OK guys got the 81 chevy short wide near ready for the 12 valve. Fully boxed the frame, ford 9", 33" ladder bars, 33/16/15 hossiers on 15x14 out back and 245/75/16 10 ply on 16x7 up front to hold up the cummins. Finishing up the rear suspension this week and will start on the cage. Will be running a 2 spd. glide and am pricing the conversion plates and flexplates from destroked and patc and others , man are they high!! Does anyone have the 4bt plate and all ness. stuff to go with it for sale?????? Will have this up and going for spring time racing. Cant wait. Turning my 04.5 up gave me the diesel itch so bad i had to build a race only project, im trying hard to keep the wieght down to give me a fighting chance of being pretty quick. I 100% gutted her and started from scratch. Only been working on it for 2 weeks but progress is going really fast. Im shooting for 6's in the 1/8 hope i can ahieve my goal, ive been racing for years and just to running mid 6's on motor only w/ a SBC i know i want be a fast as im used to but it should be a blast doing something a lot of others are not doing. Will be running a single charger this first year, either a HTT pro street 66/71/14 or the II Silver Bullett 66/74/14. p-pump'ed 12 valve. Yall think 6's is out of reach, any suggestions or ideas, advise would be appreciated.....Thanks Ryan

 

If you plan to run the 4bt stuff you will have to upgrade the torque converter mounts. They are pretty flimsy.

Sounds like a cool project though!

 

Thanks Curt, ive since decided to go with the destroked stuff, its to expenive but whats not for these engines. Insurance though i know when i use there parts they will hold the power. Guy i spoke with says all the high powered fast trucks and dragsters are running there setup, that alone makes me feel good about it. Thanks for the advise on the FP being flemsey i sure dont want that.....Ryan

 

Well got the destroked stuff and the powerglide on order today. Doing the turbo spline upgrade and a JW Ultra Bell on the front to keep from breaking the case, ive had this trouble a few times in my gassers and the U.B. has never failed. Still couple or few weeks of work on the truck and prob. couple weeks on the parts just ordered. Still no engine, looks like i'll prob. be finished with the project and be race ready and still have no engine, oh well no huge hurry its still cold and the tracks are'nt busy yet anyways. I have found lots of engines for sale but always somethink that makes me pass to the next one. Really want a 96-98 to get the 215 pump, with 150,000 or so miles or less. Im finding ind. or truck engines rated at 230,250, and 275 hp and know nothing of thier pumps, are they the same. Can they all be turned up the same? I wished someone on this site could post a number to lead me to my cummins reasonably. PM me with any info leading to what om looking for , Thanks Ryan

 

Small update, got all the rear stuff in finally, cut the 9" down to 42" , got moser 35 S.D. spline axles and spool, Strange nod. case with a 3.50 gear set. Got the rear set up now with ladder bars and coil overs. Brakes and all new lines now ran, now mounting fuel cell, batt., shifter, and building a custom sheet metal dash for the gauges. All's working out great so far, still no engine though. Expecting the destroked stuff any day, still Knowone with a engine lead???? PM me if so please! Thanks Ryan

 

Does the Strange 3rd have the 3.250 bearings, or is it stock sized bearings? I know they made 35 spline spools for stock cases. I'm planning a similar project, but two years older, long box, and a Ford.

 

Yes tate, it has the large 3.250 bearings. I couldnt find a way other wise, i was told 35's wouldnt fit in a stock case. But since ive heard that Mark Willams has a way around that? Not sure but for the 235.00 i feel good having the strange housing. The axles have a 10 year no question warranty also , if one breaks they pay for it or upgrade you to 40 spline no charge. I got the rear assem. finished today and all wheels/tires on. Mounted fuel cell, battery box, painted interior, and made a roll pan and installed. Tomorrow maybe fab up the pan hard bar, make a dash for the gauges and start what little body work there is to do and maybe get it in primer. Boy those 33/15/15's sure look big under there, great clearance to, cut the stock wheel wells in half and widened them 10 inches, got it all welded back in place almost looks original. Early this next week the destroked stuff and JW's Ultra Bell will arrive and the glide soon after, which looks for sure that the truck will be complete and waiting on the powerplant. Oh well, no big hurry i guess.....

 

MW splines are smaller than the Strange 35 splines, thats how they used to get 35 splines in the smaller case at least......

