Old trucks... lets see them!

[dmcdowell]

MCamp, as I said there are some. Almost all my trucks have been 350s but none have been as good as in my 97. I wish I could go buy the exact same truck new. It must have been built at a happy place.

[J Hayes]

Old B-Model, no power steering, off road, fingers jammed into the wing vent post.
Ahhhh, memories.

You forgot split shift

Forgot the old Autocar with tandem steering ,no room between dash, and steering wheel for your knuckles and the very short auxiliary stick in the middle behind main so you tore the skin off your elbow on the back window frame, unless you wore a heavy sleeved shirt or coat..

[bbaker]

Yeah cause it sounds like so much fun to drive them trucks.... No thanks..

[J Hayes]

Yeah cause it sounds like so much fun to drive them trucks.... No thanks..

Forgot to mention the fact if ya was runnin before daylight ya could pull out the throttle on a hill. about 7- 10 mph full power, step out on the fuel tank and relieve yerself (tires never got too hot ya had to water cool them) -- LOL BTDT

[Scott C.]

Jim,
I used to do that all the time. Pulling a hill (maybe overloaded too), get into low low, too hot in the truck, pull the throttle and stand on the fuel tank.
Once you were in low gear on a 20 speed Mack you didn't have to worry about stalling. Either the front end was coming up, you would dig a hole or twist an axle but never stall.

[Scott C.]

I love these paintings. They are on the garage of an old feed store near me.
I ran into the guy at a show a couple years ago and was talking to him about his trucks. The dad has the B and the son has the F. As soon as I saw the doors, I knew who they were.

[bbaker]

I think it's time Skott bought an old MAC to play with. This has been a recurring theme with him for some time!

[J Hayes]

I Think Scott needs a new Cub Hauler.

[Scott C.]

Oh man, you ain't kidding.
I've already thought it out.
Single axle, sound deadening in the cab, higher rear, 20 speed, power steering, A/C, chrome stack and lots of dogs on it fit to pull a trailer of cub cadets anywhere I want.
Gotta be red.
A little shorter version of this.

I'm going to the company that owns this for compressor training in a couple weeks. They're just north of Columbus, OH.
I hope it's there

[Scott C.]

It's bring your old truck to work day!
I had to get the old fella out one more time before he goes up on jackstands in the garage for a front end overhaul.
The parking garage is right across from the building I work in.

[bbaker]

Bring your old truck to work day huh? lol sounds like a good time to me.

[Scott C.]

I'll tell you what though. They sure have made some tremendous advancements in power steering and cup holders over the years

[J Hayes]

[quote="Scott C."]Oh man, you ain't kidding.
I've already thought it out.
Single axle, sound deadening in the cab, higher rear, 20 speed, power steering, A/C, chrome stack and lots of dogs on it fit to pull a trailer of cub cadets anywhere I want.
Gotta be red.
A little shorter version of this.

458391616ivxkRV_ph.jpg

Don't think I'd shorten it -- Look for an old sleeper cab, remove it , go to a camper Junk Yard for a wrecked motor home with the toy hauler on the back and use motor home running gears Like a 454 chev with auto. or just find a good Mack Cab to mount on Motorhome. may have to trim fenders though

[BigMike]

Yeah cause it sounds like so much fun to drive them trucks.... No thanks..

Come on BB you're a manly man(for the most part) them ole nut busters sound like fun to me

[Racenitro]

I wish I had some pictures of the B Model Mack with integral sleeper that a neighbor had way back when....
One of these days I'll get some pictures of my R Model Mack Tandem Dump...

One stack mack with a puppy shack!

[J Hayes]

I wish I had some pictures of the B Model Mack with integral sleeper that a neighbor had way back when....
One stack mack with a puppy shack!

You mean like this one ? to tell you the truth I dont recall one like this

This One I remember called to puppy shack. one real noticeable item a rare two stacker .
could be easily converted to walk through.

[Racenitro]

Jim...
that was what I was talking about. The only one I ever saw was the one the local guy had. I have been trying to find out what happend to it cause he has every other truck he ever owned or I suhoud say his kids do...he is gone.

[albie]

I will have to get you a pic but the guy that owns the local ace hardware has a b mack with integral sleeper and a vintage great dane box to match

[ERIC-SMITH]

here is my old truck pics.... a 78 that i restored and my dads 72

[bbaker]

Leaving for NY in the morning by aeroplane.... Hopefully I won't run into too much trouble.

