I'm putting together info for my diesel conversion for my '82 crew cab. So far the consensus is to use a donor truck for as much as possible rather than buying individual components.

What should I look for in a donor? Body is irrelevant as I'm going to make the '82 look like an older D-series rather than like an '81-'93. I'm planning on remaining 2wd and I'd also like to go with an automatic. What kind of mileage is acceptable on one of these engines, assuming it's been maintained? Are there any concerns for automatics, and in what years? I've noticed some ads mentioning that they come out of OD, should this be a big deal in terms of repair costs?

More importantly, since all I want are the drivetrain and the associated fuel delivery stuff, am I limited to '89-'93 for donors, or would something newer provide me with most of what I'd need? If so, how new?

 

If it were me I would look for a early 2nd gen with the p-pump and a 47rh lock up trans. But if you want the ve motor I would say try to find a 93 2wd auto with fairly low mile's (around 150k or less)

 

Like said, I'd get a P pump and the 47RH as well. Tranny is much better since it's lock up.

However, don't be afraid of the in/out overdrive. It's a simple fix for $10 with the potetiometer fix that replaces the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). That was from 91.5-93 (A518 tranny).

 

Look for a free one.

 

I found a nice 1991.0 for 900 but I had to reseal the whole IP. But the engine runs great and had about 225K. I'm running it in my crew cab right now.

 

I would say that if you want to keep the early style grill to go with a non- inter cooler 89-91

 

I'm not opposed to some modification to make an intercooler fit, if it's any help. I know that on the V8 trucks there's a big adapter to move the radiator closer to the engine, so I assume that the Cummins gets a shorter radiator adapter and a different setup to allow an intercooler to fit...

 

What I had to do is fab up a shorter support. Or the adapter off of a diesel Core Support by drilling out the spot welds.. The guy whom did the 1975 D200 Cummings swap was able to fit the larger radiator INSIDE the gasser adaptor with some assistance from a plasma cutter... His write up is pretty good. You have to look at the home page link with IE not Firefox though for it to work for some reason...

http://web.mac.com/rctscanadainc/75_...cooler.html#20

Here is the write up on DTR:

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...t-t120483.html