How does it drive? I bet its nice having gobs of torque just off idle. Keep us updated, I ould love to hear at kind of mileage you get ih it.

 

it drives better than i could have ever imagined! and the torque is amazing, just pushing on the throttle a little from a stop, the engine sounds like its not even doing anything and it will make the tires talk a little, had it up past 85 mph very easy, and is just as smooth, quite and comfortable there as it is as 25 mph

i been cruising it around a little, but no big distance yet as i dont have the trans cooler in yet (i broke the factory one installing, waiting on the new one) it doesnt seem to be going through much fuel at all, and gps shows 1600 rpm @ 60 mph with the 245's, i couldnt be happier with that

just got the 4'' exhaust on yesterday, and it sounds really good, more like a 3rd gen dodge CTD at an idle, and good little roar under load, it does sound a little different and is enough to turn heads, but it still sounds like a cummins and the turbo whistle is very noticable

 

a little more follow up here

the gas 360 a/c compressor will not work, it was throwing the belt 2 groves off the back of the pully, a little measuring confirmed the pully was about 3/8'' foward compared to the diesel compressor, i now have the diesel compressor mounted and in the process of adapting the hoses, on a side note, i now have almost 1'' more clearence to the pass. side frame rail. and a 7 groove 80'' belt from summit for $25 was a perfect fit

still playing with shift points a little but it is doing really well, dont have many miles on it yet but so far what i have done hasnt moved the needle at all

coulpe more things to tidy up after a few more of my ebay auctions sell, like a new radiator and a set of head lights, then it will be off to paint, thinking of going black again with some synergy green highlights here and there

 

anyone know what the fuel tank capacity is on this truck? took it on a little drive this weekend a little over 80 mile trip and it burned less than an 1/8 of a tank, mostly hwy with some city, it was a very comfortable ride and even pretty quiet witch suprized me with the 4'' straight pipe, so far i cant ask for much more except for a little more power, but i'm not going to turn it up till it gets passed by the california smog ref

 

Short bed will have 26 gallon tank, long bed may have 35 gallon tank. The top part of the tank goes slowly, once below around half a tank, you will think you have a sweep second hand instead of a gas gauge.

 

it must have the 26, short bed and definatly smaller than my other trucks, i just didnt have a way to moniter the gallons when i filled it, i may be off when i say 1/8 tank, the gauge maby moved two needle widths, im hoping that by the time it is finalized it will be 25mpg + if not 30+, (my 98 in the sig pic with 37 13.50's on it will get 25 on the hwy)then we can get rid of the dart and another payment, the woman drives 100 miles a day for work, so this thing may be a money maker

 

some more updates... it goes in on the 6th to see the smog reff and try to pass the BAR exam,

the fuel usage is getting lower and lower, i had quite a fuel leak i was unaware of for who knows how long...( the one piece of 3'' long hose i didnt replace) and at 60 psi it was turning it into a vapor, wasnt till it got really bad that i finally noticed, and i have the trans shifting almost perfect, now i just need to get an actual milage count on it

also have a color scheme picked out, going to go all black with synergy green accents, the single off set stripe, (bumper to bumper) going to paint on custom 1500 badges, and paint a ram logo bed stripe all in the green, and probably also black out the wheels and possibly put some green accents in the wheels too

 

Great project...this is being featured today on the DF Front Page.

 

Cool truck

My fuel gauge is tricky in the 98 too. It also reads empty with 5 gallons left in the tank :/

 

some more updates!

well sometime between my conversion on my 98 2500, and this 1500 conversion, this wonderfull "piece of a state" changed the laws, and basically there is absolutely no way i can register this setup, but i did find a way around it for the next 2 yerars, and after that i will probably just have to swap titles and vins from a 94-97 2500 diesel and i will be good to go


on another note, i got some tuning done pulled the afc apart, shimed it for full travel, and installed a lighter spring in it, that made a huge low end and acceration difference,but still had a over all feeling of being in an under powered pickup, last night i finally got ahold of the full fuel adjustment, it was a huge PITA to get to and required special tools to get apart, but that brought it too life! i would say it has the feeling of just a slightly above stock 12v (6 cyl)

it was running about 19 psi stock but very slow to get there,and running a max EGT of about 1000* with the afc mods it built almost instant boost still at 19 psi/1000*, with the fuel adjustment, it went to 21 psi and opened the wastegate and was running a hair over 1250* max, then i caped the waste gate, that brought it up to just shy of 30 psi and brought the temps back down to 1000* max

now its time to get a set of injectors in it, and get to work on the compound turbo setup