1951 Tudor Sedan Biosled

Well I figure I am far enough along now that I can start posting some pictures of my progress so here we go........ Here is what I started out with. Its a 51' Tudor Sedan that I found in a barn in Texas in stock condition and drove half way across the country to California.

 

I drove the car around for about two years mostly as a weekend driver. Over that time I did a few things like putting in an entirely new 12 volt electrical system, a half ***ed airbag system, and front disc brakes with dropped uprights. After a while I decided to go all out and re-do the car from the ground up. I spent about a year gathering up all of my parts and getting them ready while the car sat, and this last summer, finally started going to town and getting my hands dirty.

 

dude,you got to get a bigger work area!!
nice progress.

 

So I removed the drivetrain, raised and leveled the car on jack stands, and replaced the front clip with a S10 clip with tubular control arms. I z'd the frame 2.5 inches and reinforced the hell out of the clip splice with 1/4 inch plate as this thing isnt going to have some lame 350 combo in it (sorry to all of you with a 350)!

 

So here is the real fun stuff. With the intent of building this car as a cl***ic lead sled and cruzer, I was more concerned with gas mileage and dependability of the drivetrain than burning up my white walls. I did still want it to sound cool though. I also thought it would be kind of cool to have a 50's custom with exhaust that smelled like french fries. Kind of a tribute to those cl***ic 50's dinners and drive ins ......get where I am going??????

 

I did the same clip in mine. When you're done it will sit nice.

 

So if you are wondering what the hell is that? Its a ***mins 4BT Turbo Diesel and a Ford ZF 5 speed and I plan on running bio diesel in it. I figure with the gearing that I did I should hopefully get about 35 mpg on the highway. After a few test runs to make sure the motor ran good I cleaned it all up, threw in some new seals and gaskets etc., and slapped some new paint on it.

 

I clicked on the thread because Bio interests me, I see nonsense of a 350 combo, then BAM, last post I see what I came looking for. I need to keep an eye on this one, I'd love to have a biodiesel setup in my 49 truck.

 

that engine had to be some serious coin???

 

The engine has probably taken the most effort so far in the project. It took me quite a while just to find the right one for the right price. There are a ton in the midwest, but I did not want to pay for shipping as the dry block weighs around 700lbs!. Luckily parts are easy to come by at any auto store and they are super easy to work on being 100% mechanical. Unfortunately these things are in high demand in the trucking/off roading/rock crawling scenes so they sell for a pretty penny. I spent about 1400 for the engine and trans.

 

gee,not bad,i've got 6 grand in my bbc and th400. i'll be watching your threads.

 

Welcome to the Hamb and the diesel club. It's a good group to be in. I'm loving my '30 with a 4BT.

 

MMMMM... french fries...

 

More!

 

Very cool, can't wait to see more.

 

interesting...

 

Thanks for posting this-good to think outside the box, or in this case inside the Shoebox. What rearend are you using?

 

Crusty Nut... good to see you on the Hamb. We have talked on the 4BT forum and I followed your build thread there. Jalopy Joker... I will be installing a Ford Maverick 8 inch I just re-built with 2.79 gears, disc brakes, and a 4 link.

 

The beast has been caged!

 

I like it - keep us informed of your progress.

There is a guy in our Stude club building a 50's Stude pickup to be powered by a Mercedes-Benz 5 cylinder diesel engine running on biodiesel.
Should be very cool when complete - will be his daily driver.

 

That's awesome. You'll be happy you swapped in a diesel once fuel climbs back up to 4 bucks a gallon.

 

Could you post some pics of your motor mounts. I'am installing a CPL858 ***mins 4bt with a NV4500 into a Cut Down S-10 ch***is under my 1937 International D-15 pickup. Been collecting parts for a few years and got going on it and then moved on to another project since i couldn't find the trans i wanted for the $ i wanted to pay put i picked up one a few weeks ago so the project is on agian. Nice looking shoebox and cool to see a diesel in it.

 

Good idea, looks like you're making some progress.

 

Very cool... if my 337 ever gives out, I'll be going turbo diesel as well.

 

***mins 4BT...good choice of engine! (Of course, I may be partial since we build 'em in my plant)

 

Here is a picture of the mounts for the engine. Made my own plates on the engine side and mounted the stock solid rubber mounts to the s10 frame in the middle of the crossmember.

 

Took the body off today. Only took me about an hour by myself using two cherry pickers, some 4x4's, and jack stands.

 

You know...... on second thought........since this thing does have a diesel in it why dont I turn it into a monster truck!?

 

Naaaaaaaaaaaa!

 

Awesome. I had thought of putting a diesel 4 banger in my 27. I loved my truck and want my next modern car to be a diesel as well. Had some conversations with a friend recently about the environmental impact of producing a new, high mileage car, versus rebuilding an old car and installing a diesel engine, both short term and long term. Rad to see this build, good work man!