New to the group and H.A.M.B. I`ve built cars and trucks for yrs and finally decided to build a 56 Ford COE. I have 2 56 C600s that I aquired several yrs ago and am going to make into 1. I bought an 88 F450 ch***is for the axles and steering to put under the better truck. I would like to go with diesel power and have looked at several different motors. Right now one of the COE`s has a 390 ford with a Clark 5Spd OD in it and Im` concidering a 7.3 turbo diesel(non powerstroke) to put in it. Dimensionally the v8 7.3 is all most the same size as the 390, it will fit in the frame rails and a new dog house would be required, No biggie for me to fab up. I allso have a line a on powerstroke complete with the wiring harness and computer, but I really don`t want electronic and all the problems that could arise with it. I thought about a straight 6, ***mins is almost too long. A jap diesel is more in line for size but need to adapt it to the Clark ******. Wondeing what some of you guys are running?
I have a 5.9 ***mins in mine, but mine is behind the cab. I am also a big fan of the late 7.3 powerstroke. I have one in my pickup and have had zero trouble with it. I would not hesitate on putting a good 7.3 in it if you have all of the wiring and computer stuff. I personally would stay away from the 6.0 for poor reliability/no room to work on reasons if its going back under the cab. I have seen a 50 Ford COE with a 7.3 and it was working fine. It looked a little stuffed in there, but he drove it in and drove it out of the show I was at. I don't know if a 5.9 ***mins would fit in there or not, I never measured one. Where I put mine, length was not an issue behind the cab. Anyway, more than my allocated 2 cents worth, and I apologize. Have fun whichever engine you go with.
I own a 95 F350 crew cab pickup with the 7.3 powerstroke. As far as problems I did replace the HP oil pump. not too complacated but diognastics can be a PIA. Thats why I thought of a 7.3 turbo engine, much easier to fix if problems arise.
I have a personal friend, actually he and I are co workers for the same company even though we live 250 miles apart, and he has a mid fifties Ford COE with a non turbo 7.3. I forgot about his truck in my first post. The older non turbo trucks don't have as much power as the newer turbo engines, but they are very reilable, and have enough power to do the job anyway. I think I would use it if I had it, and I knew it was a good one.
I sold my '46 Chevy COE a couple of years ago but thought I would mention that I used a 5.8 Isuzu turbo diesel with the 5 speed manual and ****er 2 speed aux. I mounted a 40" bunk from an old Freightliner behind the cab and the engine fit nicely in the bunk under the removable bed. Can't post a pic for some reason.
I am placeing a 41 cab on to a 84 Chev. van ch***is with a 6 cly. in it. It fits pretty good except it would look better if I could have placed it 1" back further. I am using he stock Chev. radiator in the original position. I had to use a 90 degree brake pedal system from Kugel but there is plenty of room for it. The new floor is at the same hight as the original in respect to the cab. (I did cut the rear lower 3" moulding off of the back of the cab to keep it lower and placed the cab directly on the Chevy floor. I removed the inner fender wels and replaced them with straight panels for more foot space and moved the inner motor panels inward. This gave me about 4" more room. My present plans call for a pick up body on it that will be 10' 8" long. I am looking for an old wrecker boom of the 30's vintage if anyone has one for sale in the New England area.
My current plan is to look for a 4WD Dually 350 or 450 rolling ch***is with automatic transmission and one of the 7.3 Turbo diesel Powerstroke engines which were in production from '94 to '02. I have a ch***is with an IDI 7.3 and I have owned a Turbo charged IDI 7.3. Most of these ch***is you will find are very high mileage. It's just the nature of about any available diesel to be high mileage. You just need to find one that runs good. I look for whole trucks that are still running. At this age the bodies are starting to go and they can be found at a fairly decent price.
Since I posted last I got the original 272 y block started and running. The motor runs like a top and holds 50 psi. I never had the truck running when I bought it but it did turn over. A little time in the points and it was running! Still haven`t commited to a motor but the original is a canidate. I should also mention I have a 421 ponitac that could be a canidate. A poncho tripower woild look cool in there!
The Jalopy Journal
