Converting early gas MH to Duramax? Possible?

[BigRabbitMan]

Progress continues. Here I am putting in some of the last of the approximately 75 rivets that hold the new engine compartment liner in place.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/233...12124553xZcVIQ

The next photo shows the finished firewall before anything has been attached to it. Attaching things will be the next phase after we finally remove the new engine from the donar vehicle this next weekend. We have left the engine just sitting in the donar vehicle to this point as it was secure there and we did not need it to be out to this point in time. It will still be awhile before it gets put into the FMC as there is still a lot of prep work to do to the FMC and I need to take the transmission in to have the tail shaft and housing changed to convert the transmission from 4-wheel drive to 2-wheel drive and to provide for attaching the driveline parking brake.

If anyone wants to convert from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel drive, I have most of the components!

[BigRabbitMan]

Again, progress continues. I have just posted 26 more pictures of the progress of the project. They cover the removal of the engine from the donor vehicle and the changes to the transmission and the first pictures of the dash area of the motor coach and what will be happening there. This link will take you to the first of the new pictures.
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/291...12124553yllrEt
The next big thing will be the temporary positioning of the engine so that motor and transmission mount brackets can be designed and built.

To be continued!

[BigRabbitMan]

I have just learned that the site where I have the pictures posted (Webshots) is reinventing itself and so the current links to pictures will probably stop functioning some time in November. After they have done their reconfiguration I will go back and attemt to replace the links with new ones that will work.

Sorry for the complication.

[BigRabbitMan]

I have just learned that the site where I have the pictures posted (Webshots) is reinventing itself and so the current links to pictures will probably stop functioning some time in November. After they have done their reconfiguration I will go back and attemt to replace the links with new ones that will work.

Sorry for the complication.

Ok, I need to bring everyone up to date. The FMC Owners Club site now allows nonregistered visitors to view the photo albums and the postings in the forums. This allows me to link you to that album so that you can continue to follow my project.

A lot has been done and there are about 5 more pages of photos with commentary since my last posting on this site. The entire project did get slowed with nothing happening for several months this spring and summer due to my moving from Dixon, CA to Cottage Grove, OR. The coach remains in Gilroy, CA so, once my OR move is complete, I will be living part time in the coach until it is done.

Here is the link where the last dead link above left off.

http://www.fmcowners.com/mbbs22/phot...7&photoid=2068

Your comments and suggestion are always welcome.

[More Power]

Thanks for keeping us up to date. Looks like quite a project! Jim

[BigRabbitMan]

I am back to working on this conversion project as my move to Oregon is complete. I am now splitting my time between being in Oregon and working on the coach in Gilroy, CA. In addition to doing some interior upgrades, I have progressed with the conversion project. You can select my handle on the FMC website to see other albums that detail other things I have been doing in parallel with the drive train conversion.

Here is a link to the last items I have worked on. You can go back to earlier pages if you have not been following this project.
http://tinyurl.com/jw6u55j

Take care,

[GordonMarks]

Cool Stephen!
I remember doing all of that tagging, fitting, refitting, figuring(figgerin down here) & refiguring over & over. I think that I could just about flip to the service manual page I needed in either the 99 or the 2001 book. Used about 15 pads of yellow stickies in the process. It takes A LOT of digging AND weeding out the Lawyer BS that makes up most of the manuals.

Stick with it & keep posting!
Gordon