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Thread: Wallace II... Gas to Diesel Swap

  1. #26

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    Well the good man who has been letting me use his shop gave me a date this last week that he would like my truck gone. I told him that if I ever became a burden to let me know and I'd get out as quick as I could. He's been super nice to open his doors to me. He told me I needed to be out of there by November 5th, so I have little time indeed. He's been super patient with me and waiting on parts and the like. His timing honestly couldn't have been worse though since I am trying to finish my thesis and prepare to defend my research that I've been conducting. It made me sick when I got the message. I defend in 3 weeks. So this weekend I ran the wife and kids off to grandma's for the week and I will be working my day job/school from 6am-7pm and then work on the truck from 7pm-10pm (possibly later).
    Then to add to all the madness we are planning to move in December (around Christmas time) to Texas where I will continue my education. I bought a bus two weeks ago to move with since renting a truck was way more money than I am willing to eat. I paid $3200 for the bus and even if I sell it for a thousand less than what I paid I'm still ahead of what I would have been with a rental truck. Now I just need to find a place to live in Texas.

    KIMG1143.jpg
    That's my son Hugh showing off his new bus. He's a pretty proud bus owner.

    The plan is to work most of tomorrow on reassembling the engine. My goal is to get the motor assembled and the transmission bolted to it and have it all placed in the truck before I get the truck out of his shop. I'll work out the timing and adding the liquids and such once the storm has blown over. I really need to just get out of the way and it will be a lot easier if I don't have loose parts flying all around.
    This morning I went and put in my crankshaft and pistons and got everything torqued down on the underside. Then I painted the oil pan so it will match the shiny block.

    KIMG1176.jpg
    Not the best picture but you get the idea. It's pretty exciting to get this thing going again. Just wish I wasn't so darn busy so I could take my time and enjoy the process a little more. Right now I just sigh and think... man I've got a lot to do still!

    Thanks for following my build!

  2. #27

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    That bus deal is an awesome idea and what a score! Cute kid.
    What part of Texas? Austin? Waco?

  3. #28

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    Looking more like an engine!

    KIMG1177.jpg
    KIMG1180.jpg

    We're headed to College Station, Texas. Continue my education at Texas A&M.

  4. #29

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    I met my deadline. Enough said. Plus I didn't lose any fingers.
    Few things to clean up and do the final details before I can make my first attempt at turning over the newly rebuilt engine.
    KIMG1187.jpg
    KIMG1189.jpg
    KIMG1191.jpg
    Enjoy! I have!

  5. #30



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    Good to hear you made the deadline, and the motor/truck looks great! Good luck with the move!

  6. #31

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    any chance i could buy the grille off your old truck?? pretty please!

  7. #32

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    truck looks freaking awesome btw very clean swap

  8. #33

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    I keep having this reoccurring dream where I get the motor all finalized and fire it up. I take it on a drive and am really satisfied with the way the motor feels. Plenty of torque and a nice clean burn. Then I look at the dash and the temperature gauge is buried on the hot side. It's only then that I realize I forgot to add oil and coolant!!!!

  9. #34

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    I have a 1985 Power Ram diesel 4x4 unfortunately the rust gods have eaten the frame and cab mounts beyond fixing. So I bought a gas 1985 and am hoping to do a swap like you have. But first I'm installing rocker panels, drivers side cab floor and new fenders. Then once I'm sure I'm going to be happy with the body I will look at swapping the drive train. It was very helpful to read of your work. Look forward to keeping up with your work.

  10. #35

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    Hey Uncle Spence you never did say the rear end ratio answer. Did you have to swap rear ends to install the diesel motor and tranny into the gas truck? Are the rear ends a different ratio?

  11. #36

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    Well I took it to the manual for my information and from what I could gather there is a rear end for the 2WD and a rear end for the 4WD versions. Both of my trucks were 2WD so I didn't have to change anything. The diesel transmission fit perfectly on the preexisting transmission cross member and the driveline bolted right up too. I actually decided to use the driveline from the gas truck since it was brand new and recently balanced and trued. I felt very blessed to have that be so simple.

