bobbed M880/CUMMINS hybrid

[m880 unimog]

just a few pictures from a build i started on around 6 months ago-and am chipping away at it , as the weather/other projects/money allows.

started out with a REALLY rotten M885 , which i had been asking to buy for around ten years , it never moved , i gave up , then two years on i went around and a woman said 'sure ,take it away ' i gave her £50 for it [ $78 usd] went round the next day with a wrecker,some batteries,fresh gas and water and drove it out of her yard! MOPAR all the way.

it was in a real mess with weeds up inside,the freeze plugs had jumped out the block and the front clip was rotted away totally in the radiator mount area,the door bottoms were gone , the wings were on the way top and bottom , still it was for cheap and it ran sweet , worst ways it would be a good spares truck for my M890....this is how it always starts!!!

anyhow we fixed the truck up with some silicon around the fresh plugs,new oils and filters plugs n leads and some lumps of timber screwed to the front clip-and ran it around off road for a few months , next i checked the oil after a short lay up and it was milky white,so i got a cracked block or blown gasket , with many other vehicles to fix up and too many shows to do [in those days]-the dodge was parked at the back of the bull beef barn and forgot.
eight years on.....
i get a clean SUMB thrown in with a deal,these are like unimogs but with ford V8 FLATHEADS and they are FUGLY,i mean super FUGLY only certain russian trucks are uglier-anyhow a good friend races oldskool rods and needed a fresh v8 flathead-

i was left with a lovely straight rail chassis,PORTAL AXLES,COIL SUSPENTION,SHROUDED PROPS,PTO DRIVEN WINCH,REAR LOCKING DIFF-knowing these trucks fairly well i decided that the only way to go was to get a hummin cummins in there,and some good looking dodge brothers body work to set it looking a right.after a measure up all i had to do body wise was shorten the rear M880 bed,and make a support frame up to turn it into a tipper [not to tip material but to allow access to the rear winch/air tank/batteries/propane etc.
after a few more measuring sessions and some sketch,s we went for it.

here are some shots from the summer-ah,i remember the summer-we get 3 days of it here.

 

[m880 unimog]

here,s the donor M880-the engine is going to my v8 pile along with the NP203, and the TF727 will go into a mates new yorker.

 

[m880 unimog]

the humber pig made a handy perch for the cab,the wee truck in the last picture is a saviem TP3-the reason i put the picture up is-the rear cargo body is the perfect fit for dodge W200 cab.

 

[m880 unimog]

next few are about as far as we got at the moment.

 

[m880 unimog]

the 1997 cummins 6bta came out of a DAF 45 euro 2 truck,the engine bell is SAE 3 ,and will mate up to a lot of the gearboxes the british army uses in this weight range of truck,sadly transmissions with PTO,s are like hens teeth ,so i have decided to persuade the stock box onto the 6bta with a homemade trans bell and adapter for the pilot bearing,im lucky that the cummins comes with an air compressor as the truck brakes are air over hydraulic.

the stock flatheads [mercury] are governed down to 100 bhp and 150lb/ft it,s easy to up the power considerably,so im hoping the trans will take the extra torque , i had the top off and the thing is built tough for sure,just a bit small. we,ll see.

so far i have made the mounting frame to support the rear of the cab onto the factory rubber mounts, the two central cab mounts are welded in place , again to accept the factory rubber mounts.
the wings and front clip will go in after the motor and trans are fitted.

at the moment the weather is a hold up,so im building a cold air intake using V22 OSPREY prototype parts for the intake horn.

 

[rhinob]

the 1997 cummins 6bta came out of a DAF 45 euro 2 truck,the engine bell is SAE 3 ,and will mate up to a lot of the gearboxes the british army uses in this weight range of truck,sadly transmissions with PTO,s are like hens teeth ,so i have decided to persuade the stock box onto the 6bta with a homemade trans bell and adapter for the pilot bearing,im lucky that the cummins comes with an air compressor as the truck brakes are air over hydraulic.

the stock flatheads [mercury] are governed down to 100 bhp and 150lb/ft it,s easy to up the power considerably,so im hoping the trans will take the extra torque , i had the top off and the thing is built tough for sure,just a bit small. we,ll see.

so far i have made the mounting frame to support the rear of the cab onto the factory rubber mounts, the two central cab mounts are welded in place , again to accept the factory rubber mounts.
the wings and front clip will go in after the motor and trans are fitted.

at the moment the weather is a hold up,so im building a cold air intake using V22 OSPREY prototype parts for the intake horn.

Great looking project. Will be very impressive when you're finished, no doubt. Thanks much for sharing. Sorry for all that global warming keeping you from your progress!

 

[m880 unimog]

thanks rhinob-your 84 mercedes sounds impressive- i got a bit more done on the cummins/wierdo transmission job today, we turned up a phosphor bronze adaptor that fits into the pilot bearing on the cummins flywheel, and then receives the tranmission input shaft nose, there was a lot of measurin and mocking up, but after a few hours of work i got the trans sitting where i need it to be.
now i just got to fgure out how to hold it all together in the correct alighnment so i can weld up a one off bellhousing.
all this work just to keep the PTO so i can run a winch-never again!...he says.

