Occasionally, I've idly considered that it would be nice to have a 6.5 turbo and 4L80E transmission in my 1986 HMMWV. I believe that I've read that the 6.5 turbo more or less drops in, but the 4-speed transmission and newer model of transfer case require frame and/or support modifications.
Do any of y'all have any comments regarding the practicality, difficulty and expense of upgrading an original HMMWV to the newer powerplant and drivetrain, vs. just trading the whole truck for one of the rare (?) A2 trucks on the surplus market?
My tendency would be to keep my existing truck, since I've already put so much effort and expense into fixing it up and converting it over to a shelter carrier. However, if retrofitting it with a newer drivetrain would end up costing as much as swapping the whole truck for a different one...
Yeah, this is probably one of those projects that I'd always think about but never actually do, but I hope I'm not the only daydreamer here on the forum!
Other possible upgrades that are on my list include:
* 3-point seatbelt MWO
* parking brake MWO
* 12-bolt rims and radial tires
* home-made hard-top for cab
* better thermal/noise insulation for cab
* air conditioning
Being a radio collector, I have a hard time imagining not having a shelter carrier... yet I've always loved the look of the slant-backs, and I do not yet have any armored and/or weapon-carrying trucks in my motor pool. Maybe I should leave my shelter carrier alone, sell my body parts and internal organs on eBay to raise funds, and buy/build an A2 slantback?
Incidentally, installing that commo shelter really changed the way that the truck drives, especially off-road.
Also incidentally, while talking about recent MV-related activities with some non-MV folks a while back, I learned that different people will develop entirely different mental images when hearing the phrase "tranny hump".
__________________
If you think that money can't buy love, try buying a cheeseburger for a dog!
Also incidentally, while talking about recent MV-related activities with some non-MV folks a while back, I learned that different people will develop entirely different mental images when hearing the phrase "tranny hump".
Also incidentally, while talking about recent MV-related activities with some non-MV folks a while back, I learned that different people will develop entirely different mental images when hearing the phrase "tranny hump".
HAH! You pervert!
Hey, I was referring to the transmission hump that I had just pulled off of my M543A2. I was surprised by the reaction I got when I used the phrase "tranny hump"... the "other kind" hadn't occurred to me!
Now, I'm not saying that I'm not a pervert, but in this one, specific, isolated case, I wasn't the one with the dirty mind!
__________________
If you think that money can't buy love, try buying a cheeseburger for a dog!
Yeah, back in the day when I used to work a the Jiffy Lube, it got dangerous to say anything like
"I need some tranny fluid".
You know the caliber of folks that like to work at places like that. Apparrently the colorful responses to my request were deemed "offensive to the customers".
Oh, yeah, about your original question: In my experience, every time I try to save money on a project by doing it the long way, by myself, I end up pay for it twofold in aggrivation!
Now that I think about it, I dont know why I love to do "projects" so much. I get great satisfaction from the finished product, but the process makes me crazy.
Unfortunatly if you try to sell your Humvee, that you have put a lot of work and good parts on and it still has a 6.2/3L80, it will be compared to other Humvees that are just rambling wrecks and you will have a hard time getting good money. It is possibly though, but you will get many cheapo people telling you how they can get a humvee for this or that price. I'm doing a Turbo/4L80E conversion myself and it is expensive, but I'm installing a new engine, high quality off road Trans and a new main body wire harness. You could use a used engine and trans and go with an aftermarket trans controller and save plenty of money. My engine is a new assy from AMG and I converted it to the military injection pump and all the other necessary stuff. The engine assy alone cost $10,000. Amg no longer sells new built engine assys. They are selling rebuilt engine long blocks for $7,700 or thereabouts. I found this out when there was a core charge and asked a few questions and found out the real story. The Humvee/H1 turbo engines have a top mount turbo and a engine from an Chevy truck is not really usable, because of their side mount turbo. I have NOS Turbo long blocks and unused fully dressed Military 6.5 N/A engines if you are interested in doing a conversion. PM me if you want more info.
Hoo boy! That's even more expensive than I thought it would be. I think you're right, though, that I'd be better off spending the bucks to do the swap than to try to get what I think my truck is worth. Particularly since I have it in such an uncommon configuration. My truck started out as one of those "rambling wrecks", so I know how much money and pain it takes to make one run reasonably reliably! I even got stranded a few hundred miles from home with a blown head gasket and cracked heads. I think my truck has 6.5 heads on it now (? I didn't do the head swap myself). In any case, they're different than the original heads in some manner, requiring different injector lines.
I don't think I'll be starting a drivetrain swap in the very near future, but the temptation to do one someday is still strong. Maybe in another year, once my daily driver is paid off?
I think that I would prefer to use the military engine and transmission configuration on general principle, but I don't know how they differ from aftermarket stuff. My truck won't be entirely stock, anyway, since I'm considering wacky stuff like a home-made metal hard-top for the cab.
I would be PMing you for details on those engines now if I had the cash laying around, but I haven't begun to recover from my construction and move yet.
How hard is it to get the 6.5 turbo, 4L80E and new transfer case to fit into an "A0" HMMWV?
__________________
If you think that money can't buy love, try buying a cheeseburger for a dog!
maintance work order, in another words a change or update from the military
__________________
Ron
Gainesville, Ga. vietnam-1/66-8/68
"Technical Manuals are the path to Illumination...
Download, Study Learn"---rlwm211
42 5t? autocar tractor, gone
43m20, 12t, converted to tractor, gone
52m52, tractor, gone
73m819, tractor/wrecker AKA Wrecked Wrecker
77xm977 10t 8x8, to be a xm 983 sold
What ever else that can be drug home Use CUCVs, a small step below BOBBERS as wheel chocks
GOD help the MV world if i win the LOTTERY
LONG LIVE BIG GREEN IRON
Drivetrain Swap vs. Truck Swap
Hi there,
