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Diesel applications for hot rods

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Kilroy, Mar 27, 2007.

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  1. I owned the V6 diesel in a mid 80's FWD Olds Cutless Ciera. A friend who was an Olds mechanic told me it was a true diesel & not a converted gas mtr. like the Olds 350 diesel mtrs. When I ran Shell diesel & Rottela oil I got 48plus mpg out of it & never had to plug it in durning the winter. Mind you it couldn't get out of its own way, but once up to speed it was a highway cruiser & even in a traffic jam on a hot summer day it could sit for hours idling & would never go over 200 degrees...joe
     
  2. mattcrp1
    Joined: Aug 20, 2007
    Posts: 401

    mattcrp1
    Member

    ford has a 6 cyl 4.5l diesel engine in the lcf that is loosly based on the 6.0l that might work well in some applications.
     
  3. tjm73
    Joined: Feb 17, 2006
    Posts: 3,479

    tjm73
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    What's a "lcf"?
     
  4. boldventure
    Joined: Mar 7, 2008
    Posts: 1,766

    boldventure
    Member

    A little late replying, but...
    Check out Posies Fleetliner/Areoliner. Its based on a Chevy Fleetine and has a Roush diesel engine.
     
  5. tjm73
    Joined: Feb 17, 2006
    Posts: 3,479

    tjm73
    Member

    That's not correct. It's not a diesel. It's a Ford 300 inline 6 gas engine built by Roush.
     
  6. kustomrace
    Joined: Apr 1, 2004
    Posts: 168

    kustomrace
    Member

    I'm into this thread late,so forgive me,We run the vw tdi in a full blown race car.Makes over 300hp with huge torque.I used to work for a team that ran ls2 powered gto's.The vw will go a full season without a rebuild.the gto's would go about 2 races.Our tdi is still in development ,its still a work in progress.We have two tuners that we bring in from portugal,they are far ahead of the u.s. tuners (car-wise).I still don't think I would put one in my car,but thats what this about,using your own style.Dave
     
  7. Have a 31 pickup in my shop i am building, using a 84 mercedes 5 cylinder, no computer to deal with and runs on veggy,french fry oil.
     
  8. DEZEL INGEN
    Joined: Jan 5, 2009
    Posts: 20

    DEZEL INGEN
    Member

    if your into share n. ild like more info on your tdi. trying to stick one in a 2 wheeler
    [​IMG]


    and this 4bta [​IMG]
    is gonna power a coe dodge
    [​IMG]
     
  9. Old Iveco trucks are dirt cheap and may still have their Fiat 6 cyl or Dietz 5 cyl air cooled engines. I don't know anything about improvig them, but one of each were my work trucks waaaaay back when I was an outside sales rep for the local dealer. The 5 cyl was't fast, but it sounded very cool. The 6 was about the size of an American inline gas engine. The automatic versions had a short shaft 727 trans behind them. The realshort shaft, with the 5" or so tail housing. There was anadapter between the engine and trans, so a guy may not need to go crazy putting an automotive trans behind one.If I were to try a diesel project, that wasn't a generator, the Benz would probably win due to the availability and adaptability.
     
  10. Cymro
    Joined: Jul 1, 2008
    Posts: 755

    Cymro
    Member

    I have a '51 Chevy 1/2 ton pick up, fitted with a 2 litre perkins prima turbo diesel engine, it's good for 40 plus mpg not the most powerful of engines, but at nearly £5 per gallon it makes sense. With the 5 speed box fitted it cruises happily at 70 mph, so I expect it's "horses for courses" ItS certainly a viable option to a japanese pick up and a lot more stylish. Four cylinder produces more power than the original six and is obviously smaller and lighter. sorry no pics at present i'm having problems trying to post.
     
  11. JackdaRabbit
    Joined: Jul 15, 2008
    Posts: 498

    JackdaRabbit
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    from WNC

  12. Having worked on diesel powered equipment for 30 years, here is my $.02 worth. the internal pressures in these engines mandates very heavy parts. The engines have their place, they are economical, and generate a lot of torque ....(work) but Horse power (speed) to weight wise not practical for a light weight car built for the fun of driving. So if you want to haul a backhoe on a trailer behind your hot rod, or go on a cross country trip for less than $50.00 stick with a spark ignition engine. Besides, I'm getting tired of getting my ass kicked at the Drags by Diesel pickups with power chips.
     
  13. Henry ford wanted to run the country off of hemp seed oil fuels (Gods origional biodiesel) but the powers that be had other ideas and squashed henrys plans...
    Henry ford not only put america on wheels but could of been president!!! We can only imagine what might have been....Instead we've been pumping our money into the middle east...and we see what became of that!!!!!!!!!
     