[bbaker]

Just got back home, what a long trip! averaged 8.5 mpg on the way home. I think it's time for a good tune up and a few mods to the 454 to help it run better.

[Racenitro]

BB...
I hate to break the news...but that is about as good as you are gonna get. 454's hardly ever exceed 10mpg and that is if you are downhill all the way.

That is why I keep hawking diesel....15 to 18mpg is way better....

When I worked for NHRA and drove the Division truck I never got better than that for it's 454.

When I hooked to the 28' enclosed trailer...it dropped to just over 6mpg. Carried 100 gallons of fuel so we could pass up at least one filling station....

[bbaker]

Nahh, I think I can get this one to get a little better. May have to switch the cam to do it, but the 350's of that vinatge didn't get that much better. And I realize this is a heavy truck, so I know it's not gonna get the greatest, but still 8.5? yikes!

From what I can gather, is that engine is one of the greatest 454's chevy produced as far as induction, head desgign, compression etc. But it does have it's shortcoming. The exhaust is really restrictive, you can't even hardly hear the thing run, the stock injectors are junk and leak with any miles on them. The trick is to change the injectors with mustang 5.0 stock injectors, they are an exact fit. It just so happens I have a set of those injectors I just couldn't throw away, so a new fuel pressure reg, the injectors (much better design not prone to leak) and doing somthing about the restrictive exhaust has got to really help.

I have looked and looked at diesels. The problem is to get one I could afford they all had well over 200K on them, and that scares me. I had a 95 chevy 6.5 diesel that I loved, however at 176K the injector pump needed replaced. The cheapest I could get that done was 1,800 bucks.

Now if I planned to drive this truck a lot and take it on trips etc, I would have been a little more interested in a diesel, but for just around the farm a few 100 miles a year, it prolly isn't going to make much difference.

Plus the gas motor I feel comfortable working on. I always feel like I am going to screw a diesel up if I touch them.

[Racenitro]

There is not a good GM diesel.

I bought my PSD with 248,000 on it and it was still getting 18mpg. It now has nearly 400,000 and has dropped a little but it needs a new High pressure pump $500 and maybe a new turbo...
I did replace the injectors at 300,000 at a cost of $1200.... only other maintenance is oil changes and filter changes
Diesels generally will do 500,000 if maintained properly.
gasoline engines need at least one rebuild and maybe 2 to get this many miles.
GM does not have a comparable diesel to either the PSD or the Cummins. THe Duramax is not capable of the same mileage as the other two due to the combination of cast iron block and aluminum heads. Many of the people that I know with one have experienced blown head gaskets before 200,000.

Used PSD's are very reasonable. I only paid $6000 for mine 5 years back.

Knock on wood hard, it does not show signs of letting up yet.

I had replaced the Hi pressure oil pump (No injector pump on PSD) but the reman'd pump was bad..somebody drilled a hole on the side and put a pop rivet in it....Kinda would not work after I put it in...so I put the old pump back in....18 months back...
Plan on replacing in march or april when it warms up a bit...can't get it in the garage due to height and length.

I can also tell you that the best trucks period are fords...I have owned every make and put them througth some of the toughest terrain (strip mines)...and the fords always lasted longer. I actually broke a frame on a K-30 driving down the road empty once....funny feeling when ther brakes are gone as it severed the brake line too.
That was my last GM product. Had to replace the engine at 11,000 miles...and GM would not pay for it....
Then there is Dodge....I tore them up way before warranty was up.....
The last four fords have a total of 1.4 Milllion miles combined....
I have owned nearly 20 pick up's in the last 30 years and nearly 30 since we started in business in 1960.
Course some of the best were our IH pick ups. Sad to see they go...the only reason we quit using them.

[Amigatec]

Next question is a freind of mine has an 87 GMC with a 454 Big block. I don't know much else about the truck at this point other than he wants 300 bucks for it, and it's suppossed to run good. Are the small block and Big block bell housings the same? As in, can I take the 454 and simply bolt it into my truck with my transmission? I am hoping his cab is good too, as my cab is pretty rusty on the bottom.

Yes the motors will interchange just fine. I removed a 350 from a 1979 1 ton dually and replaced it with a 402. You would be surprised how many small block parts fit a big block. The flywheels will be different. The 454 will have a big weight on the flywheel, but you can switch the motors very easily.

