50 year old wood hauler

[Patrick62]

Ok, gear heads... I would like some input. We've run this truck for several years now, and you really can beat the old beast for being reliable.... It isn't exactly gonna break any land speed records tho.

Last year it got like really slow. and there was some excessive popping in the exhaust. THe old beast is tired.
Pulled the engine and rebuilt it. Bored .060 over (Clint said that is a "hard" block) it's back together, and running.
For those whom are curious, it is a six cylinder. 1967 Dodge with a slant six in it... Jeez... what were they thinkin?

Ok, now put on your thinkin' caps. I stuck a very mild cam into this thing. Nothing outragious, but thinking that the old beast is geared like a locomotive and the engine could use more HP up high. I am wondering if that was sensible now. I am thinking I had more seat of the pants power before (atleast until the valves burned out).
I think I have the timing set to about 10 or 11 now, I might crank it to 14 and see if that helps some. I'm at 8000 ft the extra advance isnt going to blow it up, trust me...

Thots? Ideas?

 

[cornfused]

The slant 6 was a fairly low rpm torque range motor. It was cammed & carbed for that from the factory. If you increased intake duration with the new cam without too much overlap a couple degrees of timing will help (higher octane fuel). At that elevation higher intake velocity and about the same amount of fuel would probably help (better throttle response).

 

[Ted Jenkins]

It does not matter if you just rebuilt the slant 6, pull it out and put a engine in the thing. There are many power plants you could use. I have been hauling with mine for 40 years. C600 and a 55 F100 that I have had since 1964. I work at 6,000 and more power is better. I am sure you will not change your motor. Of course you advance the timing until its pings and then back it off about 1 degree. Hopefully you are not using the original ignition. You can mess with the wights in the distributor and the vacuum advance to get it dialed in, but it is a small engine working at high altitude. Thanks

 

[chucker]

? put some diesel in the carb and regap the plugs and grease the muffler bearings to let out the gas fumes faster!!

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Geared to probably do 45-50mph max?

Lot of the old iron got parked as newer stuff came around that could do highway speeds without feeling like you were trying to go into low earth orbit! You know, where doing 45 sounds and feels like you're doing 120!. I ran a "new" (they called it the old truck, darn thing was an 06... brand new to me!) KW W900, that thing was about Caddilac smooth. Could run 80+ and not feel like it was taking all you and the truck had to keep it between the ditches!

Not sure how far you are going with it or how often, but if it were mine I'd keep it as a yard/local truck and get something a bit newer (and with more power) for any highway driving.

OR do like my buddy does with his 72 C60.. go 50mph down the 65mph highway and just smile and wave at the cars passing and ignore then 5 miles of cars backed up behind him!

 

[Patrick62]

Yep, geared low. 55 is about tops with this bucket. it's taching 3400 at about 50. We don't go that far with it. 30 or so miles out. Electronic ignition I did to it years ago, it's worth keeping it as it is for a conversation piece. I will advance the timing just a smirch and see if that wakes it up a touch. No, I'm not gonna yank it out and put in a 440 with a blower and see if i can get wheelies....

I am gradually working on a 1971 version of the same truck. The engine (318) blew up in that one. It's got a longer bed and a 5 speed! The same pain in the butt bellhousing in both trucks you have to pull the trans to get the engine out. So... it would actually be possible to put a small block V8 and probably a big block in the white one... but why? Those slant six are TOUGH!

Getting a newer truck isn't in the budget, come on guys we're delivering firewood... Im glad to have what I have, and it's PAID for.

 

[chucker]

patrick62 said it "Getting a newer truck isn't in the budget, come on guys we're delivering firewood... Im glad to have what I have, and it's PAID for."..... great attitude!

 

[Sandhill Crane]

patrick62 said it "Getting a newer truck isn't in the budget, come on guys we're delivering firewood... Im glad to have what I have, and it's PAID for."..... great attitude!

Ditto

 

[dave_dj1]

Cummins swap FTW

 

[Patrick62]

cummins swap. I thought of that a few years ago, and that would be the perfect engine in this D500, no doubt about it. There are only a couple reasons not to do it.
The 6BT is expensive
You'd likely never manage to get it hooked to the existing transmission, not that you would really want to... The cummins would NEED overdrive to get it to 50 as the rear axle is a two speed (low and lower!) The other details would be minor... But, man that would be cool...!!!

 

[turnkey4099]

cummins swap. I thought of that a few years ago, and that would be the perfect engine in this D500, no doubt about it. There are only a couple reasons not to do it.
The 6BT is expensive
You'd likely never manage to get it hooked to the existing transmission, not that you would really want to... The cummins would NEED overdrive to get it to 50 as the rear axle is a two speed (low and lower!) The other details would be minor... But, man that would be cool...!!!

Great old truck. I'd stick with it also, keep the engine up and realize that it will never be a highway speed rig no matter what you do in the engine compartment. It would need everything from the rear, including the axle, to the radiator fan replaced to get speed out of it. I drive old iron and just enjoy the scenery...of course I am mostly on back roads with limits of 50 anyhow.

 

[JeffHK454]

I'd start hunting for a 440 and build me a stump puller, It doesn't need to be a 11:1 race motor just a cool running work power plant.

My dump truck has a 6.2 diesel which is about the weakest engine Chevy ever put in a fullsize truck and I ***** about it every time I drive it..