  12. #37

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    Well heres hoping I can attach the Diesel set up to the gas rear end. Both 4 wheel drives, standard trannies and 1985's. Thanks for your response.

  13. #38



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    Only thing I saw about the difference in rear ends in the manual(at least for 2nd gen, not sure if 1st is the same) was auto/long wheel base trucks had 3.54, and manual/regular wheel base trucks came with 3.909.

  14. #39




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    also spacecab / auto 2.6 trucks were 3.54
    Pennyman1
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    Living the D-50 lifestyle since 1980

  15. #40



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    Quote Originally Posted by pennyman1 View Post
    also spacecab / auto 2.6 trucks were 3.54

    Lol that's what I said

  16. #41




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    some people may not know the long bed standard cab and extended cab short bed are the same frame with different mounts.
    Pennyman1
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    Living the D-50 lifestyle since 1980

  17. #42

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    Both my trucks are regular cab, so should
    be good to go.

  18. #43

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    So this happened... (follow the video link)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmoeCPLG6XE
    If you felt a disturbance in the force that day as if millions of voices were screaming and then all silenced at once, it was because of this. Sorry for the delayed update. We made the move to Texas official and I've had limited access to internet in general, and time to play on the forum.

  19. #44

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    But then this happened a few days later...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruF5uqA6Hv8

    So ya my build is nearing its completion. I still have to put some of the inside back together like the dash and a few other perks but otherwise the truck really runs great. I am very pleased. I'll keep this post brief and go into more detail at a future time.

  20. #45

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    Wow nice !

  21. #46

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    So our move to Texas went pretty smoothly. I installed a nice hitch on the bus and made an attempt at wiring for trailer lights. We'll just say that buses weren't ever intended to be wired for trailer lights, and I didn't have time to do it the right way, plus it would have taken like 300 ft of wire to do it the right way. I had drive lights, brake lights, and all my indicators would flash when I'd signal, so people knew something was going to happen! It made the 1200 miles and that's all that matters. Named it Brut the bus.
    KIMG1264.jpg

    This weekend I took advantage of the extra day and did a little wiring and had some exhaust work done. With the new bored out cylinders and pistons and rings I think things are a little tighter than they were previously. The wiring that was on the 2.0 truck wasn't quite sufficient for my battery to my starter so I doubled the gauge almost and the starter was turning over much quicker after the new wiring. Made starting much easier. Then I took my old exhaust and had a small shop patch it up and put some nice hangers on for me.
    KIMG1281.jpg
    The truck is much quieter but still makes enough ruckus. After I had some lunch I went to hop in it and go tear into another project when the starter wouldn't give anything. I tried a few tricks and couldn't get it to turn over at all. I removed the starter and it would spin. I took it to a parts place and had them test it and it passed the test twice and failed once. I know that over the last few years every now and then it would act like it was bound up. If I put it in gear and rocked the truck a little, usually it would resolve the issue and then turn over. With the new engine I think it worked it and it finally gave up. After all my tests and seeing it work properly outside of a bell housing I put it back in and it's still a dud. It just must not have any guts left. I put one on order with a lifetime warranty and may run the old one to a rebuild guy this week to see what his thoughts are. It sort of deflated my spirits though since it had been running so nicely the past couple of days.
    Last edited by Uncle Spence; 01-25-2017 at 09:31 AM.

  22. #47

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    One other bit of drama with the truck. I bought the truck in 2015 and had it sort of just sitting around before the build. Now that I have it operating I went to transfer the title and get the truck registered in Texas. Well Texas penalizes you for not transferring the title over within 30 days. I knew that Idaho also had a fee associated with that of $20 but Texas is a little more intense. They keep adding money for each additional 30 days that you don't transfer the title. When I went to transfer the title they wanted to charge me $260 in fees plus a $90 fee to transfer it to a Texas title. They're crazy! I politely declined and am in the process of trying to determine a way around the $260 fee. The $90 I can't avoid.

    I kept the VIN plates from the old blue truck and have considered registering it as the original vehicle since I have the title and the VIN. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. Have some research yet to do.

