THIS K2500 WENT FROM A NON-RUNNING GASSER TO A REBUILT DIESEL

Many of us see an old, run-down truck, and wish we could buy it and fix it up; some of us do buy it with the intent of fixing it up; and a few of us tear into the build and create the truck of our dreams. Adam Wood-house, a diesel mechanic out of Rossville, Indiana, is one of those who sees, acts and builds. When Wood-house saw a 1997 Chevy K2500 for $1,200 that wasn’t running, he scooped up the deal to get it driving and eventually do some work on it. After he got the truck moving under its own power, it started burning a lot of coolant, and he realized the gas burning 5.7 liter engine had a cracked head. An idea burrowed into his mind that continued to build until he couldn’t stand it any longer—until—he decided to swap a Cummins motor into it.

Woodhouse had a wrecked ’95 Dodge Ram with a Cummins ripe for the picking that would be the perfect donor for the swap. While he was still working at Scheid Diesel before he very amicably parted ways to start a small shop called County Line Diesel in Rossville Indiana, Woodhouse worked on his swap after hours in the Scheid Diesel shop. Woodhouse had set a goal of making the swap look as factory as possible, so he took his time in a nine-month build to do the job right. He also wanted the finished product to be very reliable as a daily driver, recreation vehicle, and later, a shop truck. As Wood-house deconstructed the front clip to make room for the 12-valve diesel, he meticulously cut and fabricated to dial in the placement of the 5.9 liter Cummins engine in the Chevy chassis.

Aiming for reliability in the old K2500, Woodhouse didn’t want to overpower the truck, but he did make a few slight adjustments before shoehorning the Cummins into the engine bay. Woodhouse installed 60 lb. valve springs, 5×0.013 injectors and a FASS fuel tank pick up with 1/2-inch fuel line up to the lift pump to help wake up the engine. From the factory HX 35 turbo, he custom fabricated a four-inch exhaust with an MBRP tip. The ’95 Dodge’s stock NV4500 manual transmission came along with the engine after a South Bend dual disc clutch and South Bend flywheel where installed, replacing the weak GM 4L60 automatic with the stout Dodge manual transmission to make it a reliable daily driver. Woodhouse made room in the engine bay to mount the stock Dodge radiator and intercooler by reworking the core support, cleanly integrating the pieces into the bay to look nearly factory. His ‘95’s transfer case and drive shafts were also used to keep the K2500 a 4WD truck. With the heart of his truck successfully transplanted, the truck now turns out 337 horsepower and 924 lb. feet of torque, which Woodhouse knows is plenty of torque to keep his old truck reliable without running into problems that could creep up with more power.

Woodhouse kept the truck’s chassis as close to stock as he could, but to fit some meatier tires under his converted truck, he installed a two-inch lift and level kit up front and custom fabricated ladder bars for the rear to prevent axle wrap when he’s working the truck hard. For a rugged look and reliable performance, Woodhouse wrapped his black-powdercoated 16-inch American Racing wheels with Cooper Discover STT 305/ 70/ 16 tires. With just a few simple modifications, the old adage of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” was proven true while giving the K2500 a good looking stance on dirt.

When Woodhouse first bought the truck, it was in rough shape. It had been a work truck for all of its life, so it had suffered its unfair share of dents, dings, scratches, and some rust. With a resilient 12-valve heart swapped into it, the shabby exterior had to go. Greg Sands, a friend of Woodhouse, who owns Sand’s Body Shop in Lafayette Indiana, helped him out with bringing the body up to par before applying its custom two-tone paintjob.

Less familiar with the paint and body side of the things, Woodhouse did whatever Sands said to help, as they brought the run-down truck into line. With the badging removed and the truck swapped over from a Chevy to a GMC in favor of the grille design Woodhouse preferred, the truck was ready for paint. The base paint would be a basic red, but the secondary color for the two- toned, cowl hood and lower striping was a custom “root beer” color, looking black to the eye until under further inspection, you find a very unique color.

Shifting back from from form to practicality, a hitch receiver was atached up front, and a black diamond plate panel was fitted into the slide window of the rear window, along the top edges of the bed, and a black diamond plate toolbox was set into the bed. Sticking with the subtle, near factory modifications, Woodhouse kept the interior clean and neat. He didn’t change much besides plumbing in the shifter levers for the new manual transmission and transfer case, as well as installing a Kenwood head unit. As with most of the chassis and body panels, the cab remains just the same as it has for nearly two decades (in contrast to the engine and paint of the K2500).

The old ’97 GMC (formerly known as a Chevy) K2500 had seen better days, but when its gasser engine was on its last leg, Woodhouse gave the truck a new life by swapping in a ’95 Dodge’s Cummins 12-valve powerplant. With great attention to detail and fabricating prowess, he was able to smoothly integrate the diesel engine and all its accoutrements into the engine bay with almost factory precision. The truck that wouldn’t crank when he bought it is now a reliable, daily drivable, finely tuned machine. Woodhouse was able to bring the K2500 from rags to riches with careful planning, thoroughness and hard work. UDBG

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