swapping the wiring harnesses around isn't difficult at all, the harness comes out of the dash in one piece, and there's only 1 or 2 grounds in the dash itself that need to be disconnected. Then it's just a matter of using the message center, RWAL computer, and gauge cluster off the diesel.

A complete cab / front clip swap will produce a better product for less money invested than replacing the roof and doing your own body work. It will probably take more time on your part, but it will definetally end up nicer. My 89 with the cab swap looked great when it was done...until I wrapped it around a tree.