M1008 CUCV Hot Rod Project L92 engine 6L80e transmission Swap

I have enjoyed the CUCV around the farm and really like the old school truck!

I have bought a few of them, some good some parts trucks and some junk!

I feel the need for speed so an inspiration dawned upon my humble self after a suggestion from Evldoer here on SteelSoldiers and a ride in a truck he converted!

This truck was purchased just as you see it with 22,363 miles on the clock from GL in their heydays. It was sold as a non runner and had the door and tail gate in the bed with a multitude on ether cans and assorted bits and pieces.

It is in beautiful structural and body condition and the brakes worked yesterday when we loaded the truck!

I think we may spend the time to see if the 6.2 Detroit engine will run before it gets pulled. Yes, the diesel engine, tranny and all take out parts will be saved and distributed among those restoring their rides if a price is agreed to and shipping is not a pain in the A$$.

As you see, the body is nice and the engine compartment is nice and full of the metal Detroit built the truck with. It is not a rusted out piece of junk.

The engine in the crate is a 2008 L92 6.2 gas with it's mated 6l80e 4 x 4 tranny out of a Denalli truck. Spalding auto reprogramed the ECM and trimmed the factory wiring harness all of which came from one donor truck, the Denalli. The engine and tranny came with all cables, hoses and what not complete, front to back , pan to top and manifold to manifold. It was very carefully removed and unbolted, not cut out of the donor vehicle, all in all a very slick and nice setup.

I was told the tranny will bolt right up to the 208 transfer case and we will use some adapter plates from the engine to new factory motor mounts.

The accessory power steering pump on the L92 will bolt right up to the lines from the CUCV hydroboost braking system.

There are about 8 wires on the harness to mate to the CUCV system and it is basically plug and play as Spalding test ran the engine before shipping to me and they said it was a strong runner.

The CUCV will be 12 volt through and through, all the 24 volt wiring is mostly under the hood and it will all be carefully removed and saved.

There are a couple of wiring revisions to do and one is connecting the solenoid wire to the signal wire for activation of the starter and a bit of thought with the gen lights.

We will use the cable speedo off of the transfer case as well as a neat 3 5/8 face Auto Meter old time speedometer with tachometer needle all on same face triggered off of the speedo and tach wire from the engine ECM harness. It is my intention to use the indicator lights as well as the factory gauges as well as some aftermarket gauges to fill in the gaps.

Will keep you posted as we progress.

Details
We want DETAILS !!!

More Details!

Evldoer did a bit of checking with the VOM and got power to the Fuel Solenoid and 24 volts to the Distribution Block. One glow plug heated a bit. Disconnected the glow plug power to the solenoid.

The diesel engine runs and doesn't smoke a bit and no unusual knocky noises, Dang it's a good engine!

A video of it running to follow if I figure out how to post to Youtube.

The rear driveshaft is bent and was not attached when I got the truck. but with the hubs locked in, the truck moves forward and backwards!

trukhead said:

The diesel engine runs and doesn't smoke a bit and no unusual knocky noises

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Ok that's not a NORMAL 6.2, next your gonna say it's got POWER LOL ��

How about more details on motor & trans going into the truck.
What year ?
What electronics, tuning ?

Thanks

86m1028 said:

Ok that's not a NORMAL 6.2, next your gonna say it's got POWER LOL ��

How about more details on motor & trans going into the truck.
What year ?
What electronics, tuning ?

Thanks

Click to expand...

LOL!

The engine in the crate is a 2008 L92 6.2 gas with it's factory mated 6l80e 4 x 4 tranny out of a 2008 Denalli truck.

Spalding Auto reprogrammed the ECM and trimmed the factory wiring harness all of which came from one donor truck, the Denalli.

The programming is all factory fuel maps and performance as we are not adding headers or other performance options at this time. This factory set up is supposed to be 400 hp or so.

I am thinking the variable valve timing is functional. the VAT and other programs that require talking to the other computers on the original truck are turned off. This engine setup is standalone engine and tranny operation through the reprogrammed ECM.

The ECM is the factory ECM mated to the engine and tranny to the original Denalli truck that was reprogrammed. The engine control wire loom is the factory piece with all the extra un needed wires removed. Spalding Auto did a nice job.

The engine and tranny came with all cables, hoses and what not complete, front to back , pan to top and manifold to manifold. It was very carefully removed and unbolted, not cut out of the donor vehicle, all in all a very slick and nice setup.

