i sold the 534 i had,but have another if someone wants one. Complete engine,all accessories and an allison transmission. its in a 1972 Wanderlodge motorhome.
I just bought a 1975 C-900 with the 534 in it. Planning on making a toy hauler with it. Those turbo parts look very interesting... still have them lying around? My truck used to be a fire truck, and has 23,000 original miles on it.
Back in the early 70,s the County owned a Govt surplus ford 800 truck tractor. it have one of those big engines. 5 speed 4 speed brownie and single axle two speed rear end. That engine was worn out. Ran like **** backfired in the exhaust and split the mufflers. I was 22 years old driving it hauling a D7 17A Cat. At Attica hill on Hwy 251. I stopped at the bottom put the brownie in low and the rear in low and took off. I was in second gear flat on the floor up against the governor. and the timing chain jumped. collided valves with the pistons bent rods and all kinds of carnage. They installed a 391 with a two bbl carb and governor. It was still a low gear hill pull with a heavy load. But I didn't mind it was hourly pay.
8 years since the original post, 4 years since the parts were mentioned and boom, answers post in less than an hour and a deal is in the works. Man I wish I had that kind of luck, very cool. Thanks for bringing this back up MeanGene's stories were great......and to think this would have been closed if brought up today because some body's skirt was ruffled.
I always wondered why nobody put the effort into turbo ing a gas motor like they did the Diesel...now I find out they did, pictures to boot. Nice history lesson, funny trucking stories. My Uncle and lots of his buddies drove trucks when I was a kid, I heard a lot of stories growing up.
A guy kept his truck on the farm across from my grandmothers. It was a twin screw Ford road tractor with a 534, a F-800 I think. He would pull the pan every winter and check or put bearings in it. He loved that truck and had that thing for eight or ten years if I remember right. He said "if this truck ****s out on me I am quitting trucking" It did finally and he retired.
Hey if you haven't sold that turbo set up please let me know. I have a 477 I wouldn't mind putting turbos on. Thanks
I do still have one intercooler and the carb plenum for it. Everybody who's "interested" wants them for s**** value, but they're cool enough that I'd rather hang 'em on the wall. $200 + shipping would buy these awesome, functional pieces of late-60s industrial art.
I would like to have a truck with one of those motors but would hate to feed it,my 460 drinks enough gas.
Here's a good link for the 534 fans. http://www.curbsidecl***ic.com/auto-biography/auto-biography-super-duty-truckin/ They were atrocious on gas.. yet popular with power boats for a spell. Gobs of torque was to be had.
My dad had rented a cab-over with one of those engines years ago. He drove it while cursing up and down that it had no power. Once we got to our destination he discovered the parking brake was on the whole time. I had to find a place to hide so I could LMAO.
Finding new parts for a 534 (or any other Super Duty V8) is going to be tough. Start at a parts store that specializes in big trucks. There is enough of these things still running around on farms and the like that you should be able to get the basics. I.E. points, plugs, gaskets, etc. I saw NOS pistons, rods, and oil pumps on E-bay the other day. Cam and Rod Bearings might cross reference from something else or maybe they can be found on auction sites as well, but the mains are HUGE (3.125"), and don't have another automotive comparison. You will be digging through heavy duty truck catalogs to find comparable bearings and valve train parts, etc. I think the exhaust valves were sodium filled, so keep that in mind as well. The crank, cam, heads, and block will all have to be reconditioned the old fashioned way.
Another place would be to call Northern Auto Parts in Sioux City, Iowa. They have found all sorts of odd ball engine rebuild kits for me through out the years (IH, Packard, etc). They list some Super Duty V8 Parts, but a phone call would likely be in order as they have stuff they don't always list on the website. http://www.northernautoparts.com/
I had a Ford Performance Parts Book years ago and I remember you could buy a 600HP, 514Cu In. Crate engine. Based off of a 460 if I remember right. I recall a Green '32 Ford 5 window being featured in one of the Mags that had one of those engines in it. Can't remember who owned it, seems he owned a Company that supplied Hot Rod Parts, AC parts, Ch***is parts, Bodies, something to do with old cars, got Brain Fade and CRS I guess!
I worked for the park service at the Grand Canyon in the 80's. They had a couple of snow plow equipped Ford dump trucks that were equipped with 534's . They worked so well for plowing snow that they kept them around way longer than what was the normal life cycle of govt. vehicles.
Hi all. I just joined this board. I just bought a 1974 ford 900 fire truck, with a 534 in it. I bought it in Minnesota, and just finished driving it to its new home here in Northern California. I made the trip in 4 days, so I ran it steady about 14 hours a day. (Actually, I probably spent a couple of those hours each day g***ing up!) I managed to get between 5 and 6 mpg with it. I will have an exact figure on that as soon as I go over all the receipts. It had a bit over 21,000 on it when I bought it last week, but now has over 23,000. I kept the tach around 2500 all the way, giving me close to 50 mph. I only had to down shift twice crossing the Rockies, and about 8 times crossing the various iterations of the Sierras. It has a five speed, and only twice in the Sierras did I have to drop into 3rd. 4th kept it at 40 uphill while p***ing a number of newer semi's! Talk about low end power! The previous owner, who had it for 14 years, updated the ignition from points to electronic, and put a new Holley 4 barrel on it, but nothing else has been changed to my knowledge. It has a cracked exhaust manifold, right side, and a holey muffler (Minnesota salt!), so I had to keep the windows wide open all the way. Quite a fun trip! If anyone has a right side exhaust manifold for this, please let me know. I can weld the existing one, but would prefer to change it out. Thanks for all the stories above, and the info.
Our power company had FWD 100' boom trucks with insulator power washers and tanks with Ford 534's They never seemed to be bothered by any load even when the water tank was full. Fun to drive but slow at 55 tops.
In 1966, when I worked for Breedlove, I drove this all around the country. It had the 534" engine in it. It seemed to run fine (the trailer was 40' but the race car inside was well under 10,000 lbs). Fuel (gasoline) mileage was not spectacular however.
Does anyone remember or have stories of the GMC 637 gasoline V8 truck engine? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The previous owner put a new Holley on it! If he didn’t put an original governed Holley, you will have the potential for trouble. People routinely take the original carb off and replace it with a 750 stock carb. The problem with this is the top rpm with this set up it way above what the 534 can live with. If that is what has been done with your truck, I would highly recommend a rpm limiter be installed in your disturber. Bones .
Thanks for the advice. Based on the fact that it didn't seem to want to run above about 2700 rpm, I think it is governed. Final tally for the mileage was actually 4.88 mpg over the app. 2100 miles, mountains and all.
I went to work for a trucking company in 1966 driving a new tandem axle Ford dump truck with a 534. It would haul heavy loads with no problem but I was glad I wasn't paying for the gasoline. There were very few diesel powered dump trucks back then. Most of the dump trucks were gas powered Fords or Internationals in my area. I was paid $1.65 an hour and the truck rented for $9.00 an hour when rented by the day by construction companies.. It burned about 10 gallons an hour I believe and at about .30 cents a gallon was costing my boss about twice per hour what he paid me.
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