October 2024
Not a lot to report here but I did some more work on the wiring and I painted the cab. Not a lot of work, but work that had to be done.
A lot of the painting was what I call Spray and Pray because there was no way to get a gun into those areas so you just squeeze the trigger and let the paint flow. It was all good though. The hardest part was getting the cab moved around from one position to another so that I could paint it all. Next up will be to mount it permanently to the frame.
Summer and Fall 2025
Late May I found a new engine on FB Market in Michigan and I decided to pick it up. Here it is loaded in the back of my RAM 1500 for the trip back home.
I got the engine home and got it mounted to an engine stand. Here is what I was starting with. Yes, the 6.5L Diesel is Orange. The young man I got it from was going to put in in a late 60 C-10 but decided to go with a Chevy big block instead. He’s change of heart was my win. When I picked this engine up, I got to hear it start and run.
I soon got to work and stripped the engine down. I removed all the old parts like the intake and exhaust manifolds. I found that the water pump was no good because when I spun it it made grinding noises. The harmonic balancer was also bad so the water pump and the balancer were replaced with new. I also painted the engine black which is more correct for mid-90’s GM but added some OD parts like valve covers and oil pan to make it more military. I was very happy to find that the motor has ARP Head studs. I installed the intake and exhaust manifolds with ARP bolts also. The engine came with a gasket set which was very helpful in replacing the water pump and putting the new intake and exhaust manifolds on as well as the oil pan after I cleaned and inspected it and repainted it.
By this point it was late July early August and I had just gotten the Turbo installed and my custom crossover pipe. I had to make a bracket to hold the dipstick in so that it wasn’t flopping around.
I continued to slowly put the engine back to the special configuration that the M37 was requiring. Adding a part here and there. I had to modify the oil pressure sender because of the location of the custom crossover pipe for the turbo. It ended up not being the finial position. I also added the oil feed and return lines for the turbo.
I then started to install the pulleys and the Alternator. I used the pulleys off of a 6.2/6.5 non-turbo HMMWV engine. I had to also installed a rebuilt Power Steering Pump as well. But when I went to install the belts for the pump and alternator I found a problem in my build. I my desire to make a beefy mount for the power steering pump and the alternator, I had moved the pump and alternator forward on the motor by about 5/16 of an inch. Thus, when I installed the belts, they were not straight and had a little tilt to them. So, I had to make a new bracket for the alternator and the steering pump that wasn’t as thick. It’s still very strong as it’s out of 3/16″ steel. The original plate was made with two 1/4″ steel plates welded together to make it 1/2″ thick. Using the 3/16 made everything align properly.
When I was waiting on parts for the engine, I got my oldest grandson to help me install the steering column and the brake and gas pedals as well as the brake master cylinder and hydro boost.
Thanks to my good friend Barrman, I was able to convert the injector pump from 12v to 24V GI set up. Thank you Barrman for helping me out. I also scored off of the site the E of Bay the hens tooth diesel TV Cable bracket. Which I installed and led me to rethink my oil pressure sender position. As you can see, I moved it out of the way of the TV bracket and now it’s too close to the cross over pipe. So, I moved it yet again to get it up out of the way of the exhaust and hopefully keep it cool.
It is now November and I’ve got the belts all on, I’ve added a new Wix oil filter and 8 quarts of Rotella 15W-40 synthetic oil to her and it’s just about ready to stab in the truck. Just need to get a working transmission and figure out a radiator that will work and hopefully I can post a video of it running. In the words of the great Chinese Mechanical Philosopher “Time and Money must play nice together in order to complete projects.” – Confusion the Mechanic.
Stay Tuned more to come!