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gstanfield

gstanfield

Are we there yet?
OK, my wife thinks I am crazy, and maybe I am. I have been sitting here looking at my 1965Impala sport coupe and got to thinking....."what diesel would fit in there?" Is there any diesel that would fit were a big block can fit, and still get decent power? I'm certain a durmax wouldn't fit, too high and I couldn't afford it anyway. There rally isn't much power to be had with a 6.2 or 6.5 is there? And a little 4cy cummins 3.9 just wouldn't have the power to keep with the stock small block even I'm guessing.

Oh well, just my demented thoughts for the day, any input is welcome. tell me I'm crazy or tell me I'm a genious. Either way my wife is sure to continue thinking I am crazy.

George
 
I have had a few of these ideas lately as well. Mine is a 77-89 Caprice and a 4BT Cummins. It would be for business use and if I could get 30+ MPG I would be happy. Somebody suggested I try finding a Mercedes donor but I feel more comfortable with the Cummins.

My Dad had a '65 Impala and a '67 Cutlass convertible when I was in high school. Both were nice cruisers.
 
How much power you looking to have here? Ya got'a balance that out a bit with TQ as the Diesel will have a fair amount.
 
Right now I'm pushing around 325hp and about 315ft/lbs of tq. If I go through the trouble of an engine swap I'm either going with a 500CID caddy engine with 450hp and 550ft/lbs or somethign diesel. So far the caddy engine is the leader, but I figured with me being a newfound diesel but maybe I should go for the totally unique.

GEorge
 
There is a certian fella I know who is looking at a 6BT into an "interesting" Lincoln, a 4bt into a 65 Impala would be way cool as well :rockwoot:

Issues as I see them do not include Power, a 4BT is nothing more than a 6 BT minus two cylinders, don't fret to much about HP :evil What I would fret about is getting a very tall I-4 into the Impala's engine bay, you might have to look at a dry sump oil system.
 
Billysgoat said:
Issues as I see them do not include Power, a 4BT is nothing more than a 6 BT minus two cylinders, don't fret to much about HP
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Different injection pumps though.. I don't think there was ever a version of the P-Pump on a 4bt.. It was similar to the pumps on the first gen trucks in a rotary style.

I have a 66 bronco that really, really needs a 4bt though. :bang
 
I was looking at a Bobcat with a 4BT and an inline pump on it this weekend, but it was a non turbo'ed engine???
 
:bow:
Billysgoat said:
I was looking at a Bobcat with a 4BT and an inline pump on it this weekend, but it was a non turbo'ed engine???
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You know, I have HEARD of p-pump versions online, but never seen one before. This is all I have ever seen. :bow: :bow:
 

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OK guys, so with a little scrounging, some adaptive engineering, and just a touch of luck I could piece together a turbo, intercooled 4BT putting out 275hp and 550lbs of torque? The impala was avaliable with a gas inline 6, so the adaptation to the inline cummins shouldn't be too much of an issue, as long as weight isn't too heavy.

George
 
gstanfield said:
OK guys, so with a little scrounging, some adaptive engineering, and just a touch of luck I could piece together a turbo, intercooled 4BT putting out 275hp and 550lbs of torque? The impala was avaliable with a gas inline 6, so the adaptation to the inline cummins shouldn't be too much of an issue, as long as weight isn't too heavy.

George
Click to expand...


I think you should really get a hold of the dimensions and measure this out..

The 4bt isn't exactly long. And it's not terribly heavy (about the same weight as a small block v8 I think)

But it is TALL.

REALLY, REALLY tall.

I don't know if you could actually fit it inside a car.


I was down in Moab last year and talking to the guy that builds the "Scorpion" buggies.. It was unbelievable to see what he had to do to make that engine fit.
 
MD-LUCKY is right. The 4BT is REALLY tall, taller than the 250 six that came in the Chevy. You may need a "cowl induction" hood and some oil pan work to make it fit.

A 6BT weighs around a 1000 pounds so I am guessing that a 4BT will be around 800. A big block Chevy weighs around 600 if I remember correctly. I was thinking of using some carbon fiber body parts to reduce the front end weight.

I think you would have some frame reinforcement and a bigger rear end to handle the torque. There are some guys with the rotary pumps on the 1st gens making over 450HP/1000TQ so the 4BT could probably be cranked up quite a bit.
 
MD-LUCKY said:
:bow:


You know, I have HEARD of p-pump versions online, but never seen one before. This is all I have ever seen. :bow: :bow:
Click to expand...

Cummins are made 4 cyl engines with turbo and inline fuel pump (P7100), marine version pushed out 250 hp :ylsuper:
 
If you're going with the caddy option George, look for a 472...They were a bit stronger than the 500 was.

Find something else to do the diesel conversion with, and buy yourself that 572 crate motor GM has for the cruiser..:D
 
Scott, I have a 472 already, so this should settle the issue. The 500 is the same xact block, just more stroke to it. I've worked with these engiens some and with Caddilac motorsports development and am pretty familiar with them. I'm thinking that will be the route, not sure what displacement I'll go for, as you can easily get 540 with them and not stress anything much. The big chevy engines have become booring to me, I guess just too many and they loose their magic.

Maybe then my magic conversion will be to take my 71 Chevy 3/4ton 2WD and my 80 GMC 3/4 ton 4x4 , the find a 12V like in my 97 ram and combine them to make a 71 4X4 12V on 20 inch rims with 40" tires and around 500hp? Now to convince my wife I really need to spend all that money to make one truck out of two. Maybe tell her I can save money on plates and insurance by having one truck instead of two?

Oh well, the gears keep turning, I'll find my unique expression of wierdness soon enough.

George
 
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