Custom Cummins project

[cataclysm80]

do you still have the PW ?
I would love to mount one of the those bodies on a 12v cummins chassis

Another one of my current Mopar projects is chopping a 1985 Peterbilt cab & hood down to pickup size and mounting it onto a 12v turbo Cummins Dodge dually chassis.
Mini semi truck
Little Red Express 

I have to see pictures of the progress on that!

Here's a pic from getting started.
Brought home 2 cabs & hoods.
That's a 1997 Dodge extended cab long bed 1 ton dually turbo Cummins diesel 12 valve pulling them home.
The chassis they are being put onto is basically the same thing, but it's a 1996 truck.

First thing is strip the body off the donor chassis and to choose your wheels and tires.
We went with some polished aluminum wheels off of a Gillig city bus and the smallest low profile commercial tires available.
The wheels have the right look for a semi truck.  6 commercial tires were noticeably cheaper than large pickup tires.
Using these wheels required some wheel adapters, which widens the track by 1 inch.  That actually helps so that we don't have to narrow the hood.
After that, position the semi hood front to rear so that the wheels are in the center of the wheel well. Then the cab goes onto the chassis.  This sets the height.  If you wanted it really low, you could channel the cab, but we didn't.  Ours will be like a large pickup, not like a small pickup.   Move the cab forward or back to mate with the hood.
Now that you know the height, you put the hood on at that height.   This will require lowering the hood.  The fenders move up the side of the hood, and the grill gets shortened.  Fabricate a way to mount the semi hood hinges onto the Dodge chassis.
This is a simplified description.  It took quite a bit of work and foresight. 

[cataclysm80]

Here's the Dodge Chassis with the body stripped off and the bus wheels with low profile commercial tires installed.

[cataclysm80]

This is checking out how the full size hood would go onto the chassis. 
Center the wheels within the wheel wells in order to figure out the front to rear placement of the cab.
(it's not centered yet in this pic.  needs to go forward some.)

[cataclysm80]

Here is the sides removed off the hood, and the grill shortened so that we can locate the hood where it goes and fabricate the hood hinges.

The cab is full width, which is about an inch or two narrower than the stock Dodge cab.
The cab sits further back on the chassis, so we fabricated some shifter stuff to put the manual shifter where we wanted it.
The cab height is currently full size, but we might chop it down by one rivet space, which is about 3 inches.  Proportionately, I think that will look better with the shortened grill, but we have a new bigger visor on the cab now, and that helps a lot with making the windshield appear shorter.
It will have saddle tanks for fuel, and a little diamond plate step/toolbox on the side under each door to complete the look.
It's difficult to gauge the height from this picture.   With the hood installed, you can walk up to the front of the truck and set your chin on the hood.  You can also see in the side windows while standing on the ground, no problem.  It's taller than a regular truck, but way shorter than a full sized semi.  Next time you see a full size semi, imagine putting your chin on the hood.

The semi body is all aluminum with a fiberglass roof cap.  It's significantly lighter weight than the stock Dodge body.
With the Dodge body, this truck got 18 to 20 MPG, about the same as my dad's PT Cruiser.  I expect it to get better MPG after the conversion.

[cataclysm80]

The roof of the cab was originally steel and was rusted through in one corner, so we replaced it with a new fiberglass roof.  The body is now entirely aluminum and fiberglass.
We reskinned the back because it had a hole cut for a sleeper.  We've installed a stock semi rear window since this pic.
New exhaust stacks installed.
It will have a custom fuel cell on both sides of the driveshaft between the frame rails, and also saddle tanks on the outside.  LOTS of fuel capacity. 
The engine has been studded, and were toying with the idea of adding a second turbo.

My wife and my dad have a lot more pictures.  I need to round up all of their photos of this and the 70 Road Runner soon.
New Plum Crazy going on the Road Runner tomorrow. 

[Cuda Cody]

WOW!  Look at you @cataclysm80   You are freaking awesome!!!!  Nicely done. 

Hope the paint lays down like glass.  Be sure to share some photos of it.   

[cataclysm80]

Thanks Cody!
Are non-E bodies allowed here on the E body forum?
I guess this IS the "off topic" section.

[Chryco Psycho]

That is seriously cool
not sure if the fuel milage will improve though , the areo has to be worse !

[cataclysm80]

Yeah, that makes sense.  The aerodynamics are probably much worse.

It will still be a lot of fun though, and I'm sure it will get better gas mileage than my 496 cubic inch 8.1 liter Chevy gas truck.

[cataclysm80]

Now that I'm caught up with posting pics in my 70 Road Runner thread...
https://forum.e-bodies.org/general-topics/7/tav-1970-road-runner/3472/
I figured I'd post a few more pics here.


These are freshly polished air cleaners off a different type of Semi that used a smaller sized air cleaner than Peterbilts.
It fits the miniaturized theme of the truck.

[cataclysm80]

Stepping back in time for a minute,  Here's the freshly polished Gillig city bus wheels, with all 6 new low profile commercial tires.

Then there's a pic of the wheels mounted in the tires.  (waiting for the wheel adapters to arrive)

Then there's a pic of the garage from a different angle, just for fun.  That's the 70 Road Runner engine in the back, so this is when we were just getting started building this Dodge Cummins Peterbilt.

[cataclysm80]

This should give you a pretty good idea of how we made the shifter work, with the cab mounted further back on the frame.
Left/Right & Forward/Backward,  It works great!

[CudaMoparRay]

Way to go on an incredible endeavor, hats off to you.          

[cataclysm80]

Time for some engine work.

Fixed the killer dowel pin issue, studded the engine, installed an exhaust brake, etc. etc.

I really like this last picture here with the Cummins engine, my 'Cuda, and a friends Coronet. 

[cataclysm80]

We didn't have to narrow the hood or cab any, but we did have to narrow the front fenders.  Took a few inches out down the center of each.  Used a cutting wheel to remove the part we didn't want, and took them to AAR Fiberglass in Cocoa Beach FL to by properly reassembled.

AAR Fiberglass also makes other Mopar fiberglass parts if anyone's interested.