...Im excited for my new project!

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Hello everyone. I was picking away at the parts list for my MS II efi conversion on the duster when i realized that because it is my daily driver, i dont have a good window of time to put everything on and tune it. Ive wanted a truck for years now to go offroading, haul stuff etc..and it would certainly put my nerves to rest having a second vehicle to get to school and work. I started looking on craigslist for deals, but i also wanted something unique that people dont see everyday...

So heres what im up to: its not pro-touring but its certainly cool, and im too excited to keep it to myself:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/frontadpic-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/sideadpic-1.jpg

Its a 1968 Kaiser Gladiator with a thriftside bed. It probably needs ~75lbs of new sheet metal before its in decent shape but i got it for $500. I plan on throwing some dana 60's underneath with a 6" lift and 37"ish tires. Im also going to put either a 6.2L GM or Cummins 6bt diesel under the hood-either would suit my needs it just depends on the $$$ and deals i find. Hopefully with a diesel ill be able to get decent (better than the duster's) city mileage, and maybe even run on waste vegitable oil. Well thats my plans, im just too excited to just be twiddling my thumbs up here at school.

[Bryce]

cool project!

[rfalker1]

very nice... I would love to see this build if you were to document it

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thanks guys! Ill be taking a lot of pictures, ill have to post them somewhere once i get going..Im hoping to get it done on a pretty tight budget using mostly craigslist parts, and getting it done asap (even though ive got work and school 5 days a week thats 140 miles away from the truck) so that i have a second vehicle and can get back to the efi conversion.

I also have to decide if i want to keep it black, or go with something else (flat seafoam blueish?)...

[SS PUNISHER]

Hello everyone. I was picking away at the parts list for my MS II efi conversion on the duster when i realized that because it is my daily driver, i dont have a good window of time to put everything on and tune it. Ive wanted a truck for years now to go offroading, haul stuff etc..and it would certainly put my nerves to rest having a second vehicle to get to school and work. I started looking on craigslist for deals, but i also wanted something unique that people dont see everyday...

So heres what im up to: its not pro-touring but its certainly cool, and im too excited to keep it to myself:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/frontadpic-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/sideadpic-1.jpg

Its a 1968 Kaiser Gladiator with a thriftside bed. It probably needs ~75lbs of new sheet metal before its in decent shape but i got it for $500. I plan on throwing some dana 60's underneath with a 6" lift and 37"ish tires. Im also going to put either a 6.2L GM or Cummins 6bt diesel under the hood-either would suit my needs it just depends on the $$$ and deals i find. Hopefully with a diesel ill be able to get decent (better than the duster's) city mileage, and maybe even run on waste vegitable oil. Well thats my plans, im just too excited to just be twiddling my thumbs up here at school.Very cool!

[wellis77]

Super cool!

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thanks guys! Hopefully if I can get this thing to be a serious driver(...I'm even thinking of putting a/c in the truck sooner than later). The sooner i get this thing road/trail ready, the sooner I can put the duster down to put some more fun parts on it (efi, viper brakes, twin turbos..).

[shortrack]

cool - If you ever plan to do any towing with it go with the Cummins.....a 6.2 can only really pull the weight of the truck around but will get great mileage.

[Ash]

Will be subscribing when you start a build thread. Cool as can be.

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thanks, I'll be sure to let everyone know once I start cutting into it. I'd love to put a cummins in, And the ~$700 difference in engines can defiantly be justified, but the additional ~$500+ in transmission costs makes it a bit harder to justify. I may bring home the occasional engine or tow a trailer of two, but I'll be spending waay more time mudding and daily driving the thing..it really depends on what i can find on craigslist after I get all the rust fixed though...

[ALLstrokedOUT]

...I had my dad send me a few better quality pictures once it got to our shop:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/summer2011128-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/summer2011130-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/summer2011134-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/08/summer2011135-1.jpg

This weekend ill be going home to either rip out the engine/interior or bed/diff/interior. Every day that goes by i get more and more confused with what diesel to go with...If i can find a Cummins/transmission at the rite time, for the rite price thats what ill go with (found a donor truck for $2000 if that deals shows up in a few months). But for what im going to use it for, a GM 6.2/6.5 could be suitable too. But theres no room for upgrades with dwindling aftermarket support thats making me stray away from it. Now, i started looking at 6.9/7.3 ford's which has only complicated the situation more..Does anyone know how much boost a stock 6.9/7.3 can handle (turbo or non turbo from factory)? Or if the 6.9/7.3 fords are a worse choice than the 6.2/6.5 GM?

