6.7L Cummins conversion project

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by E350

How about using some wheel chair van 2" pucks to raise the floor (and, thus, the doghouse)? It would give you more vertical clearance for your frame rail batteries too.

Doesn't the Cummins have a mechanical fuel pump? If so, why go with an electric fan? Does the electric fan eliminate the water pump or only the fan and fan clutch?

I'm not a fan of body lifts so I'm going to avoid that at all costs. The interference isn't that bad and I can hopefully make it a lot less of an issue by moving the engine forward and to the passenger side a touch. I got the body for precisely this kind of stuff.

This is a modern electronically controlled common rail Cummins (remember, 2013 engine going in a 2013 van). The factory fan is controlled by the ECM, no reason to change that out since it is already part of the system. The water pump is mechanical, driven by the serpentine belt.

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by JoeH

This thread is just awesome in so many ways

Thanks! I'm having a blast with this. I wish I had more time to work on it.

[Viva]

I just caught up reading from the day you and your dad "retrieved" the spare van parts in the rain. It's just so awesomely cool! Thanks so much for taking the time to share the info and especially the photographs. It was interesting to me to see the one of the interior driving compartment area with just the metal part of the doghouse there. Never seen that before.

[mgmetalworks]

A little more fussin' with the engine placement and I have what looks like a winning combination! The transmission fits under the body with plenty of clearance....with the one exception that the input speed sensor will be too close to the body to come out of it's mounting boss. It is basically right at the doghouse opening so I believe I can make a small "bump" to gain the clearance I need with minimal trimming to the doghouse cover.

Here's a shot of the trans clearance to the floor



So...what do you guys think? From the pictures here, does the Cummins fit in there better than you thought it would? How many of you thought it wouldn't fit without major body mods?

[Viva]

Originally Posted by mgmetalworks

So...what do you guys think? From the pictures here, does the Cummins fit in there better than you thought it would? How many of you thought it wouldn't fit without major body mods?

Well I had no pre-conceived idea, although I might have figured a big shoehorn would be involved. What I would have bet good money on was your making it work one way or another. Pretty cool how tidy and "not shoehorned" it looks though

[boywonder]

The thing that impresses me is reverse engineering the canbus data..........


If you can do that, squeezing the engine/trans in there should be a walk in the park....

Of course, I also have no idea how big that engine/transmission is......

[JWA]

If this project were to become a for-profit refit could the speed sensor be relocated to a more accessible spot? That would require machining the trans housing for such a re-location but as a one time operation should be minimal cost-wise?

Nice progress----any day now we'll hear how its on the road!

[mk216v]

Drool......................

[mgmetalworks]

Originally Posted by JWA

If this project were to become a for-profit refit could the speed sensor be relocated to a more accessible spot? That would require machining the trans housing for such a re-location but as a one time operation should be minimal cost-wise?

Nice progress----any day now we'll hear how its on the road!

Newer Allisons in the GM trucks don't even use the front sensor (the one that I'm having a slight interference with). The sensor picks up the engine RPM off of the torque converter. The GM trucks feed that info from the engine controller to the trans controller via the GMLAN connection. If I can figure out something similar, I can eliminate the front sensor and everything will fit perfectly. No need to relocate, just replace the function with some computer wizardry.

worst case is that I keep the sensor and put a small bump in the floor...

No progress on this as of late because I have the Optima Batteries SEMA van in my shop for an interior build out and lots of goodies. I had to dismantle my mock up of the Cummins/Allison/Van body/frame to make room but I think a little delay on the Cummins project is a small price to pay for the opportunity to work on a SEMA vehicle that will be hard to miss in the center of the big show.

[mk216v]

Can't wait to see what you've designed/created for the SEMA van!
Be sure to post a thread here so we can all drool.