Ford 4R100 Cummins Conversion Adapter Kit

[MMcCallie]

I put a '94 12 valve in my 2000 Excursion 4x4. Had the 4R100 built by BTS this summer so i wanted to keep it. Roger was sold out of adapters & said it would take a while to have parts made so i ordered a kit from John Edwards at cumminsstuff.com.

Things went badly. Most of the parts i ordered from John were completely wrong. The flexplate did bolt to the crank on the Cummins with the spacer he sent, but neither the Cummins, nor the Powerstroke starters were close enough to even nick the teeth. Shaved a bit of metal from the passenger's side of the engine by the oil pan to make a starter line up, but that i suspected to begin with.

For a solution, my buds & i decided to try to make the PSD starter work. We took the flexplate John sent, & the PSD flexplate to a local art welder named Birdman, after asking over a dozen local machine shops who refused to touch it. We had the Cummins ring gear cut off, & the PSD gear welded on around it, then took it somewhere to be balanced. Finally, the flexplate lined up with the starter.

We struggled to bolt the engine to the transmission. There was a spacer that bolted the custom flexplate to the Ford Precision Industries torque converter. It was what was making it so difficult to put the transmission & engine together. Too much space. & it is rigid, heat treated, though very thin metal. The spacer was actually pushing against the flexplate so hard, it was bending it so that it was against the back of the engine adapter plate!

My buddies have taken over the project for me, but are totally frustrated. They tried bolting the torque converter directly to the flexplate, but the nose on the torque converter sticks out too far. It hits the heads of the crank bolts.

Has anyone had success with a Cummins to 4R100 kit? I know Suncoast also makes a kit, but i already spent a ton on my torque converter. The flexplate John sent me was for a C6, as i was told by a Cummins Applications Engineer they referred me to. Even so, the spacer does not work.

If anyone reading this has had success, or knows someone who's made it work between a Cummins & 4R100, i really need to talk with them. I know my BTS is about the best transmission i could possibly run. I hope to make it work but it won't with the parts i have. Converting to a Chrysler transmission is my last choice. I definitely want to keep my NV 273 transfer case as well.

On top of my transmission problems, i've been calling & emailing folks for over two months, trying to get instructions on how to do lots of other things like making the tach work, cruise control, Ford gas throttle, plumbing the hydroboost, pulling apart the PSD harness, etc, etc...

I ordered my quad mounts & gas throttle parts from Autoworld. Every time i've ordered parts from anyone, anywhere, its never been on time, sometimes wrong, often lacking in instructions. This whole project has been a tremendous tribulation. I need to get it done as soon as possible. I've talked to Barry with Heavy Hauler Transmissions. They have a machine shop & if i send my parts up there, they can figure it out. Anyone have a quicker or cheaper solution?

Suggestions???
Thanks,
Matt