 

Oh i see, but if going 35 spline anyways i would want the big stuff. Prob. like putting a 50 cent saddle on a thousand dollar mule. From what i understand the stock case isnt all that strong...ive never broke one but ive never had this much tire either. You can get away with a lot with smaller slicks where you slip before you start breaking parts. My thumb and middle finger just touched around this axles, they look pretty strong.But im thinking if theres anything out there to test the twisting force on parts, its got to be a 12v cummins! Add prob. 4000+ lbs and huge tires.... ya i didnt want to sqiemp on the rear end. Also got 1350 series [strange] yokes front and rear, not sure what dia. shaft to build, maybe 2.5-3.0 dont want to go much larger im thinking smaller but heavier wall? Any other suggestion guys..

 

If it is any consolation, I run a 3" MW driveshaft/1350 series U-joints in my Nova, 3985 at the line with an Injected/Blown 489 and the aforementioned Moser big case/35 spline axles and Strange spool. I don't slip 14x32's and the torque of that thing is close to what a serious Cummins would produce.

I haven't shattered anything.......yet.

Oh yea, make sure your yokes are Chromemolly, The last I knew they sold both varieties, I have MW pieces.

 

Cool deal, wow your nova wieghs near 4k? I know a blown big block is some to account for in that but wow what else, full glass, cocrete in the truck or what? That scares me to what my short bed is going to weigh! Me weekend racer now is a 72 datsun 240, back halfed and blah,blah, blah, i sometimes run my 6-71 on it and its at 2570 race ready with me in it, and im 220lbs. I sure hope this things not going to be a pig after all this work, i fiqure if its 3500-3800 ill be in good shape, but heck i dont know that its not going to be 5000+. Have no scales here and not good at guessing wieght. Cummins alone is what 1200, glide what 150, it adds up fast. Whats your quess on weight, assuming it was 100% gutted and nothing went back that didnt have to. I did go with steel wheels i wanted the old acorn style lugs back i hate the lugs for the alum. mags. dont understand the design, been using them for years but still dont like them. Just decided to not even do a cage [bar] now, think ill wait and see if this thing will even run a 7.49. Sure hope so! Ryan

 

Not to worry, it is a full steel street car, full mild steel .134 wall cage, heck, the 9" scares me with its weight, fully braced with the 35 spline non-gundrilled axles, I have to use a jack to move that thing.... Add in the full iron head BBC/TH400 and my fat tail and she is a porker.

I always figured I would rather be safe than shave the last 1/10 of a second.

 

I feel the same way, saftey first. Theres lots of extra wieght in my 240z that most would concider overkill. Cage thickness, all brackets i fab from 3/8 to 1/2 for peace of mind, most others i see use 1/8 and maybe 3/16. It all adds up. In this 1/2 ton chevy i bought a 60" piece of 3/8 3x3 angle for front ladder bar mounts....planned on using no more than 16-18 inches of it, kid you not ive got 2 3/4" of that crap left. Ended up making coil over mounts and panhard bar mounts out of it to....that piece weighed 59lbs! You to figure it has to weigh over 4k? Hope not but sure it will....

 

Got the destroked stuff and the ultra- bell in finally! Problem already, The JW UBell is so thick for strength that the new billet F.Plate dont fit inside the bellhousing. Looks like it will require lots of time and machine work, ill work on that this weekend. The destroked stuff look pretty nice, its pricey but surly the way to go if your looking for some real power im sure. The ford starter i got w/ it looks good aswell, small and fit is good. Wished i had the engine so i could better fit the plate, F. plate, and bellhousing not sure the stand off on the FP from the crankshaft??? This will depend on how much machining is really ness. P.S. still no engine, any one have any leads.... Thanks

 

Sounds like a fun project. I have a 9" with a Currie center section, 35 spline Mosier axles and strange aluminum pinion support. It does not have alot of run time, but is in front of a 410cid turbocharged small block. It is not as much as big cummins torque, but with a 3800 converter it takes a beating. I think you will be fine so long as you dont get wild with a transbrake. That will beat the heck out of a rearend.

Also, if you can stomach tunneling the firewall, you shoud look at moving that engine back about 12". Your weight ratios are going to be off the map and you are likely to have a hard time launching. It would be better with a 4link, but the laddar bars dont allow adjustment of instant center to compensate for weight ratio sins.

Good luck!