I'd like some honest opinions on the topic here, and please dont hold back. Ive researched it to death and there is just very little on the net.
I finally got the brakes on the old girl ('64 C60) fixed up and got her on the road today. Ran her to town, and up and down the county roads for ~1.5 hours, working the crud out. Before I left oil was just over the full line. As I pulled back in the shop I let her cool off and checked again. Oil was down to the "add" line indicating I'm 1.5-2 quarts low. She's burning a LOT of oil.
I can see oil down the side of the engine and clearly the valve cover is leaking, but not enough to be that low that quick. She doesn't smoke like a diesel on a cold morning, but she smokes pretty good. I'm at a crossroad now with three directions.
Option 1: Run as is. Keep a case of oil in the cab and refill after every few hours. It's a 140mi round trip between the farms and in this girl, a good 1.75-2 hours. Thats a lot of oil to be replacing if im making the run once a week and expensive for oil then.
Option 2: Pull and rebuild the 292. Without knowing condition of the cylinders (low compression), this could be quick/easy/cheap or it could be a headache and long/expensive. Consider a full bottom end rebuild and new carb and everything (it's needs it).
Option 3: Speed-up my timeline and Repower sooner to a Detroit. I found a running 6v53N about 3 hours away. Its not the turbo model i wanted, but its plenty suited for the job. Its the end goal for better mileage workhorse capacity, but money up front (road ranger's aren't cheap) and this wasn't planned for another year-ish.
So let's hear it. What do you all think? I'm not trying to keep it authentic, just trying to run her good so I can work her like she was ment to be.
Last edited by HFfarms; 11/28/2019 10:45 PM.
