leftcoast12v
New member
Admittedly, I for years have been a mechanical injection fan boy. I have brushed aside advancements, while continuing to be a martyr on how mechanical injection is superior. I have since reprimanded myself and my flawed ideals. That being said, I started this journey in 2019. The beginning of this journey began with "ruining", as many have said, a 1996 federal 215 5 speed truck. I was beyond tired of a 5 speed, having slow shifting and constant worries of breaking parts in it. I found a built constant pressure 48re and purchased it. It was a fire sale of sort by a local who failed to follow through with a 48 swap on a 4th gen truck. I removed the NV4500 and put her in storage for old time sakes. I installed the 48re and paired it with an anteater. It woke the old 12 valve up and she actually felt quick. At the same time, I rebuilt the 12 valve myself, learning along with way. I must admit I have a bad habit of winging it. In this case it came back to make me pay for my transgressions. This was my first motor I had rebuilt. Well, I made several mistakes on the way and learned from them. My biggest mistake was not using Loctite or other type of sealant or adhesive on the oil galley plugs. I blew out the oil galley plug underneath the tappet cover gasket. This was relatively easy to diagnose with a bore scope. I fixed this with Loctite and sent her on her way. Knowing what i know now, but did not know then, I should have addressed the one behind the cam gear, R&R'd it. Well time went by, and I ended up putting 1,500 miles or so on the engine. This was during the beginning of covid so many parts were not available. Ie, genuine cummins oil pressure sensors. I had my Harbor Freight mechanical gauge installed and sitting on the window while driving as I felt morally inclined to do so. After many locked shifts and burned tires I blew the front plug. Ironically, it had to run several minutes before I noticed. During this same time frame I purchased a running 2006 engine and all accessories for a very fair price. I jokingly told myself if I ever hurt the 12 valve I am going to put this engine in. My motto historically has been if I have a spare of something I never will have an issue with the original item.
This is where the real rabbit hole begins.
I began reading posts from Rick Fox and others who have done this previously. I ended up purchasing a stand-alone harness from Firepunk for the 5.9. I was leaning towards a sloppy transition of thowing a used motor in my truck and running her hard until something gave or did not. I purchased a 14mm pump, ARP 625, valve train and other items. With more and more insight being had daily and my power goal increasing, I came to another crossroads. After talking with my wife and getting a "Go for it", I called up and began making some big purchases. I sold off a bunch of parts I had for the 12v and parts i had collected from waffles, including wagler billet rods:rockwoot: After selling off a ton of items I purchased a d&j 6.7. Now this is where the fun begins. I raided all the accessories off the 5.9 and installed them onto the 6.7. I had to call around to determine what injectors to run. I went with the small bowl 6.7 and wanted to still use a cm849 for tuning reasons. After Rick explained to me that I wanted 03/04 injectors, I called up Flux and ordered a set of 250%. I installed the engine soon after using VP engine motor mounts which worked directly with my frame brackets without issue. Living in a desert valley I did not want to run electric fans. So with more help from Rick I purchased a murray fan clutch, part number mtc 2791 and a murray plastic fan, part number fa72602. The fan was 23.25'' diameter. Since the oem fan shroud was 22'', I took a grinder to the plastic and with the help of a jig got it trimmed down accordingly. This has worked great to my surprise. I wanted to ensure my OEM dash cluster worked, which has been significantly easier than I expected it to be. For oil pressure I ended up using a non cummins oil pressure sending unit, as oem is still on backorder with no ETA. I installed it into the oil filter housing 1/8'' npt port. For the voltage I ran the power wire from the back of the alternator to the 12 valve OEM PDC. The coolant sensor I am currently still working on, the oem 12 valve coolant sensor is 3/4'' npt. I plan on putting it on a lathe, turning it down and then using a die to thread to 1/2'' npt. Once the sensor is the right size it will be installed on the head coolant ports above the exhaust manifold. My tachometer is using a digital dakota dash tach adapter. One of my most annoying hurdles was deciding what to do for a booster on my brakes and power steering lines. This truck did not come with hydroboost. I debated on swapping the truck but decided against it as this trucks brakes have always been great. I purchased a LEED brake bandit vacuum pump, part number leb-vp002. This has worked great thus far! The brakes feel as good as ever. The power steering pump I am running 6an lines to a derale heat sink. The 2006 CTD power steering pump fitting was a m16x1.5, my steering gearbox was m18x1.5 for pressure side and the return side was m16x1.5. I am hoping a derale 13266 has enough heat sink capabilities to be effective. I mounted it in between Bumper frame brackets or frame horns.