[Amigatec]

There are different bell housings for different diameter flywheels and clutch sizes. I am no expert on it I just know if your running an 11" clutch you need the big bellhousing. If your 87 big block doner truck is manual trans then you'll have everything you need. If it's not you may have to find a 454 flywheel/bellhousing combo.

Nope the bellhousing are the same. The 350 SB and 396/402 BB use the same flywheel. They use the same clutch. The starters are the same, The distributors are the same, the BB and SB distributors use different weights and springs on the advance, but will interchange, in fact with the SB distributors, the motor will advance a bit faster. The motor mounts on the engine are different, the BB mounts are a bit taller, to use the SB mounts on the BB, you shim them down a 1/4" and they will work. Heck even the valve lifters are the same between the BB and SB.

As far as the hubs/rotors go, once you find the right one's you just swap the hub and rotor. No more work than doing a brake job. You'll need a wheel bearing nut socket for the Dana 60. I don't want to sound like a downer, but I got the feeling your truck is more likely a srw truck with a swapped out rear axle than a drw truck with swapped out front hubs. You could check your rpo codes to know for sure.

Also the Ford and Chevy 1 tons use the same disc brakes. One thing you need to check is, wither this truck is a 1 ton pickup or a 1 ton chassis cab. The chassic cab has a 4" longer wheel base, and the top of the frame is different. At the back of the cab the frame will rise about 1" and at the back it will drop back down about 1". I don't remember the exact difference but the 2 are different.

[Amigatec]

BBC and SBC bellhousings will interchange. Many are identical. There are some differences in 2 ton trucks becasue of dual disc clutches.

The 2 ton trucks with a SB use the same block as the smaller trucks, there is a plate bolted to the back of the motor to fit the 16" flywheel and clutch. The 2 ton with a BB uses a different block but the bell housing flange is the same. The 366 BB uses the same plate as the 350, but the 427 BB uses a cast iron housing on the back of the motor. Some 427's use a 13" double disc clutch, but most will use a 16" single disc with a 20" flywheel.

BB...I bet the front hubs are not for dual wheel (budd)type rims. Bet the rear was changed to a dual wheel rearend. There are adaptors that will extend out far enough for the rims to work.

If the front hubs were for budd wheels then the rims on it would be farther out and look real funny....

I have a suspicion that this truck started life as a SRW (Single rear wheel) truck such as pick-up. The 4x4 hub part sits back inside the hub on ost budd hubs.

From the look in the picture it has a SRW front hubs, look at the back hubs and see if you have 6" of hub sticking though. If you only have 4" and the center of the rims do not touch the hub, you have a SRW axle.

[Amigatec]

I was a chevy salvage yard for 15 years before I started doing IH the 6cyl up to the 454 will interchange as far as bolting it together since your doing 4x4 the tranny has to stay the same is the other truck 4x4 as well there is 2 styles of transfer cases the 203 which is a chain case also fulltime 4x4 the 205 which is gear and most times used in the lockout style and in my opinion the better one even is I did not want the 454 if I would still buy the truck for 300.00 those engine bring more then that

The easy way to tell if it's a full time or part time 4WD is to look at the transfer case shifter. If it has lo and low-lock and high and high-lock it's a full time. If it does and has lockouts, it's been converted.

[Amigatec]

Nope want a dually and I have a flat bed I bought this weekend. I am gonna keep looking for a bed though as the one I got will work, but there might be a better one out there and the one I got was cheap. Plus the rear in the 86 is an open diff the dually diff is a locker.

Normally the frt diff is a tiny bit higher than the rear. If the rear is a 4.73 the frt will be a 4.72, but I have seen a 3.08 in the back and a 2.73 in the front.

[Amigatec]

I'm sure it's a quadrajet. Good deal on the rebuild! Yeah I figure while I have it apart I'll get a new clutch and throw out bearing. This will be a spring time project I currenlty have a mustang torn to pieces in the garage!

To the best of my knowledge there were only 2 sizes of Qjets made, the SB used a 750 cfm and the BB used a 850 cfm. The way to tell is to look above the airdoor in the back barrels toward the front of the carb. There will be a hole above the door, if the hole is appox 1/8" it is a 750 if it is appox 3/16" it is a 850. The 750 will be enough to power the BB.