Should I buy a cummins swapped k3500?

[hambo]

Hey gmt400,
I am wanting to get this 1994 cclb k3500 with a 12v cummins swapped in and a sas near me. It sounds like a sweet truck. However, the guy said that the speedo and tach dont work. And that got me worrying about if other problems came up, especially because of the swap, are these trucks hard to work on? Im actually a senior in highschool and I don't have a lot of mechanical knowledge. Right now I have an 87 k20, and that has been fairly easy to work on. Are these trucks much harder? I was just wondering because I know they have more computers and I heard that the 4l80e, which is in the truck behind the 12v is a completely computer controlled transmission? I just don't want to get in over my head if I get this truck. Sorry if this is a stupid question and thanks in advance for any help!

 

[volunteerff21]

The cummins in itself isn't an overly hard motor to work on, as long as the swap isn't a complete hackjob.

If the truck has a 4L80E in it then it's being ran by a seperate controller, like this.

http://www.usshift.com/?gclid=Cj0KE...bukpSIEl51QpU2EcY55td11N3IzWbC9SVQaAhLe8P8HAQ

The speedo and tach problems are probably from using the stock gauge cluster with the Cummins swap, not entirely sure how you'd remedy that. Probably just have to use aftermarket gauges.

 

[thz71]

If you're not mechanically inclined I'd pass. Or get someone who is to go look at it with you. If both swaps are done well it could be a good buy.