The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts just how slow IS this beast ?

ok, now that i (finally!) have a correctish radiator for my '59 Viking 60..... along with mostly-working lights, quasi-working brakes, decently adjusted propshaft brake, and all the needed official paperwork....... i need to get it home. a quick check of gas prices vs towing/hauling costs says drive it.

so, 261, 4 speed, 2 speed rear, 20" wheels - any guesstimates how fast such things go if they run at least half-decently? trying to plan my route, and i'd prefer less stopping and steering, but that means a faster road. once it's home, after much fixing, it'll have an operational radius of prob 5-10 miles, but this little spin is about 40 miles

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'd like to!

Sometime in the next few months I'll be driving home a '51 4400 and a '52 6400, and though its only about 5 miles, I am worried about how these things are going to do in the traffic...

I would say 45 mph tops. Those trucks are geared real low in the rear end. Does this truck have a two speed rear end?

A '59 w/261? Not sure, but I had a 62 C60 w/261 5spd + 2spd + 20" rear (not an overdrive tranny, just shorter throws between gears.

I had a long talk with the previous owner before deciding to trailer mine home 55 mph would get the motor spinning along pretty well. It would hit 60mph for short bursts . . . not fast enough for a 150 mile ride home for me.

Just a tip: Some think the 2 speed rear end has low and higher but it doesn't. It has low and lower.

My 48 loadmaster has 8.25 20's and a 261 with 4 speed and 2speed rear end. It is wound pretty tight at 45. I usually drive at 42 miles per hour . I have driven it 100 miles in 90 degree weather with a heavy load up to our cabin and it ran just fine. I also have the big capacity radiator. It is amazing all the things you see along the highway at that speed. ;-]

whaddya know - ask question at one job, go to the second, and when i get out serious info awaits!

ok, it sounds like i'm not completely insane, just a bit.

steering is pretty nice on this thing. propshaft brake is smooth and tight. hydraulics - new lines in the rear, but still not great. definitely stops tho. engine runs passably. radiator is NEW even! it's just..... really ugly and rusty.

asfor the rear, i actually have to get it out on the road and see if it shift into not-AS-low on its own, or if i'll have to stick it there myself and leave it for the ride.

i have about 10 of my 40 miles on a back road, more or less, so i can get a feel for it pretty quick. ifit makes it the first few miles into town for a gas stop, i'll sanity check alot there and decide on the next hop.

if nothing else, it'll be an experience, yah?

don't anyone go worrying, i'm reasonably paranoid about anything i think might break. this should make it, but SLOW, and it'll prob suffer a bit since it hasn't been onthe road lately.

oh yeah - anyone from illinois here? crappy old thing has a 2000 vintage ilinios inspection sticker in the windshield! and noone changed the glass out...... i just don't get it.....

Two years ago I purchased a 6400 Chev, 235 babbit engine, 4 speed trans and 2 speed axel with 8.25x20 tires. I had driven it around the block just after buying it. I drove to Kansas from Colorado (225 miles) and drove the big truck back with not a single problem. It was hot, about 98, when I left Kansas. At 45 MPH tops, with cowel, side vent and both windows opened it wasn't to bad. Did not try the interstate, stayed on secondary roads and filled up at every gas staion as it gets pretty bleak in western KS and eastern CO.

and the answer is.......

BOOM!

well, not that dramatic, more like a very quick death by the side of the road. traffic was fine with me taking it slow, about 40, with a chase-truck behind me. the engine, on the other hand, was great for half the trip back, then decided it was tired of containing oil. i'll do the post-mortem tomorrow, but i'll admit it's less than ideal.

now, on the GOOD side, other than tracking more 'sideways' than i'd like, and a flaky light switch and/or wiring, it's a bit better than i thought. springs are fine, steering is fine, shifts fine, and the 2-speed even works. or at least shifted into high as expected, didn't have a need for low with no load and all.

sometimes trial by fire involves a bit of a toasty smell, right?

A breakdown on the side of the road is always good for future memories.

Motor spewing oil doesn't sound good . . . broken rod with hole in side of the block? Hope not!

Since it is a full pressure 261 with pressure lines too/from external filter - hopefully it just blew a hose (and you noticed it right away and shut her down!)

Keep us posted.

only popped the hood to look around a bit today - had to do the yard work i was avoiding by picking up the truck yesterday. starter will engage and kick right back out. oil is on the passenger side, pretty far forward, no obvious holes in the block. still HAS oil in it, but obviously threw most of a quart. i WISH it was just a line to/from the filter - those look ok.

more to the point, it doesn't seem the starter, which would previously move the truck in 1st/low, will turn the engine. i hit the clutch and key as soon as i realized something was wrong, no clue what the real damage is yet tho. truck rolls fine out of gear, might 'bump' the motor with the weight of the truck in gear if i don't see where the oil is coming from.

now for the fun part - if i assume the current engine is a total loss, just worst case thinking here, what to do.....

y'know tho, even tho my regular rides are a stripped down '97 chevy 1/2 ton 2wd with 350 and 5 speed, and a race-prepped (showroom stock SCCA stuff) dodge neon, this was the most fun 20 mile spin i've had in years, scary and ending badly or not!

Took My 1966 out on the highway for the first time oil went everywhere the problem was solved in the forums here it was as simple as putting a vented oil cap on the engine no more oil leaks
good luck Dave

ok, so far, the damage is less severe than it COULD be - turns out the engine still spins - at least the bottom end!

tis a pain not seeing much engine thru the hood while stepping on the starter..... so i taught the wife what thing ya step on - 24 years old, and she's learning to toy with my old truck, gotta love that.

now for details. the bottom end spins, even the fanbelt, but popped the valve cover and no motion there. massive loose clearances on the pushrods for that matter, but such is life.

so, the crank must be in one piece, and i guess i'm looking at timing gears or a broken cam maybe? not sure what would explain throwing oil, but it's very far forward, looks like along the seam of the pushrod cover possibly. definitely an 'event' tho, not a long-term leak.

suggestions how to proceed anyone? if i chewed up timing gears, did i slam valves and trash things, or can those just go out and get replaced?

i'll hunt more later, but it'll be dark here soon, and the beast won't fit in the garage. such is life, huh?

ok, more info just in case someone with the right clue reads this board but not the engine/driveline one.

hit the starter, bottom end turns over. i assume no broken crank as fan even turns. distributor doesn't turn. clunking noise from front passenger side. raining at the moment, further disassembly will have to wait til tomorrow.

any reasonable guesses besides frozen/broken cam or cam gears?