New Member and New to Chevys

[new2cvy]

Hello to all.

I am new to the Chevy world. I am a Dodge/Toyota guy. Most of my builds are fairly straight forward with factory resto's and bolt on upgrades. Simplicity is reliable from my experience.

I did just come into an immaculate 2002 Duramax though and this got my mind racing. The truck is in great condition, but I hate the body style and it is a short bed. I want to strip the drive train out and install into a crew cab long bed square body. I have seen posts of cummins swaps and even a few powerstroke's but I cannot find anything for a duramax swap. There are a few body swaps, but I am not interested in those. I know this is the "Problem Child" duramax, but during this process all those issues will be sorted, with full rebuilds and bulletproofing.

Can someone please point me in the direction of these types of swaps? I would like to start reading more on this so I can see the pitfalls and see the complexity of this project.

Thank you in advance.

New 2 Chevys...

 

[bucket]

Howdy!

I don't think you will find much info, other than finding people saying it's a complicated and expensive swap. If you go through with the swap though, I'll bet there's going to be a LOT of people hoping you post how it goes every step of the way.

And I disagree, lol. The '01-'02 Chevy HD front end was among the best they have ever done. Coming in behind everything between '55 and '87 ('91) of course.

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Welcome ain’t nothing to it but to do it!

 

[74 Shortbed]

Welcome aboard..

 

[1973c10]

Welcome

 

[RustyPile]

Keep us informed on your progress..

 

[Dieseldave01]

Nice sounding project. Just from looking around online, precisionfabricationplus.com makes duramax into squarebody parts.


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[Dieseldave01]

And I agree I love the 01-02 Chevy duramax, I've had both a 01 and 02 duramax.


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[MrMarty51]

I love diesel, I love new diesel in old trucks.
Welcome to the forum and yes, please post pics of the progress, curious minds wants to watch.

 

[new2cvy]

Nice sounding project. Just from looking around online, precisionfabricationplus.com makes duramax into squarebody parts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Amazing find. That is what I have been looking for! THANK YOU

 

[WFO]

Welcome from the Texas Panhandle.

 

[new2cvy]

Howdy!

I don't think you will find much info, other than finding people saying it's a complicated and expensive swap. If you go through with the swap though, I'll bet there's going to be a LOT of people hoping you post how it goes every step of the way.

And I disagree, lol. The '01-'02 Chevy HD front end was among the best they have ever done. Coming in behind everything between '55 and '87 ('91) of course.

I know its going to be expensive. But I am at a stage of buying a 60K truck.... that I hate, be it Dodge, Ford or Chevy. Or spend 60K on a truck that will be exactly what I want. I just sold my 2015 F350 because I hated the electronics. My 2014 Tundra is on the outs, because of the electronics as well. I like the squares, favorite truck I have right now is my 97 Powerstroke. No electronics to speak of, reliable engine and PAID OFF!

Moving forward with this build will be very complicated but I am hoping to get another lifetime truck with the reliability I am looking for. I wanted to do this type of build with an 85 Dodge Crew and a 24v cummins but the cost just for the trucks was through the roof. So far I have 2k into my duramax, The engine/Trans rebuils will put me in the 12k range and I have a 79 crew dually on the line right now for about 700...

With a working budget between 40 and 60, I think it should be something special.

I will keep this post going once I get the ball rolling a bit more!

 

[new2cvy]

So, I spoke too soon on one of my replies. I said I was looking at a 79. I originally contacted a guy for a 76 SRW, and he came back with this 82 dually. Pretty set on this Iron Pig now.

Build plan so far, Duramax, Allison swap. 4x4 conversion (found that people want an arm and a leg for factory 4x).

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[Dieseldave01]

Amazing find. That is what I have been looking for! THANK YOU

No problem!


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[bucket]

So, I spoke too soon on one of my replies. I said I was looking at a 79. I originally contacted a guy for a 76 SRW, and he came back with this 82 dually. Pretty set on this Iron Pig now.

Build plan so far, Duramax, Allison swap. 4x4 conversion (found that people want an arm and a leg for factory 4x).

You must be registered for see images attach

Those aftermarket grab handles on that '82 are unobtainium. If one falls off, make sure you don't lose an end piece. You can find other styles all day long, but not those ones.