97 PSD to 58 C60

markfuga

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I have this posted on another message board, so sorry to those that found it redundant. Looking for any feedback about the project or the video content (too long, not informative, annoying narrator, etc).

I read through a lot of posts on this message board and several others and was surprised by the lack of threads on transplanting a Powerstroke into older trucks. I was equally surprised by the generalized impression that the Powerstroke platform is too difficult to transplant because of all the wires, sensors and electronics.

I’m in the process of transplanting a 97 engine/transmission combo into a 58 Chevy 60 series and figured I’d document some of it along the way. I have the engine prepped and ready to be pulled so I made a short video to show where I’m at and some of my next steps. The video is 22 minutes of me blabbering about some of the basics. Sorry, no refunds on the time you waste listening to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IYaJur9V00
 

backwoodsboy

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Very cool man. Sounds like you have done your homework and have a solid understanding of what all will be involved in the swap. Look forward to seeing how things progress, definitely keep us posted.
By the way, that '58 is a real nice looking truck. Not a chevy man but even I can appreciate it.
 

bluedge8

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Beautiful truck! I haven't watched the whole vid yet but I think this would be an awesome platform for a rollback
 

markfuga

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Real progress this week! Got the engine set in there and found it's a tight fit (as expected) but a good fit overall. I cut the cross member out of the donor truck, sliced it down the center the long way and gusseted it back together. Worked out great! I'm starting on the transmission crossmember now, but will need to fab something new, the old one won't adapt easily like the engine member did. Believe it or not, plenty of room for a down pipe!
 

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97BambiBasherPSD

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That's lookin good. Actually looks like you've got some room in there. I'm curious to see what it looks like with the fenders hung on it


Sent from my Pear phone 5 using Tapatalk
 

markfuga

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After much adjusting, realigning and rebuilding 2 times I have the pedal assembly built and installed. The only thing I'm not pleased with is having to divorce the booster rod from the brake pedal but there's no other way to do it; so to compensate I went overkill on the material thicknesses. The pedal box is all 3/16 plate, the tube the brake pedal parts attach to is also 3/16 wall and the components that make up the brake pedal levers is 5/16. I "sistered" another lever alongside the brake pedal, welding it to the tube and the original booster rod pin and made 2 levers to push the booster rod.
 

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markfuga

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Accelerator pedal bracket.
 

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markfuga

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Here’s the latest update: Finishing up a box/bracket that holds all the electrical and electronics. I’m really happy with the way it turned out, considering there wasn’t much planning; rather I just started building and this is what I turned out. It mounts in the spot where the battery tray was and uses all four bolts that were for the tray. I built a water proof box for the PCM with a hole at the bottom that acts as both a breather and an outlet for the PCM chip cable. The back of the box (not installed yet) has a vent hole at the top with a hood to prevent water from entering. The IDM bolts to the box and the extended bracket holds the fuse box and engine harness connector. On top of the box I mounted the MAP sensor.

Next up is building a tray to hold the 2 batteries. I’m planning to mount the batteries under the cab, on the passenger side. Rough measurements indicate they’ll fit.
 

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markfuga

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Got the down pipe made.... only took 3 trys. I'm an absolute novice at pipe work. I made a bracket to support the pipe from sway since it's being routed under the transmission to exit on the drivers side. I'll be bolting a PTO onto the transmission on the passenger side. The ends of the bracket are intentionally close to the bolts to allow some flexability in the rubber that connects them.
 

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markfuga

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Well... Time to get started "for real"
 

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markfuga

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Progress update and my findings on how to make it fit:

The 7.3L is a WIDE and TALL motor that completely fills the engine compartment on the mid 50’s Chevy trucks, but it does fit in there. The original engine cross member will need a couple modifications to allow clearance for the front of the oil pan and harmonic balancer, plus a couple other things. The cross member needs to stay since it’s a structural component of the frame. See one of the pics on this post for the mods I did, they include: oil pan cut out, recess for harmonic balancer, cut out for the lower radiator hose and two cuts for radiator clearance.

There’s little room for a radiator so I went the custom built route versus fooling around with the original radiator. The radiator I designed is 24” wide by 36” tall and drops below the original engine cross member where it can meet the lower radiator hose. At 24” wide it fits the original radiator support and uses the original 6 bolts for attachment. The only modification needed on the radiator support (yet to be done) is cutting two small pieces from the top (one on each side) to allow space for the top tank. I’ll post more on this when I make this modification.

The original transmission cross member needs to be removed and discarded and a new cross member made for the ZF5 or E4OD. I have some reservation with removing it since it’s clearly a structural component that connects the left/right frame rails at the spring perch mounts, but there’s no way to keep it in there. Making a replacement “bridge” isn’t practical because of the size of the new transmission. The new cross member will mount much more rearward, so it doesn’t really do the job of the original member. However, an additional cross member is being added for the engine, so it “somewhat” offsets the removal of the original transmission cross member.

Depending on your steering setup (original box versus custom power steering) the engine will need to be placed about .75” off center to the passenger side. I’m keeping the original steering box, so I set the engine off center. If you’re working on a pickup chassis (I have a medium duty chassis) then you have several commercially available options for changing the steering and the suspension. In my case, I have none. If you remove the steering box and go with an “outboard box” then you can set the engine dead center. Also note, placing the engine off center gives room for the power steering pump to clear the inner fender. Placing the engine dead center will require some “massaging” of the inner fender to make clearance.

The other challenge with engine placement is leaving clearance at the firewall for the exhaust down pipe. I found a little firewall massaging with the 4lb hammer is required to “set” the clearance needed. I went with a custom built down pipe, but I did try a commercially available pipe first and found it fits fine with the light firewall massaging. The good news is there’s plenty of room for the up pipes and turbo because of the deep recess already in the cab.

Lastly, you will likely run into issues with clearance between the bottom of the oil pan (rear sump area) and the top of the axle. This is not an issue with the medium duty chassis since it sits very high compared to a pickup truck. If you’re working on a 4x4 truck and have it lifted then it won’t be an issue either, but if you’re working on a “slammed” 2wd you’ll have to convert the suspension to an A-frame style.

More to come as I make progress and get past the next step
 

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markfuga

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Here are two pics showing how the lower radiator hose will work. The hose used is the original hose, just cut short at the coupler for the degauss bottle. This made for an easy and somewhat elegant solution.
 

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markfuga

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No big updates despite lots of effort. I’ve been working at it fairly steadily over the last couple weeks and made good progress but it’s all in small details. Engine and transmission have been placed and bolted in. The down pipe I made was a little too tight so I cut it up and made a new one (pics coming soon). The firewall “massaging” turned into a beating but worked out well. I shuffled the engine a little further back and more towards the passenger side (off center) which is why the down pipe needed rebuilding and the extra firewall work was necessary. Just for grins here’s a couple pics of the “before and after” engines and the firewall work.
 

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FrankTheTank

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This is an awesome build. Glad to see so e cool builds back. I was thinking of that same type of build with a 60 ford 1.5 ton truck someone offered to me for 3,000. Keep the pics and progress coming
 

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