  14. leaded
    Joined: Nov 17, 2005
    Posts: 326

    leaded
    Member
    from Norway

  15. tjm73
    Joined: Feb 17, 2006
    Posts: 3,479

    tjm73
    Member

    That is not what I recall reading. As I recall it, Henry Ford wanted the farmers to be able to run their cars on fuel they themselves produced. That fuel was ethenol, which most farmers could readily produce.

    If Ford wanted to promote diesel motivation where is the evidence of early diesel engines and research? I've never seen a Ford diesel from back then or even read that Ford investigated them back then.

    I have seen pictures and read about electric Fords from then. But no diesels.
     
  16. I got to say as far as Diesels go, old style heavy motors were terible things,
    but the latest generation of high pressure electronic multi squirt multi stage turbo engines are starting to make more power than gasoline engines of simarlar weight and size.
    I know things in NA tend to lag a bit behind Europe, here we have had turbo charged Diesel cars which can more than match thier spark ignition counterparts in performance for twenty years, so certainly from our side of the pond, a Diesel motor might be favoured in terms of performance for a hotrod, however for looks it's not a winner.
    Typical Diesel is still one ugly mother, so I am sticking with a Hemi coz it looks right.
     
  17. International (Navistars) up to 1995 were all mechanical. I have one in a '92 F250, Banks turbo and I love it. Have had it 16+ years and have done basically nothing to it. Replaced some glow plugs and O-rings and that's it. Oh, I had the starter rebuilt. There should be thousands of them out there because nearly every damned school bus in the country has them. As you said, the only electronics on it is the glow plugs and the solenoid that lets the motor shut off. In years to come, if the Government and T.Boone Pickens have their way there won't be new diesels. Trucks will be natural gas powered.
     
  18. VectorGES
    Joined: Jan 22, 2008
    Posts: 83

    VectorGES
    Member
    from Conway, SC

    Like everything else there are different diesels for different applications. The Cummins 4BT and 6BT are real workhorses, and they are very heavy. The older Mercedes are noted for long life and great mileage. Get a pre-85 300D for $1500 in a running car and you have all the parts for the conversion. They have been known to go 500,ooo miles without a rebuild. The 300D and 300Sd cars are around 3600 pounds, so in alighter rod they will have much better acceleration. The newer ones are cleaner, but not as easy to work with. The Isuzu's are great but they came in delivery trucks with very heavy frames and axles. But there are a lot of people putting them in jeeps. My sister uses them for the red cross and gets 25 mopg in teh city. The Dodge Sprinter vans are Merceds diesels that get 30 mpg when driven by FedEx drivers. I ahve driven one and it is no slouch. Just expensive to buy new. There are lots of farm diesel engines around (Perkins, Allison, Deutz) but they tend to be very heavy. Besides, thing of the class of a Mercedes engine in your T-bucket.
     
  19. mattcrp1
    Joined: Aug 20, 2007
    Posts: 401

    mattcrp1
    Member

    any one make headway on projects powered by diesels?
     
  20. Dzus
    Joined: Apr 3, 2006
    Posts: 321

    Dzus
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  21. amctilldeath
    Joined: Dec 31, 2009
    Posts: 19

    amctilldeath
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    take a mercedes OM617, swap the stock turbo for a mechanical VNT Turbo, increase the plunger size in your IP, put on a big intercooler and let er' rip... ;)

    you wanna check out some crazy TDI's? check out what there doing in Hungary and i believe Turkey... there are some CRAZY ones out there.... watched a video of a TDI Golf dust a ferrari... it was pretty ridiculous. as for those of you love the "electronically squirted diesels" (AKA CRD-Common Rail Diesel's) they are for the most part very expensive yet due to there young age, and injectors are through the freakin roof... $350 to $640 EACH depending on application
     
  22. amctilldeath
    Joined: Dec 31, 2009
    Posts: 19

    amctilldeath
    Member
    from Wisconsin

  23. 64cheb
    Joined: Sep 27, 2010
    Posts: 74

    64cheb
    Member

    I think a smaller diesel would work well in a rod, just has to look good instead of a spaghetti bowl of wires and pipes. I am a Detroit fan personally. A 353 or 453 would look slick in an F1 or F2. A 453 would also look good in a 60-66(my plans). The Detroit 6.2 and 6.5 would look cool in a 32 ford, if you had the non-turbo, mech injection version. Crazy ideas, but ideas nonetheless.
     
  24. bsduece
    Joined: May 11, 2009
    Posts: 35

    bsduece
    Member

    here is a cool diesel saw at the la roadster show a few years back. I dont know much about diesels but this thing was cool
     

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  25. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
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