7 Best Cummins Diesel Motor Swaps
If you love torque, then you must lover the Cumming turbodiesel motor, but you don't have to drive a heavy-duty Ram to get one. These rides prove that you can put a Cummins in anything with a little work and creativity.
1. 1970 Cummins Cuda 6BT
An original, Hemi powered 1970 Plymouth Barracuda had a good amount of power to begin with,but many of them had lesser V8s or Slant 6s. Even a real Hemi can't hold a candle to this one though, which pumps out a world beating 1,500 hp thanks to its 6.7 liter Cummins powerplant, and even that pales when compared to the 3,000 lb-ft of torque! We're sure it doesn't have a problem shredding those massive rear tires, either.
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2. Custom "Street Rod"
This, um, thing showed up on the 2015 Hot Rod Power Tour, and not much is known about it. We aren't even exactly sure what you'd call it. The custom 30's style body sits on top of a 3/4 ton Dodge pickup frame, so it's a bit bigger than your average street rod. Just look at how small the guy in the picture looks by comparison. It's got a 5.9 liter Cummins diesel engine for power from the same truck, so you can expect torque numbers of 750 lb-ft or even more.
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3. RX-Hate
After Comhghan Locke picked up an RX-8 with a blown engine on the cheap, he decided to do something a little different with it. So he plucked a 6BT out of a wrecked commercial truck, did an insane amount of cutting and chopping, and voila! Perhaps the world's first and only Cummins powered Mazda RX-8. Be sure and watch the build video, which is just under 10 minutes of pure entertainment.
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4. Cummins Powered Cadillac
The guys in Motor Trend's web series Roadkill have built all sorts of crazy rides out of not much more than junkyard material and bad ideas. One of their finest pieces of work is this 80's Cadillac that quite literally came out of a junkyard. They gave the rotted out Caddy new life with a 5.9 liter Cummins from a Ram 3500, and plenty of shenanigans ensued.
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5. Supercharged and Turbocharged Cummins Caddy
While we're on the subject of Cummins powered Cadillacs, we'd be remiss if we didn't show you this one. This particular rat rodded DeVille has not only the factory turbo power, but a supercharger on top as well. It also has endless charm as you would expect from a vintage Caddy, with classy custom touches like a Bud Light tap handle in place of a traditional shift knob.
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6. 3.9L 4BT Powered Ford Ranger
Ford Rangers were never very big on power, but their compact size makes them popular off-road. So why not swap a 3.9L 4BT Cummins motor (the 4 cylinder version of the Ram motor) in one? That's exactly what the owner of this 2011 Ranger did, and it returns tons power with nearly double the fuel economy of the original V6.
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7. Mini Cooper With QSK78 Cummins
In a world where we do things just to see if we can do them, and too much is never enough, this Mini Cooper fits right in. Because why wouldn't somebody take one of the smallest cars you can buy and shoehorn a QSK78 Cummins diesel from an enormous mining dump truck in it? The "extended wheelbase" Mini probably doesn't handle very good these days, nor is it lightweight, but it does pack an 18 cylinder, 78 liter engine! Boosted with 12 turbos, it makes 3,500 hp, and 10,157 lb-ft of torque! This one might not actually be driveable.
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For help maintaining and tuning your truck, check out the how to section of DodgeForum.com