Are you talking about the Cummins 4BT?

That's a nice engine but they are a little anemic in the power dept....(and they are not cheep!) I see them on EBAY all the time bolted up to a GM TH-350/400 trans etc. Another choice might be a Detroit Diesel Allison 4-53T as Grigg suggested. You can easily get more than 170hp out of one. (They are heavy and noisy though......of course, not to us guys that like the 2 stroke diesels, that's not noise!!)

If you want to consider a 6.5L engine find one from a 1993 or earlier truck and it will have a mechanical injection pump. Otherwise you'll need to change out the injection pump on anything newer (1994 and later was electronic). The 6.5L engine will probably be the easiest to install because you're staying "GM".

You can easily get 200+ hp from a 6.5L (turbo) engine and built right you can get 300+hp with intercooling, a big radiator and low compression pistons (bring money for that!) http://www.peninsulardiesel.com/400tai/400tai.htm

Your most fuel efficient choice will probably be a Cummins 6BT (Dodge trucks) turning around 1600-1800 at highway speeds. You might have to buy a wrecked Dodge truck for that and then part it out. Check the wrecking yards for them....they're everywhere.....but you'll probably pay anywhere from $1800-2500 for one with 100,000 miles or so on it.

I am considering a 4-53T for my 1955 Ford F-600 since I have a possible source for one. You really have to have access to a pretty high geared rear axle since you want a lot less than 2000 rpm at say 60-70mph on the highway. Diesels really shine MPG-wise when they turn slow.

Up here in the NW gasoline now is around $2.40/gal and diesel is anywhere from about $2.60-2.90/gal which kills *some* of the efficiency advantage.
http://www.flyingj.com/fuel/gasoline_CF.cfm?state=WA (you can check all over the country on this site!)

(It's still good for my TDI Jetta though....It gets 48mpg!! grin )


Regards,


Rick


Quote
Originally posted by graygander:
Hello,
with gas goin up like crazy again I'm thinkin about a small diesel for my C60, I'd like to find one of them onan/cummins diesels that ups uses,but that ain't gonna happen so I'm open to suggestions... perkins? 6.2/6.5 GM? maybe Isuzu? I need a vaccum pump big enough to power the hydrovac and would like to keep the NP 540 trans if possible. I'm not lookin for more power or speed than the old 292, just better mileage and the challenge of doing something different.