[WVhotrod]

A guy where i went to college had one of these and it was amazing. sat on atleast 40's and a huge lift. One of my favorite trucks to date.

[NJSPEEDER]

How often and how hardcore do you plan to go wheeling? You can spend the money to put D60's on both ends if you want but you can save yourself a crap load of $$$ going with a 14bolt in the back and a D44 front. They so much more common and parts are way cheaper. Unless you plan to bash the hell out of the truck on rocks you aren't likely to ever notice a difference.

Very cool project. Can't wait to read more about your progress.

-Tim

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thanks guys, It's too different from what you see every day- i just couldnt pass up...I plan on having this be my daily driver, as it will be getting a lot better mileage than the duster. The other bit of its life will be mudding, its just flat, swampy land down here so im not worried about the rocks haha...but my main concern is that with a 7.3 IDI or a Cummins thats 800-1200lbs sitting over the front axle. Im estimating though that i can get this whole truck done hopefully for under ~$4000 sitting on some nice 37"+ tires (attached to some D60's even).

[showa]

I haven't seen one of those in a long time... Great project...

[chaz75]

dammit i want a gladiator but cant find one, nice score

[MonzaRacer]

Why not look for one of the first Duramax trucks, they show up with high miles but have little issues other than head gaskets some times. And if you find a totaled 4x you could swap in complete driveline. also think about 94 up Powerstroke 7.3, just remember the 94 only came one way as the trannies were weak so look for 95 up, and the leaf sprung F250/F350 frontends can be modded easy and the trucks with Powerstrokes will easily get 20mpg. More if you tune them.
As for a GM IF you look to the older diesel do not go 6.2, they blocks are crap and weak as paper, at least look for a newer 6.5 turbo and use the pump drive remote mount to keep module cool.
OH and the 6.5 wont live long without using stanadyne fuel additive as for the old cooking oil idea, Id pass, I have seen guys do it and and just havent seen any reliability using it. Heck a guy ay my work has been running his Mercedes on it and he brags so much yet iknow he has had many issues running it. Now soy diesel properly doped is more reliable.

[ALLstrokedOUT]

I found a great deal on a dodge 3500 4x4 dually with a cummins. Now I'm planning on putting the body onto the beefy ram frame, but well see how it works out. At least I have everything I need for my swap, and I don't have to run around scavenger hunting. I'll have pics of the thing when I get home tonight.

EDIT: the frames a good 20"+ longer than the kaisers, so im planning on cutting it, and rewelding it to the "shortbed" legth

[irregal83]

Wow that sounds awesome! i want to see the progress pics for sure!! thats gonna be badass with the cummins. your not using the dually axle right?

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thanks, ill be sure to keep people up to date! The dually axle is only ~2" wider on each side than the jeep's current rear diff, and i believe without the dually wheels the differential is the same diameter as the standard 2500 3500 axles. its a D60 in front and a D80 in the rear. The owner took the dually flares and tires off and is just running it with 2 standard rear wheels..but no, i will not be running dually wheels. Heres a couple pics:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/Sent2-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/Sent1-1.jpg

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Got the ram to my appartment, now I need to get it down to our shop...i may be trading a friend some parts for a shorter 2500 frame (~134" wheelbase compared to the 3500's ~150" while the kaiser is ~126") If i do that i would just lengthen the kaisers bed to make it fit. The ram drives ok, but i think theres an issue with the torque converter lockup. Everythings there whether its working or not, its a good starting point. The Kaisers gunna look huge when its done, even if i dont put a lift on the ram chassis...picture for size comparison:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/DSC01477-1.jpg
(I took the truck balls off already, theyre not my style)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/Photo09041217-1.jpg

[Bjkadron]

Awesome! I have always liked the Gladiators! This is a neat project! And I think it will save you a lot of trouble just swapping the frames. Newer truck reliability, Gladiator looks!

