Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach) (204.245.228.215)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 7:24 am: | |
It can be done since Crown offered the Cummins as an option.
Two issues you will need to take care of before you start.
The first is what model of bus do you have? If you have the flat top fenders it shouldn't be any real problem to fit the big cam under the bus. If you have an earlier model that has the round top fenders you may have some ground clearance issues.
The second issue is the donor engine. Did it come out of a Crown Supercoach or a Gillig Schoolcoach? Not all "pancake" engines are built the same. If you don't have all of the correct Crown engine mounting hardware you could be in for a very difficult fabrication problem. Plumbing the exhaust and air intake could also cause you some real interesting challenges if you don't have the Crown stuff.
The Cummins engines are all longer and in a "pancake" application thicker than a DD 6-71. Longer shouldn't be a problem but thicker could be a real expensive problem if you high center the bus. A Cummins NHH oil pan is not cheap, if you can find one.
Cooling shouldn't be a problem since the DD's all run a lot hotter than Cummins. Taking a radiator out and having it cleaned before hooking it up to a different engine is always a good idea.
If you should get it all together you won't be disappointed in the difference, particularly if your 6-71 isn't turbo'ed. As every hot rodder will tell you, more cubic inches is always better.
Good luck.
Mark O. |