Sorry I took so long to reply, work has kept me busy! Yes, I did the conversion myself a little over a year ago and have since put on about 8.000 trouble free miles. I have no lights or error messages, everything is 100% factory, nothing is spliced and no short cuts were taken. I called up the 3 major conversion companies Predator, Mash Motors and H-Line. They all quoted me about the same $27.000-$34.000 without the performance upgrades which are about another $15.000 on top of that, they also get to keep my 6.2 and 6L80e. There is no way I could ever justify spending that much money on an engine conversion. So, to answer the question as to how much I've spend on my conversion, the answer is $0!

I got a great deal on a fully loaded 2008 Sierra 2500 that was rear ended and had frame damage, which is perfect as everything I needed was upfront and the rest I parted out to regain my money back. I paid $5000 for the truck and got back $5000 after selling all the spare parts I didn't need anymore. I ended up selling my stock engine, transmission etc for about $2500 which covered all the extra costs like my driveshafts, body lift etc. This is all based on a complete stock conversion, no upgrades and no labour costs. It took me about 400 hours from beginning to end.

As far as the actual work goes it's actually pretty simple! Engine mounts are the exact same and I simply used the Duramax mounts and screws. I took the stock transmission mount and switched it up side down and drilled new holes. Rear driveshaft had to be lengthened and front had to be shortened. I had to custom cut and bend a radiator/intercooler support upfront. Wiring was what took the longest especially to make the 2/4 wheel drive system work 100%.

@Synthetickiller Under WOT and 2 wheel drive my tires break lose immediately. Everything under the hood is in its factory location

@H2sRock I get about 17-20 MPG with the lift and tires.

 

I got lots and lots of pictures and info, let me know if you guys want more or have more questions.

 

Donor truck!

 

Wow! Just the ability to undertake such an endeavor is awesome! I wouldnt know where to start. I find it amazing people can do this kind of stuff. Im with you though- no way i would pay that much for the conversion to be done. Thanks for all the background info as well. I would love to see more pics! Your truck is awesome!

 

Iluminati,
I believe the work you did is amazing.
One clarification:

The 27-34k is for the whole smash. The install and the engine with transmission (and supposedly they are stating they are low mile engine and transmission)...correct??

If so then it isnt 27-34k for a swap it is really about 10+k less because you are paying for the engine and transmission in that amount. If you supply the engine and trans it is less.

Yes, it is stupid money. I agree. I mean now a days you can get 2-3 H2s for that price.
But it guess they figure they wont lower their price, because someone will come around and pay for it.... meanwhile they could lower their price and have alot more customers in there.

 

You must have a helluva setup in your garage to do this. I mean, how'd you get the hood off? Or did you buy a couple six-packs and have some buds over? Really impressive to get it all done. Did the Duramax harnesses just plug right in? And did you get the driveshafts shortened or get new correct length ones?

If you've got enough pics I think we'd all love to see this build from start to finish. One of the scooter forums I'm on has guys who make their own parts, motor and tranny upgrades, etc. Always a treat to see a project from the beginning when peeps do this. Well done mate!

 

Any idea what the power output is now, since that engine is no where near stock, now?

Post more pics! I for one want to see them!

 

Awesome build!!! Did you remove the body from the chassis? Every duramax build i've seen. They pulled the body. Thisbis one of the obstacles that scares me away from attempting this build myself. Space wise it would be really tight in a double car garage. You did some very nice work there and should be proud of what you've accomplished. Thanks for sharing. We've been begging everyone that comes on here with an duramax for info. Most are reluctant. So thanks again and keep the pics coming.

If you were to start another thread and go through the build with us with the hurdles and obstacles you encountered. I think i can speak for most in saying that it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

 

@jsbihn Yes, that's for a turn key conversion. I believe they told me they will try and get the lowest millage possible but can vary from 0-30.000 miles. My donor truck had 100.000 miles.

@flyday58 You can do 99% of the work just on your own besides like you mentioned the hood and a couple of other situations where you need a second pair of hands. It's got the Duramax harness and it's almost all plug in besides a few pins. What I did is I printed out the diagrams from both engines and I compared and switched the pins around accordingly. These are my stock driveshaft that I had shortened,lengthened and balanced both were about $600 to get done.

@Synthetickiller It's got between 600-750 Horse and around 1200 Torque. Going 68 mph I'm sitting right around 1280 rpm. I've never had a downshift as of right down, driving against heavy wind, 6% incline and even towing a trailer.

@madmayo No need to remove the body if you don't want although it makes it a lot easier to work on it. Both the 6.0/6.2 and Duramax can go in and out from the front. Double garage will work just fine.