  23. #48

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    Hi I've asked you some questions and appreciate your help. Hopefully you can answer a couple more. I have three 1985 Dodge D50 trucks, 2 gas 2.6 and 1 Diesel plus a extra Diesel engine both 2.3's.
    One of my gas bodies is the best one but might have a head gasket issue. So contemplating putting the other gas engine in. But I'm curious about installing the diesel setup. All the trucks are 4 wheel drive 5 speeds. So I could install the Diesel engine and tranny in one piece. My main question is how much connecting and adapting was there after the motor was in. Electrical, hydraulics, turbo cooler ect.?

  24. #49

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    I'll do my best to answer your questions RRanger.
    You have a few options for wiring... The gas and diesel have very different wiring harnesses. The gas has a wiring harness for all the lights and bells and whistles, and then a wiring harness that runs from the ECM and tells the carb what to do and does all the emission stuff. The diesel truck has everything combined into one harness.
    Your options...
    1. Completely remove both wiring harnesses from the gas pickup and put the diesel one in its place. It will only be a pain, in my opinion, when you start going towards the rear of the truck towards the taillights. Not a bad option though.
    2. Remove the ECM wiring harness from the gas truck, leave the main harness, and then rewire the necessities for the diesel to run properly.
    I went with number 2 and here's why. A lot of what is coming from the computer in the diesel truck has to do with the fuel sensors. Attached to the fuel filter is a probe in the top and one in the bottom and there's another one somewhere in the fuel system. Those never worked in the past so I just didn't worry about them. My diesel harness had also been molested by previous owners and so there were a few rats nests along the way, plus a poor job of wiring for trailer lights. I wanted to keep it clean.
    I swapped over my dash cluster thing so that I could keep track of the mileage but also have a tachometer since the gas truck didn't have one. So I had to wire the tach, fuel cut off switch, glow plug switch, and I did a few others that I wasn't totally sure what they did. Some day in the near future I'll try cutting those questionable wires while the truck is running and then turn it off and back on again to see if they are even necessary. The unknown wires were accounted for in the wiring diagram but I didn't know if they were necessary for the truck to start and I didn't want to take a chance. I just wanted the truck to start. I'm planning to eliminate as much as I can to keep it very simple.
    I had to cut a whole in the firewall to get my fuel filter to bolt up to it. That was really only a pain because the place I wanted to mount it was also the same place that the cable came through for the previous mechanical clutch cable. I removed that with a air chisel and then welded a new piece for my fuel filter to bolt to. It wasn't too bad, and I only started a small fire in the process.
    Lastly was the clutch pedal since the diesel transmission has a hydraulic clutch, and the gas has a mechanical clutch. It really wasn't too bad until I went to mount the actual clutch pedal. The little master cylinder wasn't too bad. I cut a big hole with a hole saw and made some measurements and got it mounted. The clutch pedal though has a bracket to support it so there isn't excessive pressure on the firewall... that was a pain in the neck.
    If you decide on option 1 for the wiring harness, make sure to install that clutch pedal bracket while there is no wiring in the way. I got it done but it was probably my least favorite part of the whole project and I may go back to it again someday to make some modifications. Wish I had had a plasma cutter.
    My truck didn't have an intercooler. I know that some of the 4D56T's came with them but mine doesn't and I had thought about putting one on at the beginning of my build but I already have a lot connected to the radiator support with the oil cooler, air conditioner, and radiator. I'm afraid I'd be loosing good flow with one more thing in the path. I'm fine with how it is for now.
    Otherwise, I used the drive line and rear end from the gas truck.
    I went to put the skid plate that came on the gas pickup and discovered the oil pan on the diesel is a tad bigger so I'll have to cut it some to get it to mount properly. Otherwise it really isn't very complicated. For the 2WD, the transmission cross member was the same so that made it easy. The mounts were the same too and the one from my diesel was really beat up so that was a win!
    I did have some wiring for the starter, as the battery from my diesel was behind the cab. I just talked about that though a few posts ago on the thread.
    I could probably ramble on, but I'll end it there. Let me know if you have anymore specific questions.

  25. #50

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    Thank you very much. I will do some looking and get back to you with any more questions.

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