 

[m880 unimog]

dragged the rear bed back from the other yard today,it,s as rusty as i,d ever want to repair-around 40% of the seams are toatally rotted away.got some welding done on the wings,and will start on these once the wings are done-then there,s the front clip...im really earning this MOPAR tattoo.

 

[nattieleather]

That was a commo shelter bed. IF you turn in back into a regular bed keep the front and rear brackets as someone who wants to make a commo shelter truck will need them!

 

[m880 unimog]

That was a commo shelter bed. IF you turn in back into a regular bed keep the front and rear brackets as someone who wants to make a commo shelter truck will need them!

yes,the shelters are very rare here though-

does it look like a guy who would spend time welding up a hopelessly rusted to pieces truck will ever throw anything away ?

the bed is getting 20 inches taken out ,keeping the brackets in situ as they have strong tie down points.

 

[m880 unimog]

got some done-

made two alignment centre,s-one sits on the input shaft nose of the trans,the other sits inside the clutch alighnment tool we made,this allows me to centreline the engine and trans.

made up a setting bar-this allows simple setting of the eng/trans to be parralell with each other,both in the vertical and horizontal planes.

threw the whole mess into my [now] 8.4 litre landrover TUM 110 and headed to my mate mark,s welding shop-[ he has a 2.5 ton forklift ] and around 10 years more alu welding time than me.

we set the job up and level on the floor,set all the distances then welded the parts together.

once the new bellhousing is finnish welded,i will come back with the entire chassis and weld the engine mounting plates in situ.

then i can posistion the transmission crossmember,and shorten the props-and really start building this thing-all at the mercy of the weather as usual.

 

[m880 unimog]

a few days before this i was wondering where to put the new air intake-i decided to put it on the roof of the cab,as far out of the way of the water and mud this truck will live in.

prototype v22 osprey icing intake scoop-used silencer/muffler and two clamps from a KTM 990 ADVENTURE motorcycle.

rest hand made.

 

[m880 unimog]

got a bit of progress-.

the other day i got the rear bed marked out,today i cut the bed-i took 18 inches out-then i cut some timber bearers that slide into the top of the bed return lip,got some ratchet straps,hammers and trolley jacks to persuade it all into posistion,and then stitch welded it back together,just like to thank-MILWAUKEE SAWZALL,BOSCH JIG SAW,SNAP ON MIG WELDER,MAKITA 4"GRINDER,URKO CLAMPS,.5 TONNE RATCHET STRAPS-AND MOTHER NATURE FOR NOT RAINING ON ME! THANKS.

 

[m880 unimog]

also trial fitted this CVRT/FV434 -A-bar assembly to front pintles on my dodgeymog-i will have to make up a few parts on the lathe,but they will become part of the CES for this vehicle when it,s done.

 

[cjtroutt]

I see that you made alot progress It looking good
do you have sheet metal rocker for that old m880.
cummins 6bt swap cool keep up with photos
thank you.
Very nice build up. .

 

[m880 unimog]

i surely wish i had some sort of sheet metal working kit-as this old truck is more rust than tin!
but i,ve had dodge,s a long time and cant bear to see one go to the scrap pile,so i,ve built the truck chassis to take the stock cab as far as i can,and hope one day, maybe i,ll find another good cab,but every M880 guy over here wants the same parts-our climate is too wet to let vehicles have an easy life outdoors,thanks for the encouragement CJ-it really helps things along!

 

[m880 unimog]

want to thank CJTROUTT for the headsup ojn dodge repop tin work-saved me from a life of welding and rust chasing!!

got some done today as well,finnished some adaptors to allow my A FRAME to work with the pintle,s on the front of the chassis-so much for NATO commonality!

the two outer 'top hat' bushes allow the 25.4mm.1-0" EN34B steel bar to slide through the mog,s pintles-i can now tow the truck!
also i spotted some good steel at a yard today so i swapped the guy some cookies and a bottle of beer-he was made up!- i hope i have enough steel here to make some nice 10 tonne axle stands- 2 short and 2 long.i looked on e-bay at the prices and nearly fell out of my seat ! so im making them - [ when time ]

 

[m880 unimog]

turn away if you hate rust as much as i do-keeping a record here,so i can see how it goes/went at a later date.

also in the side view i hope to have the engine and trans fitted next weekend,tall order but i been busting my hump to get all the jobs done so i can progress this build.

then there,s the bonneville slat flats race bike to build,my heavy camper [ military ],oh,and a house too.

 

[Elwenil]

Interesting build. I bob'd my old '74 W100 years ago for a wheeling rig. I did it the easy way and just removed the tail panel at the seam and then cut 14" out of the bed, 12" out of the frame and slid it up and welded it back.

 

[m880 unimog]

that looks neat,like that.i had to cut the other end to fit mine,wanted to keep the bed support undernath too,keep some strength in the bed.

had to delay the engine fitting until middle of next week.gives me a bit more breathing space!