The tranny is a 6L80 4 x 4 tranny that will bolt directly to the 208 transfer case in the truck. It is a 6 speed with 2 overdrives. The 5th gear or first overdrive is about .83 and 6th is .6 overdrive, just the ticket for those 4.56 axle gear. We will be installing a new custom fabricated performance, super balanced driveshaft in this truck as well.

If this set up works out I might consider trying an L94 engine with the AFM removed, upgraded valve train and an E-force super charger along with performance tuning for about 600 hp.

Thanks for the info !
Please keep us updated on your build.

Well here is a little progress on this project. I am helping my good buddy Trukhead with this project, so we both will be keeping this post updated. I hope nobody minds.

The engine, trans, and Tcase are now out of the truck. We disconnected the wire harness from the firewall. Removed the battery trays for now to make life easier while installing the new engine. All the 24 volt wires and other gear were removed, since this will be all 12 volts from here on out. Engine is pretty clean for its age.

Tonight the engine bay received a little bath. There wasn't a lot of oil and sludge in the engine bay, but a lot of that dust from running gravel roads all this trucks life. Its now a lot cleaner and will be easier to work on.

This weekend we will be dropping the new engine and trans in for a test fit. We have the engine adapter plates, and Truckhead bought new frame mounts because the originals were starting to show their age in the rubber center. One of the few spots we have to worry about is the Oil pan to front differential clearance. The last truck I converted was a half ton, Dana 44 front. The oil pan needed to be modified. We will find out soon if the same treatment needs to be done in this truck.

I DONT mind who updates the post but we NEED lots of pics !


Please post what parts your using, I'm following this build closely.
What brand of motor mount adapters are you using ?

May I suggest finding a NP 205 transfer case. I have one on my M1009. You can twin stick them and they are indestructible. I would also get a vintage air AC in that bad boy. Good luck with the project!


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The motor mount conversion brackets are from Streetrays on fleabay. These have 3 or 4 places to mount the factory Clam shell mounts in order to move the engine forward or to the back. In pic, the 4 Allen head countersunk bolts are what hold adapter to the block. Then the clam shell bolts over the top with 3 bolts. Cheap and simple.

Tomorrow the fun will start. I have a couple other customer vehicles to work on but I'm going to push those back and get the engine set in this truck. Tomorrow we will have a lot more pics for you.

evldoer said:

The motor mount conversion brackets are from Streetrays on fleabay. These have 3 or 4 places to mount the factory Clam shell mounts in order to move the engine forward or to the back. In pic, the 4 Allen head countersunk bolts are what hold adapter to the block. Then the clam shell bolts over the top with 3 bolts. Cheap and simple.

Click to expand...

Those brackets have an aluminum look to them, but they have to be milled steel plate, right?

They are aluminum, and plenty strong enough. I have the same thing in my car, which is making more horsepower than this, so I am not concerned about failure.

This is what we are starting with. The a/c compressor will be removed, motor mounts pulled off, intake removed for engine installation, and a few other things.

This set of pics shows how the motor mounts and adapters are fitted. I started out with the clamshells bolted to the far rear position. After the test fit they were moved 1 3/4" farther forward for the best all around fit. This centered the transmission mount almost dead center on the trans crossmember.

I bolted up the transfer case to the trans to show how they go together. No drilling, no taping, no grinding, etc. This is as simple as it gets. Another reason why I prefer working on GM products

Engine and trans go in together. After setting it where we thought it should be, clearance was checked at all the critical points. The crossmember had to be notched for the Oil pan, left frame rail to clear the exhaust manifold, and the firewall just under the screws that hold the Throttle pedal bracket to clear back of cylinder head. The 3 spots can be seen marked with a yellow paint pen. Crossmember was cut and welded to retain its strength. The cab pinch weld on the firewall was welded back up after being cut, and then a spritz of paint to seal it all up.

Engine is in and fits good now. Had to switch exhaust manifold on passenger side because the original truck manifold would not work. I put on a manifold from a 2000 camaro and there is plenty of room.

evldoer said:

Engine and trans go in together. After setting it where we thought it should be, clearance was checked at all the critical points. The crossmember had to be notched for the Oil pan, left frame rail to clear the exhaust manifold, and the firewall just under the screws that hold the Throttle pedal bracket to clear back of cylinder head. The 3 spots can be seen marked with a yellow paint pen.

Click to expand...

How could you even get your head in there to SEE where anything was getting hung up?!

Another Ahab said:

How could you even get your head in there to SEE where anything was getting hung up?!

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Surprisingly enough, there is plenty Of room, with the exception of the drivers side exhaust manifold. There is about an 1/8 inch of clearance. Here are some pics of both manifolds and how it fits.