Not reinventing the wheel. I am basically taking a cummins and using taking the body off my truck to put on it, except backwards lol. Depends on the frame of the donor truck really. Id do what your doing, but I don't have the $$$$ to do so. Ill be ahead to spend under 2 k on a donor truck. That puts me at around 10 grand invested in a cummins including my truck now.

Besides that, its a labor of love. I don't wanna just "Buy" a cummins that works, I wanna build one . Makes it feel more important. Either way, its cheaper to go this way and Ive done quite a bit of work to the interior of my truck already like aftermarket ABS dash to replace cracked one (actually missing altogether for the most part) and some exterior cosmetics. Its getting painted black as well this summer and I will not get back out what I put in if I sell it. I might as well just convert and have a diesel to jack around with for awhile. Ill get a newer truck later once Ive got started with farming.

 

its actually no where near as bad as you might think, i converted my v-10 over and in the process of converting a 99 to a 4bt

as said before, the 24v started at 98.5, if you start with a "good" wrecked cummins, it will be quite simple as long as you have a 98 12v or a 98.5-02 24v as a doner, anyother years and you got a mess with electrical and accessories, but it can still be done, just gets costly, i bought a wercked 94 to convert my 98 and had to find things like the 98+ aftercooler, a/c condenser, and the 98-98.5 12v engine harness and pcm... porblem is they only made that setup for 1/2 a year, so used parts are kinda hard to come by, the frames are a little different, but it will all bolt in and the frame should be just fine as it is with out being modified

 

Reliability definitely will be a big factor. Another thing Ive wondered about is can you chip/tune these regardless of year? I will extend my search from 94-01 cummins if everything will swap over and work like tuners, cruise, etc. I know tuners would have to be specific to the cummins, but wb cruise? Can't really change that.

 

can only chip the 24v.... with the correct doner vehical or buying the correct parts, all the accessories will function as they should, my 98 is as it would have come from the factory

 

As said, you don't "chip" or program 12 valves. All mechanical injection and timing (p-pump), which is why it's considered reliable. 2nd gen 3/4 & 1 tons go to 2002 not 2001. Cruise control is dependent on the truck options package.

 

If you have an auto you can just forget about cruise unless you live out in kansas where its always flat. It gear hunts like crazy

 

Speaking as a 12 valve auto owner, cruise works fine, but both motor and trans have been tinkered with. Hell, even with a >10k pound trailer in tow it didn't hunt on flat land.

 

There was always a little part of me that wanted to swap a 12 valve in my 1500, it has a lot of centimental value to me. I like the idea of a 12 valve because it's a pretty self sufficient engine so my truck could just remain out of the loop on what the engine is doing and I would be less likely to have check engine codes that never go away. My $.02

 

There two horse power ratings for the 5.9 24 valve diesel. 1998.5 thru 2002 the HP for the automatic is 215 horses and the manual trans is 235 horses. If you have a automatic transmission, you would the 215 hp engine. In 2003 the horse power went to 305 hp for both the auto and manual trans. If you want to install the 235 hp engine, you will need to switch all the parts off your old engine. Even the fuel injectors.

 

Ive been seeing some stuff about auto/manual trans. My current truck is a auto. When I get a donor truck,itll be a manual and preferably a 6 speed. Basically, the only thing that stays original to my truck is the frame and body. Any computers, wiring, etc, etc, is getting switched. Ill sell off the left over parts from my original truck. D44s are in high demand around here plus engine and what ever else.