Ok, I finally picked up a tranny for my cummins 6at and I'm heading down to the shop to work out some clutch details. The cummins has a chev bellhousing. It came from a UPS truck and was set up to replace the 292 chev six they were built with. This 6at was made in 1988 and UPS ran them for about 8 or 9 years until the drivers were sick of glow-plugging and the noise. They were pulled in the late 90's and replaced with gm v6 power. A bunch of the 6ats came on the market at that time. It's no powerhouse being only 210 cu in and 120 hp, but they work really well the way I use a truck. My 54 GMC has had one for about 10 years. I bought it from a friend who did the conversion. The jimmy has a th 400 auto but this time I'm gonna do it my way. The tranny is an sm465 4 spd from a '77 chev 3/4 ton 2wd and was behind a 454. I just need to do the research and find what clutch and presure plate and throw out bearing to use. Looks like the chev bellhousing on the cummins used a hydraulic clutch, which is sweet because so does the fridge. Does anyone know the dia of the fridge clutch mc? I've been told the slave has to have the same bore. Once I have the engine/tranny coupled, I'll pull the whole nose off the fridge and dig in. While the engine is out, I'll fix the floors and check out the front cab mounts. They seem ok, but that's the time to do any work in there. I guess I'll probably do this as a build thread, maybe even starting at the beginning with the rear end swap and front axle and spring work. When it's all done I will have done just as much work as some of the hot rod guys, but it will still have manual brakes and steering and will have to downshift going up a hill. Call me old school, it won't insult me..........

 

I would think that "old School", would be taken as a compliment!

I believe the MC bore for the clutch is 1 1/16". However, I think the slave bore is 7/8". At any rate, it is smaller than the MC. By the looks of your pics, you are having a lot of fun with the old weasel engine.

 

Nice shop...nice property...nice truck!

 

Thanks. Got the bellhousing off the diesel, pulled the clutch cover and it's all chevy just like the one in stock at napa. I had done some previous measuring on my way home from a jobsite. It's a 12" clutch. Still need to find out which chev slave cyl fits the bracket on the bellhousing. I might take the one from the 223 and make a bracket. Heck, I just bought that cylinder in October. I still had some time as my other half was working late, so I heated all the bolts I could find holding the nose section of the truck and got them loose and sprayed them with pb blaster. Here's what I found. Is this all there is? One each side at the bottom corner of front fender, one each side in a window between the door hinges, 3 each side in an 'L' shaped bracket near the hood hinges, and a big stud either side of the radiator surrounded by a spring. These came out at the course thread on the bottom of the stud. I considered that good as I wont have to lift the nose up and over the tall studs. Bad part is I won't be able to cruise over to my buddie's places in it on weekends. I hate it when a running vehicle becomes a dead hulk and can't move under it's own power, but it will be worth it because it's my ultimate tonner build, done my way. So far the truck was 600.00, the 9' box was 600.00, the cummins was 1000.00 and the tranny 175,00. The tires and wheels as well as the sterling 10 1/4 rear axle came from a '92 f350 dually I bought for 200.00 and later sold for 350.00 to the scrappers. Watching 'gold rush' now.......

 

Hey JB there are two studs on the inside holding the fenders to the cowel. one above the top hinge and a second one halfway down inside the "window" between the top and bottom hinges.Like the shop as well -looks clean, organized ,and well used-- just as they're ment to be. Mark

 

I have worked for Frito Lay for 22 years as a fleet mechanic, we used to have a lot of trucks with Cummins 4BT and 6BT engines. They had an adapter plate that mated up the same transmission you have, but had manual clutch linkages. They switched to turbo 400's years ago, because they couldn't find drivers who knew how to drive 4-speeds. I have a new clutch and pressure plate in my basement, and I think I have an old flywheel at my shop laying under a bench(not positive, but will check). I also may have part numbers for all the linkage pieces at the shop. I loved the Cummins engines, with the 4-speeds they were bullet proof, and very easy to maintain. I would guess if you wanted to use a hydraulic slave cylinder, it would be very easy to adapt to the transmission.

 

I ran down to the shop last night with a flashlight and sure enough there was that stud above the door hinge. Looks like I'll have to pull outwards on the rear end of the fenders so I can clear those studs whem I'm removing the nose of the truck. Thanks for the help. Question about terminology.... The term 'front clip'. Does that refer to the assembly of the grille, rad support, inner and outer fenders that I'll be pulling? Sometimes I see 'mustang front clip' in an ad for a vintage vehicle and I know they are refering to the front axle/suspension steering etc. Which is correct? And pepperdyne thanks for the encouragement. I went back and forth many times on this swap, but made my mind up last week.

 

GB, I've heard the term used for both items mentioned for so long that I've just gotten used to it meaning 'either or'.
I put a '76 Camaro front suspension under my '56 F-100 and to many/most, that's a front clip.
I also like the looks of your shop and admire the projects that you undertake. I have a '57 fridge waiting in the wings for my attention so am partial to yours.

 

Not much progress for a Saturday, but we had lots to do. I did get all the bolts for the 'front clip' loose as well as the hood bolts. As soon as my employee and son show up, we'll lift it all off and then I can get down to the nuts and bolts of how I'm gonna support this 700+ lb engine in there. It helps that the frame is huge. When they started this series of F350 in '53, they used the frame from the F4. The engine mounts on the diesel are about mid way down the block and I'm not sure if I need a crossmember at that point or just mounts between the frame rails. The cummins mounts are rubber isolated and at 45 degrees, so I see a couple of pcs of heavy wall tubing comoing off the frame rails at 45 degrees or should I build a crossmember that spans across the frame and has a 'saddle' on it? It looks like I will support the tail end off the rear of the tranny and that definately means a fabricated crossmember there. I'm jumping the gun here.... I'll get some photos after I have a empty frame. Family members have said I'm just like a kid when I dig into something like this...... Thinking I'll buy the clutch, pressure plate and tob from napa. I'll need that to measure the stuff I need for the slave cyl. Pepperdyne, are you wanting to part with your stuff. But shipping?..........

 

The clutch was free to me, so it would be free to you, it would just cost you shipping. If anyone else wanted one, I have 2 of them. It will help me in the process of cleaning my basement.

 

Gary, if you wanted, you could drive the box truck over and pick the stuff up. You could swing up by my place for a rest stop and a mere 10 thousand miles later or so you would be home with your free clutch!

 

Wow! Thanks Pepperdyne. Work has been slow or I would have already bought the assembly at napa! We should do a measurement check first on account of mine being an 'A' series engine as opposed to the 'B' series in the frito trucks, but using same tranny, it seems quite promising. ..... OK, here goes: Clutch cover, 6 bolts (3/8") on a 12 5/8" circle. Clutch disc can be no larger than 11 7/8 dia. I think the one at napa measured 11 3/4-11 7/8 (it was wrapped in plastic). If this works we can PM the arrangements. Holding my breath in Olga.....

 

Clutch disc is 11 inches in diameter, pressure plate has 6 holes, they are 12 3/8 center to center, not sure if they will work for you.

 

Well, It was a great try, but I guess that isn't gonna work. Thanks anyways

 

I researched the part number for the clutch, it is for Fords. We had Ford chassis route trucks in the early 1980's with 4BT engines adapted to a Ford transmission, so that is the story on these clutches. Sorry to get your hopes up.