So this is going to be my first thread im starting, Kind of an introduction after my introduction. What Im building now is a 53 chevy five window pickup that we bought off of another member on here. To start my father owns a Diesel shop that I have grown up in out of Columbus, Ohio. Weve been in the market for a new parts runner for a while now and with gas prices the way they are we were looking into something friendly on gas. Well after looking for a while and being disappointed with all of the new stuff, we decided to build an old truck with the same budget we were going to spend on the new one. Heres the kicker, After doing allot of thinking on what we wanted and research I found this truck and soon after the power plant for her, A 4bt ***mins diesel motor. Not only will we have the coolest shop truck in town, but it is estimated to get around 30mpg out of the little ***mins. Details on the truck: 1953 chevy truck Air ride suspension boxed frame Four link Scott's front independent front suspension ***mins 4bt diesel powerplant Th400 ****** Ten bolt rear Custom notched frame. My father and i have been talking allot about opening a rod shop out of his diesel shop for some time now, and with my skills, and all of the tools that we have acquired recently we figured it is about time to start branching off, so this is my first Project as E.L.W. Company Racing, Rods, and Customs. We are going to run it through the shop like a regular paying job with hopes of picking up some work along the way, and using the truck as adverti*****t. And since it will be out companys shop truck Im going to letter it all up and it will be like a bill board for us driving all around Columbus. I hope that this matches you guy's criteria for the board, I figured some of you would like to see the progress and process of the build. And since im working on it almost everyday, I will be updating it regularly! If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them along the way, and if anyone has any suggestions Im all ears! Now what you all wanted: Pictures Rear Frame notch: Lowered it down in the back another 3" or so to level it with the front before finish welding: The power-plant: sitting in place, still have to build mounts: Thanks For looking! -Justin
Thank you all very much! Terraizer- That sounds like cool little project, how far have you gotten with it? is it running yet? These little 4bt's are very cool little motors. The one that we got came out of a Frito-lay box truck, you can get running complete motor and ****** combo for around 2K. They even started it up at the Junk yard for me! And the fact that they are mechanical makes hooking them up very easy! Ill keep you all posted!
looks like a very cool build, and some good quality workmanship......... i'm curious why the 10-bolt?
Mine not running yet, still searching for a NV4500 in my price range and its been side tracked by another IH project. My 4bt also came out of a Frito Lay truck, its a 1989 CPL 858 105Hp rotery pump 4bt. I traded a $300 scout for mine and then sold all the GM TH400 adapter, flex plate and stater on ebay for $600 and then bought the 94+ Dodge 6bt adapter, starter and flywheel. i got a bell and mock up nv4500 case but still looking for a builder complete trans.
The only suggestion i would have is to put a Hone overdrive in it or a 700r4.I dont think you will have enough gearing with the engine with just the 400 turbo unless you just drive in town.A two speed rear or a a two speed on the rear of the 400 turbo would also be great.I hope that 10 bolt holds up if you put your foot in it.The build looks great so far.
Hell ya! That's a very overlooked engine with a lot of potential. I remember a local guy that had one in a Ranger.
cool project...gonna be sweet...like the powerplant...good luck with the shop cool tees: www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236347
Thats a great idea. Not familiar with the motor, but I like what I see so far. What part of town are you on? I am building a steel '32 5 window in a little shop down town. -Scott
Thank you all for the comments!!! We are using the ten bolt mainly because it came with the truck, But i have a feeling that it will get swapped out with a 9". We also had the same thoughts about the th400, I thought about finding a 700r or something with overdrive but im not sure, that will probably happen after we do some test drives to see how it will do. We are definatly planning on some 2.73 gears in the rear to match the motor a little better. scottrod2- im actually on the south side of Grove City, off 71 and 665. were at in Columbus are you? DragFrame- Thanks man, youll have to stop and see your old girl some day, your more than welcome! ill pm you my # Thanks again Guys! ill be fabing up some motor mounts tom. ill post up the some pictures!
SO here is what I finished up this morning, I have been tied up with some other projects this week so Im not as far as I want to be but anyways, Here is the p***enger side motor mount all finished up: Started out by finding mounts, they are cab mounts off of a mid 80's kenworth cab: Made a plate that bolts to the motor: Made the second part of the mount, using cardboard as a templet: Drilled some speed holes and welded them together, I generally would have tig welded everything but I ran out of argon on the tig, so they got migged: Made a bottom mount, basically the same process as the top, sry I didnt take as many pics for the bottom, welded and all bolted together, now Im out to the shop to start/finish the p*** side: In this pic it looks like the top and bottom are touching, but the motor was shoved back, it all centers out real good when everything is in place. Thanks for looking!
This is gonna be killer when done. I agree with the guys about the choice of trannies. Hot Rod did a comparison a while ago about how much HP it takes to turn a trans and the 400 came in dead last. If I remember the figure correctly, it took something in the area of 65 horses to turn it. I don't remember where the 700R4 came in (seems like the low 30's), but I remember the Powerglide (not real useful here), came in first with only needing 17 horses to turn it. May want to check into that before final unveiling for best gas mileage, response and long term durability.
Well yeah, with Mig work like that I can understand why youd rather Tig em'.......... Hell, the day I can run one bead half as good as that Im throwing a party! Awesome work in them mounts!
Justin - This is just a way cool build. I've got a 62 Chevy panel that i've thought of doing something real similar with. But i do have a question about the ***mings & th400 combo - I've read on a couple od diesel truck sites that the ***ming's have just so much torque that they just tear up almost every trans in about 60k miles. Since your dad has a diesel shop, can you tell if this is true or is it just a certain ***mings diesel or what. I was thinking about possibly using a Duramax/allison in the 62 panel but would like to have the ***mings as another option. Mike
I have a customer that put a 4bt in a 78 Chevy 2wd 1/2 ton. His 4bt uses the Ford rear adapter, so he found a mid 70's New Process 435 Ford pickup ******. With 3.08 gears and 31" tall rear tires, he knocks down 23 to 28 mpg on the interstate. The little sob makes a lot of torque. I'm not sure a 700r4 will handle the torque, could be wrong. Keep up the good work!
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