Another item I addressed included changing the ball and spring in my fass 260 to the low pressure for the cp3.
Thus far we have put a few hundred miles on this setup and I am loving every minute of it. I am still finding oddball things I need to finish up, like the AC system. That is next on my list of things to address. I am going to try to keep up with updating issues I may run into on here.
This is where the real rabbit hole begins.
I began reading posts from Rick Fox and others who have done this previously. I ended up purchasing a stand-alone harness from Firepunk for the 5.9. I was leaning towards a sloppy transition of thowing a used motor in my truck and running her hard until something gave or did not. I purchased a 14mm pump, ARP 625, valve train and other items. With more and more insight being had daily and my power goal increasing, I came to another crossroads. After talking with my wife and getting a "Go for it", I called up and began making some big purchases. I sold off a bunch of parts I had for the 12v and parts i had collected from waffles, including wagler billet rods:rockwoot: After selling off a ton of items I purchased a d&j 6.7. Now this is where the fun begins. I raided all the accessories off the 5.9 and installed them onto the 6.7. I had to call around to determine what injectors to run. I went with the small bowl 6.7 and wanted to still use a cm849 for tuning reasons. After Rick explained to me that I wanted 03/04 injectors, I called up Flux and ordered a set of 250%. I installed the engine soon after using VP engine motor mounts which worked directly with my frame brackets without issue. Living in a desert valley I did not want to run electric fans. So with more help from Rick I purchased a murray fan clutch, part number mtc 2791 and a murray plastic fan, part number fa72602. The fan was 23.25'' diameter. Since the oem fan shroud was 22'', I took a grinder to the plastic and with the help of a jig got it trimmed down accordingly. This has worked great to my surprise. I wanted to ensure my OEM dash cluster worked, which has been significantly easier than I expected it to be. For oil pressure I ended up using a non cummins oil pressure sending unit, as oem is still on backorder with no ETA. I installed it into the oil filter housing 1/8'' npt port. For the voltage I ran the power wire from the back of the alternator to the 12 valve OEM PDC. The coolant sensor I am currently still working on, the oem 12 valve coolant sensor is 3/4'' npt. I plan on putting it on a lathe, turning it down and then using a die to thread to 1/2'' npt. Once the sensor is the right size it will be installed on the head coolant ports above the exhaust manifold. My tachometer is using a digital dakota dash tach adapter. One of my most annoying hurdles was deciding what to do for a booster on my brakes and power steering lines. This truck did not come with hydroboost. I debated on swapping the truck but decided against it as this trucks brakes have always been great. I purchased a LEED brake bandit vacuum pump, part number leb-vp002. This has worked great thus far! The brakes feel as good as ever. The power steering pump I am running 6an lines to a derale heat sink. The 2006 CTD power steering pump fitting was a m16x1.5, my steering gearbox was m18x1.5 for pressure side and the return side was m16x1.5. I am hoping a derale 13266 has enough heat sink capabilities to be effective. I mounted it in between Bumper frame brackets or frame horns.
Another item I addressed included changing the ball and spring in my fass 260 to the low pressure for the cp3.
Thus far we have put a few hundred miles on this setup and I am loving every minute of it. I am still finding oddball things I need to finish up, like the AC system. That is next on my list of things to address. I am going to try to keep up with updating issues I may run into on here.
