O.K. so I lean towards the green, but been really interested lately, in this whole bio-diesel movement. Hell, Even Willy Nelson's tour bus runs on the stuff. Plus the exhaust smells like french(freedom)fries. Anywhoo, I remember Nads telling about this bloke in England, whom drives a vintage Chevy pickem-up powered by a small 4cyl. diesel. Gas prices ocross the pond have to be over $5 a gallon. I don't think I'd want a '32 HI-BOY powered by an oil burner, but an old truck could be kinda cool. I've even seen several people on this site with big COE's on modern turbo diesel truck chassis. My dream truck is a 34 Ford full fendered. Was thinking about a Toyota 4 cyl. turbo diesel with a 5 speed. Found allot of Bio-Diesel info on the "Car Talk" website. http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/alternativefuels/biodiesel.html Comments and opinions?? JT
its not talked about a lot here but there's a ton of stuff you can do to a diesel to get impressive power,i work at a vw dealer and a lot of guys are hopping these things up,can be a bit expensive though
I'd be interested to see/read what people here have built that runs on diesel. Set to get a 53 Ford f-500 and parts to build a rollback on it, was thinkin the cummins turbodiesel in dad's wrecked dodge would be a nice powerplant...this is gonna be my hauler, at least it will look traditional on the outside
I've got a diesel project in the works. I'm using a 6cyl out of an '81 Scout. I'm torn between putting it in a 31 A pickup, or a 27 T sedan. Guys are getting 25+ mpg with these in a Scout, So shave off a thousand lbs, and take away some aerodynamic drag, and I sohuld be able to get at least 30mpg. I saw a 50? Merc with a cummins 6bt in it, guy said he could run the big hills as fast as he wanted and got 33 mpg. Here's a couple pics I call this one the MAX WEDGIE. You really get some wierd shit when your not paying attention
[I have had the same idea. I think I would use a MB 300D, 5 cylinder with a turbo and a automatic transmission. You could probably run it without a muffler because of the turbo. I don't think there is any computer running the injector pump.
now this thing is a cool idea, perfect for the daily driver. i had a similar idea but involving a 62 chrysler and a cummins 6bt. the way i see it it cant be that much heavier than a big block and all the torque youd want.
The only problem with doing a Rod is the weight of a diesel engine. Especially a turbo diesel. You will also need a stout tranny. If you want to go green, bio-ethanol (grain-alcohol) or E85 (grain-alcohol with 15% gasoling mixture) may be your best bet if you want to do an ass hauling hot rod. E85 is an easier conversion simply because the gasoling prevents alot of the corrosion that a pure alcohol engine sees and it is just a little more available at present. But still not what I would call readily available. I've been talking for years about converting my old Dodge to bio-ethanol and building a still. Coors actually produces E85. Bio-butanol is also in the works. It has a better engergy density more like gasoline. Good luck.
I think the 6bt is around 1000lbs, thats quite a bit more than a 440 at about 750. The 4bt is alot closer. The diesel I'm using is about 680, but the cummins have alot more power potential and aftermarket stuff available. THe only downfall is a used 4bt, with around 150K miles is going to cost upwards of $2000. But for anyone or owns, or has ever ridden in a hot rodded diesel, you know the torque is amasing
I'am still collecting parts for my Diesel rod, its a 1938 International D-2 pickup 1/2 ton, it will have a Cummins 4BT with a NV4500 5-speed, just need to get a tranny. The 6BT is 906LB's Dry less flywheel and elec components, and the 4BT is 705LBS dry. gahi the Nissan SD633T is a gut less little motor and really full of problems. I love my 1980 Scout diesel but they are pain in butt to find parts for and pricey. They are known for popping pistons with as little as 6LBS boost and are known for cracking heads and blowing head gaskets, if you need any parts i have 2 parts engines to keep my scout going.
I have wanted to do a Dodge Town wagon with a 6BT for a while now. Problem is finding a 60-66 town wagon. The frame is pretty much the same on dodges from 60-93 so I should be able to bolt in the diesel using a parts truck. Make mine a 4x4 with a 5 spd please!
We are planning a 1962 Chevrolet pick-up with a 6.2L/400 with a Doug Nash OD. While not the best Diesel, this is all fresh rebuild and runs awesome in the 'Burb it in now. As you all know everything will swap into the 60-66. Suspension, brakes just about everything. Should be a neat little rig.
That sucks! I'll trade ya mine, its complete with a tranny, for a 4bt! Seriously though, I got a screamin deal (Free, with a little trading). Do you think I should try and sell it to the Scout/Patrol guys? What are they worth? I'd really rather have a cummins. I have the 6bta in my pickup and its great.
Check out this video. http://www.teamrwd.com/dieselboost/videos/dslboost05.wmv I can't read their page though LOL Jdee http://www.teamrwd.com/dieselboost/
All that black smoke makes for an ugly donut. Those things could use a particulate filter like the Audi R10 prototype.
Gahi, the going range for them seem to be $500-1000 for runners, they can be pretty hard to get rid of, i sold a running Non turbo awhile back and it took about 6 months to sell it but i got what i wanted out of it. The BT series Cummins are awsome engines, i have a 93 (12 Valve)and a 99 (24 valve) with them and they tow like theres nothing there and get 20+ MPG.
O.K. guys. Modern turbo-diesels would work well in pick-ups from about 48 on. I've looked at putting a 7.3l Ford Powerstroke in my 48 F1. The 7.3l is about the same physical size as a big block FE Ford engine. There are a ton of F1s and F100s running around with FE Fords. Weight-wise its not much heavier than a big block. The 7.3l is about 932 pounds dry with accessories. If you are going to use a truck like its supposed to be used, to haul things and pull trailers you'll get better fuel mileage from a diesel and lots more torque to pull loads up hills, etc. Sure its not traditional but vehicles are to be useful. If you are going to take an old bigger truck or a COE and make a car hauler with a flatbed on it, you'll be better off with a diesel than a gas motor. For you Cummins fans, Cummins recently built some prototype V8 and V6 engines for light duty trucks (read 1/2 and 3/4 ton pickups) for a Dept. of Energy study. You can do a Google search to find the study. I would bet they are seriously looking at producing them if they can get a contract with Ford, Toyota or Dodge. The tough, new diesel emissions rules are keeping diesel cars and trucks out of the U.S. market until later this year or early next.
and I think it will be for at least the next 5-7 years. They just don't have the infrastructure to produce it on a large scale yet. All the fast food companies in town have had their oil contracted away by the casinos to heat their buildings. So where does that leave the little guy? Contrary to popular belief. You don't just MAKE it. It's a process as involved as making whiskey, just less volatile I guess. With the amount of fossil fuel based fertilizer needed to grow the materials just to get the vegetable oil, it's so far a losing proposition, and more expensive for the consumer. Eventually it will be viable I think.
Might as well do it on vegi oil, it's free as long as you have cheap Chinese restaurants or donut shops nearby http://www.greasecar.com/
I could give two squirts and a shake about doing a rod for the environemnt but i diud see a pretty wicked diesel on the Cruise to the woods in Iowa this year. The thing was a ratty early fifties truck with a flip fron end, the diesel looked to be CAT four with the ubiquitous diesel Turbo. Not sure if it was worth a crap to drive but it sure drew a crowd, and I have seen newer diesel pickups with Bully dog performance enhancements pull a 7,000 pound truck down the 1/4 in less than 14 seconds, that may not sound like much to some, but a lot of the cars from the fifties could barely get up to sixty in less than 14 seconds back in the day. wish I could find a pic
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