[Vicinity]

(I took the truck balls off already, theyre not my style)

Thank you!

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thanks Ben, im glad you see what im trying to do (sometimes i have to remind myself why im not just keeping the ram intact and driving it indefinatly). And Dan, i was honestly embarrassed driving the thing to the dmv with the truck nuts on them still, the only acceptable application of truck nuts (if there is any) to me is when theyre literally large machine nuts welded on...I asked off of work, and dont have any exams the proceeding week, so Aug 30th-Oct 2nd is when ill be cutting 34" out of the rams frame. Until then im getting my ~$80 in registration fees worth of driving in- gotta love straight exhaust/ that turbo whistle!

The dimensions are cruedly outlined here, but it gives you an idea of the length i need to lose:
(red bar on ram is where im cutting it)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/09/kaiserdodgecompare-1.jpg

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Since some of you had been asking, heres a link to my build thread of this truck on full size jeep forum. Theres a lot of cool projects on there too. I finally got a weekend to do a few things with the truck, hopefully a few more weekends will open up in the future.
http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=144701

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Well its funny how plans can change. After my accident the Kaisers taken a back seat to the Duster (now Demon) to get it back on the road. While i was trailering the demon to 300mi to our shop, the auto trans went out completely 10 miles away. After swapping out filters, and putting in new fluid i limped it back up to tampa to return the trailer i barrowed from a friend of a friend.

So the point of me telling that was to tell you guys the Kaisers build took a bit of a turn for the better. Since the auto took a dump, i was told by a reputable shop itd cost about $2000 for a standard rebuild. But my friend found a great deal on an NV5600 6spd manual with a new tcase. The cost of the swap should be comparable to a decent auto build. So now theres almost no weak link in this drivetrain for anything i see throwing at it. Heres a funny shot of the 400 POUND NV5600 in the trunk of my rental. The gears in that thing are just massive compared to the T56, its almost comedic how huge everything is haha..
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/11/Photo11111127-1.jpg

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Thought id show a size comparison...the lighter colored gear cluster is my friends cryo'd cluster gear for his T56 to the right of that is the nv5600's cluster gear:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/11/DSC01583-1.jpg

[ALLstrokedOUT]

its sad that its been two years, but its coming along. Not sure if anyone has even dropped in since then, but its all ive got going on rite now.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/07/AA5DCF172AEB46A0A1A4759BF98E88A366330000-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/AA5DCF17-2AEB-46A0-A1A4-759BF98E88A3-6633-000002FE4DF09E56_zps283769be.jpg.html)
Will be running 37's (those are 31's) when its done
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/07/6EA8E2FACCFC4CC89D73C0E284400DB366330000-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/6EA8E2FA-CCFC-4CC8-9D73-C0E284400DB3-6633-000002FE6CC30B16_zps91b44a70.jpg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/07/FC65754F1CA44AB4930C99541E56BABA32781000-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/FC65754F-1CA4-4AB4-930C-99541E56BABA-32781-0000101078096F31_zps30a729d4.jpg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/07/A0111E45D86F4D5E9C8B26D284BFA48032638000-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/A0111E45-D86F-4D5E-9C8B-26D284BFA480-32638-00000FDCE6D107EE_zps50674adc.jpg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/07/158ACB9D7A9648898A95247DA2EF049337078000-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/158ACB9D-7A96-4889-8A95-247DA2EF0493-37078-000011EDCF60AAFE_zpscfca345d.jpg.html)

[ALLstrokedOUT]

Closure...
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/86DCB5B5C0F54B5EACA46243BE9A939510842000-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/86DCB5B5-C0F5-4B5E-ACA4-6243BE9A9395-10842-00000799E64499FD_zpsa4d2ce7d.jpg.html)

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2013/12/4C051043798C4D06AF40C95EFCC24A62_zpsblpn-1.jpg (http://s179.photobucket.com/user/63vette77/media/Kaiser/4C051043-798C-4D06-AF40-C95EFCC24A62_zpsblpn4u9r.jpg.html)

ready for the Demon, again

[Motorcitydak]

Wow that came out nice! Lookin forward to more on the Demon