The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Small deisel engine in a 50 Chevy?

Has anyone out there ever put a smalldeisel engine in a 47-55 Chevy pickup? I was thinking it might be a cool project. The truck might run on old cooking oil ultimately. I was thinking old Vw drive train, but that would be metric. Any other power train suggestions? Just a little greasy food for thought.

I have a not quite small engine in my truck, a 4-53T Detroit Diesel.

I have heard of a guy in MD with a 3800 (1 ton pickup) and a 4BT Cummins in it, have yet to see it, hope to catch him at a truck show one day.

I feel that the 4BT is just a tad on the heavy side for a 1/2 ton truck, but it is a doable project, and should get very respectable mileage.

My 4-53T should be in a 1 ton or larger.
A 3-53T would be at home in a 3/4 ton, and again, just a tad heavy for a 1/2 ton, but could be (and has been) done and works fine.

A VW diesel would be under powered in a 1/2 ton truck. I have a 98 TDI Jetta, and with a computer chip and different injectors it is very fun to drive, and over 45 mpg too. In a heavier vehicle it would be not so fun, and mileage would be worse. An old non turbo VW is hardly enough to move the stock car, best to leave those alone.

Grigg

i'm not trying to promote another site but if you really interested in it and thinkin you might go with the 4bt route you could try www.4btswaps.com there is loads of people on there that have 4bt (3.9L 4cyl cummins) and 6bt (5.9L 6 cyl cummins) into 1/2 ton trucks jeep wranglers FJ40s soap box broncos and all sorts of other things they even have a part on there for an Isuzu 4BD1T/2T on there also or you could try this other site www.thedieselpage.com they are mainly oriented with the 6.2, 6.5 gm, and 6.6 duramx engines people in there have them in late 70s full size buicks and what not
Nate

The Cummins 4BT Forums is a great place, lots of good info.
I'll hang out there on occasion..

Grigg

I haven't looked at one or measured it in person, but I would suspect you could transplant the entire drivetrain out of a Dodge Sprinter and it might be pretty decent.

I've got four retired UPS engines, Onan/Cummins inline 6-cylinder turbo diesels rated at 120 HP at 3,600 RPM. One of them is headed for a new home in a 54 Chevy pickup body on a Nova/S10 frame combination, and another is going to be a repower for my 87 F-350 flatbed. I've had one of them on the dyno, and it makes the advertised HP at the correct RPM. It's a real torque monster at low speed, too. It is just a bit heavier than a 235, but not much.
Jerry

I have a Cummins B33 that I am putting into Frankentruck. weighs in about 475 and currently has the fueling table up to about 130hp. The 4B is a good swap, however they do shake like a dog passing a peach pit just off idle. Both the 4B and B33 are metric engines as well as most modern engines that you will find. The VW 2 liter 4-pot or Audi/vanagon 2.5 liter 5-pot would both be a good engine, however you would have problems finding a transmission to bolt up, even though Kennedy makes an adapter. The Audi V10 TDI would be a nice engine, however they are pricey. GM has the 4.3 diesel that was in many cars in the mid 80's as well as the 5.7 liter diesl. The engines are so-so, however will work to be a good engine. The later Jeep Liberty's came with a VM Motori (italian) diesel.

I like the idea of a diesel engine,except the fact it's dearer than gas/petrol over here! Nearly $11 a gallon! Then again you usally get better mileage with the diesel.
VW do build some sweet diesel motors,or alternatively how about a BMW 6 cylinder or a Merc 6 cylinder from a Dodge Sprinter van. I don't think the Metric side of things should scare ya! It's only a different set of wrenches after all!
I do like the idea of the Audi V10 though,it develops more torque than a Dodge Viper!It would probably be a bit of a squeeze though!

But it would be cool, sound mean, and pull like a demented rhino on peyote.

A British car TV programme recently demonstrated the pulling power of one of these by hauling a Boeing 747 along a runway!
They had to add ballast to stop it spinning it's wheels!