4BT Cummins Turbo Diesel in an 05 Silverado (with pictures!)

[justy]

sweet ride.. I want a 4bt to put in a old jeep. Hard to find the buggers.

[VortecZ]

I'll try to get some pics and videos of it.

I'm getting a little over 30 mpg with it now. I don't have really accurate numbers yet because I need to work on the filler neck. I ended up figuring out the vent hose from the gas tank isn't big enough for diesel fuel. Diesel foams up a lot more than gasoline and requires better ventilation. I'm going to re-do the filler neck and vent hose this weekend.

[SteppinLo]

Solid info there. I look forward to reading more and seeing this to completion!

[willinthe985]

Awesomeness. I would love to do this with my truck.

[Koots]

beautiful work, i was wanting to do this with my K5 and replace the 6.2L in it. Diesels are great engines and only true gearheads know how great they are.

Kudos for putting one in an NSB too. just like that guy who stuck a mercedes diesel in his ECSB last year.

[VortecZ]

Here are some pics after I lowered it this weekend. The weight of the motor dropped the front a little and I cut a coil off of the springs to up the spring rate and drop it a little more. The rear has a flip kit and I shortened the shackles to pick it back up a little. It is roughly a 3/5 drop.







Video and more pics of it on my picture site.

[willinthe985]

LOOKS SICK! I like the emblem too.

[VortecZ]

I just got my tach working so now ALL of my factory gauges work!
It turns out that the only thing the computer needed to run the tach was a signal from the crank sensor on the V6. I replaced my crank pulley with a pulley/harmonic balancer from a 5.9 Cummins (6BT). The balancer had two notches in it for the 6BT sensor so I had to turn it down and mill three new notches in it to match the crank reluctor wheel on the V6 (6 equal length areas - three raised & three recessed). Then I fabricated a bracket to hold the sensor close to the balancer and extend the wires to it.

It worked great and now I know that I'm turning 2000rpm on the interstate.

[gr8shot]

Damn thats some crafty ingenutiy!! I can say that I would have had no clue how to do that!

[xpunter83]

looks awesome what are you getting for mileage on that?

[VortecZ]

I've been getting about 30mpg. I still have some things I want to do to it and hope to get better mileage. For now, I'm really happy with the mileage and the power.

[98crewcab]

nice job........GM needs to read this forums thread on Ideas on how to improve sales

[fortplainman]

you need a 5 inch pip out the rear now haha. sweet idea and now i wish even more the 4.5 dmax was going into 1500s

[VortecZ]

you need a 5 inch pip out the rear now

I did end up putting a 4 inch tip on it. It looks pretty good.

I started planning this build before I had ever heard of the 4.5 Duramax and was really impressed they were actually doing it. I was very interested in one and considered not doing this project because of it. Now that it is on hold, I'm really glad I did it my way anyway. I also doubt the dmax would get this good mileage. On the other hand, I don't have to follow the emissions standards that GM does since there are no smog checks in my area.

If GM would build a full size truck that got 30mpg (gas or diesel) people would buy them like crazy. It is so much nicer to drive a full size truck than it is a pos little car that get's good mileage. Plus I'm setting it up with helper air bags and a good hitch so I can haul stuff and pull a trailer too. You can't do that with a little car!

[james_8997]

that is SWEEEET

[Ivan D.]

Add a pair of 4" chrome stacks of the miter-cut type through the bed, that will confuse the heck outta people Put them in the very corners so you don't lose valuable space and add some stainless-steel shields around them so you don't melt nothing on them if they ever get too hot. Speaking of hot, do you have a pyrometer now that you have a diesel engine? You want one, especially if you have the pump turned up, don't wanna melt a piston down.

[CodyZ71]

Originally Posted by 98crewcab

nice job........GM needs to read this forums thread on Ideas on how to improve sales

They've been too busy digging they're hole.

[FordeatinZ71]

man, that is amazing. i have been bouncing back and forth between 4 and 6bt for my K1500...but every time i see a 4bt swap that goes this well, i think that it's a no-brainer what i should swap to...great job man!

[VortecZ]

pair of 4" chrome stacks

Not really into the stacks except for the pullers and then they look better through the hood.

I don't have a pyrometer on it yet but I did go ahead and drill and tap a hole in the exhaust manifold while the motor was out. I'll be adding a pyrometer and a boost gauge one of these days.

FordeatinZ71, my advice to you is a 4BT instead of the 6BT. The 6BT will be a bit much for a 1500 but it could certainly be built to handle it.

[Ivan D.]

Originally Posted by VortecZ

Not really into the stacks except for the pullers and then they look better through the hood.

Understandable, I'm not too big on them either - I run a singe 3" on my truck and I'm happy with it, but only cause tis a dually, don't think I'd ever put on a set of 5" bull haulers unless truck is a crew-cab dually. That's why I suggested you the 4" miter-cuts, they are small enough and look simple enough to have this "factory equipment" feel to them, well sort of. In any case tho truck looks awesome as is without them

I don't have a pyrometer on it yet but I did go ahead and drill and tap a hole in the exhaust manifold while the motor was out. I'll be adding a pyrometer and a boost gauge one of these days.

Make that sooner than later tho, pyro is to a diesel about as important as oil-pressure gauge to any engine - just gives you that extra piece of mind that you know exactly what the engine is doing at any given moment.

FordeatinZ71, my advice to you is a 4BT instead of the 6BT. The 6BT will be a bit much for a 1500 but it could certainly be built to handle it.

Yah, I'd agree, the 6BT is way too big for a halfton, if a simple reliable daily driver with great fuel economy is the goal the 4BT would be the ticket for it, the 6BT is what you put in when you start hauling big and heavy.