The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Any other Big Bolts with diesel out there ?

Other than the fantastic diesel conversion that Grigg is working on, are there any others in progress, finished or even thought of? Just curious, I also have a similar plan for my 46 1.5ton. Looks like I will be saving pennies and hocking old parts for a 5.9L cummins. Not a (GM) engine but I can make it fit under the hood of the truck.

A 46 has a pretty snug engine compartment, and a tight cab too.
Is the 6BT a good fit?
Will a 4BT give you the power you want and fit in there a little cleaner with less if any firewall modifications?

I've seen pictures of a few 6BT's swapped in AD trucks and so far I haven't seen an outstanding one, although I bet many of them are functional.

Not to dissuade you, just encouraging some more thought

Grigg

Not affraid of fabricating if need to. Lots of thought in process for lower section of the grill on the 46 to fit radiator and may have to add a few inches to the fire wall and floor of the cab may be even lift an inch or two. I plan to work the truck pretty good and the older mills I looked into eather will be a fitment problem with less power or have a lack of parts. Plan to reconfirm all measurement tomorrow and start playing with the cad program to see if it will definatly work. Im allways open to experiance and wisdom and definately not affraid of customized fun. The truck will need to pull a two car trailer from time to time for short distance and race car to the track.
and what ever load may be put on the back at other times. Love the old trucks and gotta have it.

Mercedes engines fit in pretty tight spots and are amazingly powerful for just 3 liters. The mechanical injected ones were made until the early 90's. Isuzu engines out of NPR trucks are pretty gutsy little critters too.

Grigg have a look at July 2008 vo4 no7 DieselPower Magazine. If my build ideah sounds crazy, look at this on a mustang II suspension. D39 International with a MaxxForce 7 diesel v8.
Gotta laugh at myself and this MaxxForce build both kinda insane.
Keep your thoughts flyin at me Grigg I value your opinion.

I did see that truck, not sure it's really a truck any more, but it does look nice.
They threw a lot of money at that project to make it happen and look so nice.

In the end though think about what you want the truck to do, and what you'll use it for.
I bet you can put a 6BT in a 46 Chevy truck, but is it a good idea considering the effort, and time? Will you gain enough satisfaction when it's done to make it worth the effort?

Grigg

Yeah I like the unusual things and will make it a long time growing project. Im done with all the other toy cars Ive had in the past and have the one race car left to me by my past uncle.
This is my personal enjoyment reaching back to a farm upbringing.
Im relaxing now.

Hy CAJUN CRAW FISH, of course there are other diesel powered trucks out here!

A Cummins 6BT (5.9) in a '42 1-1/2 ton dually pickup is my project. I don't have the engine mounted yet, but all of the measurements I've taken show it will be a very tight fit length-wise, but it *will* fit --- without having to modify the firewall. The only real modification is that there will be no room for the mechanical fan. My idea is to use an electric fan running in reverse (pushing air, rather than pulling air) in front of the radiator. Width-wise, I believe it is better to use an alternator mounting bracket (and maybe AC Compressor bracket, too, but not sure yet) from a medium-duty application rather than the Dodge pickup version because the nose of the engine bay is quite narrow.

I am copying many of Grigg's ideas for the drivetrain using P30 and 3500HD parts.

Grigg, you mentioned you had not yet seen an *outstanding* 6BT conversion. And judging from your project so far, I'm sure your definition of *outstanding* may be a little higher than mine. Take a look at this recent Diamond T on Ebay: I know it's not GM sheet metal, but it does use a P30 chassis. In my opinion, it looks pretty close to outstanding, except that the overall stance maybe looks a little low for my taste. Maybe he just needs more air in the air bags.

Bob

Ebay #120393445886

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1949-Diamond-T-tow-truck-Biggest-Street-Rod-in-town_W0QQitemZ120393445886QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item120393445886&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=65%3A13%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

Oh, and Cajun, check out the 41-46 Chevy wrecker up on the sign post in that Ebay listing. It looks neat, but what a waste of a good truck.

Anybody know where that picture was taken?

Bob

Thats so no one can steal it.

It looks like it's Broadway Truck Salvage and Sales - Albuquerque, NM.

Here's a bigger picture from that site.

Following the same path. I have the replacement p30 axle also and good to know someone is working a similar build. Perhaps we can communicate and make our build easy. Electric fan was also part of my plan. I will be replacing the support plates on both sides of the frame and boxing the frame on the inside. I made gussets for the bottom end of the support plates that will be welded to the frame. Yes its overkill but these vehicles are our frankenstiens and I like the look the support plates give the truck.
Total waste of a truck on top of the pole and I also agree the diamond-T is to low for my taste but still awsome.

That is nice looking Diamond T.

I thought I said I haven't seen an "outstanding" Advanced Design GM truck with a 6BT swapped in.
Implying that if it's difficult to do on an AD truck, then it's likely more difficult to do well on an earlier truck with less room to work with. Not saying it can't be done and done well, just thinking it might take a lot of work, and is it worth it?

I have seen a number of outstanding 6BT conversions, even another Diamond T.

Someone else has to have tried or completed a similar conversion by now, any luck finding others?

Grigg

How are ya Grigg? Do you plan on a different color for your truck than the yellow showm in the photo album? My only thought for my truck at this point is primer.

Thinking a nice dark/deep red to match the wheels now on the truck, and black running boards. Haven't decided on the grill bar colors yet, but I know they won't be chromed.

Grigg

No, I haven't seen a 6BT in any Advance Design or earlier GM truck either. Someone's got to be the first (And at my pace, it likely won't be me). I haven't measured a Diamond T engine bay, but at least within the 1-1/2 to 2 ton size range, I think they are somewhat similar in size and shape to Chevy/GMC engine bays. So I was suggesting that if it worked for that guy, then it should work for us.

Is it worth it? To me it is, but I'm building my truck because I like doing the work. I would never recoup my time investment if I were to sell it. I'm building it to be an extremely capable truck--to use, and to tow, and I'll keep it for a long time, possibly forever. So for me it's worth building what I want. But, I certainly don't have to convince you of that..... hehe.

Bob

Interesting article.


http://www.stovebolt.com/gallery/maher_shawn_1946.html

There you go, it's been done already.
Although he said it was a body swap, not an engine swap into an old truck.
What are you leaning toward now having seen pictures of a similar but different truck?

Grigg

Ive already made good progress on adding stregnth to the frame and my truck has the liftbed on it so I will remain diligent to my vision for my truck but seeing others is definately a motivator.

What a small world, i remember going to Albuquerque 6 years ago and seeing this truck in its primitive stages