 

[unclemoustache]

Don't know a darn thing about engines (despite being a mechanic in the Army) but I've been thinking about getting one of those old trucks. No input to offer here. Just a pointless comment. Carry on.

 

[Patrick62]

it was about 6 or 7 years ago when I was sitting out here debating a 2 ton truck. We had a 1 ton Ford out here with a tall rack on it that was the two cord truck... that old 390 has practically nil for oil pressure... Ok. Dodge have usually treated me well. two ton be better than a one ton, two wheel drive is fine as the Ford was 2 wheel... found this thing in Indiana, went and fetched it. Ran a hundred plus cords a year outta here with it since then. Yes, it is slow, but it has exceptional reliability.

The bell housing seems to be six cylinder or small block V8. I think the bell for a big block would be different. There might be options to get a big block in there including changing the transmission, but quite frankly I don't thing it's worth it. One mopar fanatic asked me what was in that truck... his first guess was a 440, then the 383, then the 361... and said it can't have a 318 in it... nope. he could not wrap his brain around a truck this size moving itself with a hundred horsepower. And it gets 9 mpg doing it, which really ain't half bad.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Around here, can pick up reasonable shape 10-20yr old F450-550 cab and chassis for 5-10k area. or similar year semi truck for $5-10k (depending on how it's setup. I paid I think 3 or 3.5k for my 97 F450 4x4 diesel.

Some of the issue with old stuff is parts can be tough to get. The hydro vac systems on those trucks are near impossible to find parts for. Plus they suck to drive. The hp isn't there, slow, brakes are not great, etc.

Something else to consider is if anything would happen, like a car hit you, you hit a car, etc, the DOT will be on that thing like a fly on ****. Old = worn out = not in compliance = your fault = $$$$. I'm not saying it's actually work out, but that's the thought.

I think I loose some sales when I deliver in my old truck (an 83). It's reasonably ok, (no big dents, etc) but people see it and think "gypo/crack head firewooder"

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I'm using a 2000 GMC Top Kick 5500. 20,500 gvw plated for 24,000. 9,000 payload so the truck must weigh 11,500. I haul a cord and a half of seasoned Oak, maybe 6-7,000 pounds. The most I've hauled is 2 1/3 cords, but it took to long to load that way without using a tele handler. It has a 3126 Cat, and a rebuilt transmission (with labor) that cost more than the truck. The mechanic said used parts and new ones, are getting harder to find, and it's only seventeen years old, not fifty. The rub is however, when do you stop putting money in repairs and upgrade a few years? DOT and up to date annual inspection. I just can't drive it out of state...legally, even if it's empty.

 

[Patrick62]

There are two things that are important when running ANYTHING on the road.
Brakes, and steering. Everything else is optional.... I make sure my brakes are working well, and nothing nutty about the steering. If some one in a tofu farting prius decides to slam on the abs brakes directly in front of me... I'm likely to hit them. With that firmly in mind... I drive like a old geezer in these trucks. leave a fair amount of room and try and not abuse the ancient drum brakes.

5 to 10 grand isn't in the budget to get a "newer" truck. I think I paid 1200 for this thing, and put a thou or more into tires. The rebuilt engine was a bite, and technically puts me OVER the "you should have crushed this thing...". However around here there are quite a few rolling antiques running around. This thing turns heads. And I am partial to sweptline dodges anyway.

One thing that I have to explain to ANYBODY that drives this thing (named driver commercial ins.) is that you go down a hill one gear lower than what it took to get up. Plus don't shift the rear on down grade. This keeps from relying on the ancient brakes, and a brake problem is what no doubt caused the exploded V8 in the other truck.

 

[Patrick62]

DOT inspection... I have never asked, or been asked for that. My truck is 8000 empty, and loaded I am just about 15,000. I think colorado has 16001 gross weight or more and it gets messier from there on up.

I am aware of the hydro-vac brake booster being a rare and unusual beast. This one works well, thus far. And the other truck actually has a tank and gauge that holds vacuum well after the engine is shut down. It would not be that hard to retrofit a proper brake booster and actually change it all out to a dual master cylinder. One of the irritating features is the ancient slave cylinders and organic brake shoes.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

I'm using a 2000 GMC Top Kick 5500. 20,500 gvw plated for 24,000. 9,000 payload so the truck must weigh 11,500. I haul a cord and a half of seasoned Oak, maybe 6-7,000 pounds. The most I've hauled is 2 1/3 cords, but it took to long to load that way without using a tele handler. It has a 3126 Cat, and a rebuilt transmission (with labor) that cost more than the truck. The mechanic said used parts and new ones, are getting harder to find, and it's only seventeen years old, not fifty. The rub is however, when do you stop putting money in repairs and upgrade a few years? DOT and up to date annual inspection. I just can't drive it out of state...legally, even if it's empty. View attachment 601262

I'm surprised that's all you load on that. We haul 2 cords on the 1 and 1.5 ton trucks. (Heavy rated 1 tons). Have hauled 3 cords on the 1.5 ton a few times.

 

[Blackbruin]

You went the wrong way with the cam. If I were you I would bite the bullet and put the right cam and new lifters in. They made a specific grind cam for high torque low rpm, you should be able to find the specs.
Far as the other one goes, dodge made a monster torque cam for a 318, no speed but haul a house down. They put them in the 400/500 trucks.
Can't kill a slant 6, same with a dodge la motor if you take care of them..