One of these days i'm going to build a 50 Chevrolet pickup with a Duramax. I know there are some guys on here that have retrofitted duramax's into other vehicles and I wanted to pick your alls brains to start getting some ideas together for the project. Any and all input is welcome and helpful!

Frame:

I would prefer not build a full custom frame (I may have to). Do you guys think I would be better off starting with a standard wheelbase Chevrolet equipped frame and fitting the 50 body to that frame? I have researched a little and I think the wheelbase would have to be shortened by 16" and the real issue comes with the width. I think it is 6" wider overall. Wider fenders might work but I doubt the cab would sit correctly on the frame or look right.

I could also front clip the 50 frame as most do with a 67-69 camaro/68-72 nova front subframe. Then fab the motor mounts and fit the duramax engine to this frame. I'm not sure how well this would work.

I'm open to any other suggestions also.

Electrical:

I would think I would use a factory engine and transmission computer, using EFI Live I believe I could pretty much do anything I wanted, however I'm guessing I would have to do quite a bit of hacking into this harness. I could also have a custom harness made, not sure who could or would make one for me for this application. Any suggestions?

I think these should be the 2 major things with the build unless I am missing something...any help, info, or personal experiences would be great!

Thanks for the help!

PPE will take a factory harness and pull it apart and set it up to work with minumum connections for you. The price sounds high at first, but once you realize all of the work and time that you WILL spend if you choose to do it yourself it is worth it. I'm cheap and have alot of patience and time, and also am very good with wiring so I did my own and integrated it in to my 95's. Depending on which year DMAX you go with will affect certain aspects of the conversion, but there all doable for the most part. EFILIVE and a PPE can disable the theft system and allow them to run as a stand-alone. You will get a U1000 code, but it doesn't turn on the light(The U1000 is due to all of the modules not being on the bus and the BCM's dedicated circuit being dead). I also have a code for the fuel sending unit, but again no light from it. As for the engine mounting, I used my stock frame and such. Just make sure whatever way you go it can handle the weight of the DMAX and ALLISON(if you go that route), or whatever you tranny you go with. Also keep in mind the torque factor as a DMAX will twist a frame alot harder than most big blocks can. I would think a good front halved chassis with a light cage tied into it would work very well.

I am doing the same thing to a '61 Chev. Apachie 4X4.
Have fun!!

Thanks for the infor guys! I checked out the PPE website and saw that engine harness. It didn't have a price listed with it though...

Keep it comin guys!

I would be interested in seeing the pics for the project. Thefermanator, you need to upgrade your garage so we can see your gmt-400 dmax.

I would be interested in seeing the pics for the project. Thefermanator, you need to upgrade your garage so we can see your gmt-400 dmax.

As per your request I put a few in there for yeah and updated the info a bit.

We're about to start on my brothers 67 Chevy K20 4x4. Just got the motor here on Sunday.

IIRC PPE quoted me like $900 for the harness. Give them a call. They will do ours.

We're about to start on my brothers 67 Chevy K20 4x4. Just got the motor here on Sunday.

IIRC PPE quoted me like $900 for the harness. Give them a call. They will do ours.

Personally I would reccomed doing the harness yourself if you have a little patience, soldering gun, heat gun, and LOTS of heat shrink tubing. I integrated mine into the factory 95 harness and it really wasn't that bad of a job. Mine was an 01 so I can't speak for the later harness, but I don't think it would be that much harder. I went into ALLDATA printed off the diagrams then sat down with a notepad and made some notes on which wires to splice and then hooked em in. I spent about 6 or 7 hours integrating the 2 harness's to make it work factory while retaining the 95 dash and cluster, and another 2 or 3 taping and pulling it up.

As per your request I put a few in there for yeah and updated the info a bit.
Thanks man, I am always interested in stuff like that.

That sounds like a cool project. Is there any way we could get a "Conversions & Hybrids" section set aside on the forum? That's what it's called over on ls1tech.com anyway.

I recently decided that I'm going to put a duramax in my 1990 454SS truck.