GM, Dodge and Ford engine sizing in the past

[buickanddeere]

GM will have a four banger Fiat in the Coloroldo and Canyan next year. The V6 Fiat is in the Ram 1/2 ton with 3000 lbs more towing capacity .
Then again , where is the advantage in North America having a light highway diesel? Complex engines emission engines mandated by the EPA and the fuel price difference . For what ever reason it will keep light diesel vehicles to a minimum.
A conspiracy theory would not be out of line.
The direct injection gasssers deliver power, efficiency and reliabity that diesels now envy. The glory days of the Cummins 6BT ,the ISB and low diesel prices between 1989 and 2006 are long in the past.

 

[MossRoad]

I see it mentioned a few times in this thread about the simple engine times before they got complicated.
So I hope to retire in a couple of years and would like to have a project vehicle to work on in my garage , ideally a older pickup truck that would be only used six months a year when no snow or salt is present so just for fun use. But I would prefer a project engine and vehicle that is not complicated by computer engine systems, or buried in pollution and smog additions engines went thru . So a simple fuel air and spark type engine. I get the impression that the smog stuff that choked off the HP dramatically went on the engines after the 70s and computers in the 90s ? but could be wrong. I suspect I would need to watch vehicles before 1974 am I correct? (for example in AUTO Trader magazine)

also ...Since you folks like pictures here is my vehicle nameplates collection I did a four decades ago from car dump vehicles, some are classics now.

I'd go '70 or earlier.

Nice nameplate art! Studebaker!!!
:thumbsup:

 

[dodge man]

WAWAJAKE, have you ever looked at the Lil Red Express trucks? I always thought they were kind of neat. They were produced in 1978 and 1979. The 1978's are considered better and had no catalytic convertors like the 79's did. The 1978's would run high 14's in the quarter mile and were quicker than Corvettes made that year.

 

[wawajake]

WAWAJAKE, have you ever looked at the Lil Red Express trucks? I always thought they were kind of neat. They were produced in 1978 and 1979. The 1978's are considered better and had no catalytic convertors like the 79's did. The 1978's would run high 14's in the quarter mile and were quicker than Corvettes made that year.

I remember them well, there was just one in my small mining town back then and he left plenty of rubber on our roads ...........but I hear they are rare now and would cost arm and leg , even in rought shape , besides I don't need to get to the next farm in under 15 seconds ....smile !

 

[dodge man]

I haven't really kept on the prices of the classics since I sold my Road Runner. At one time they could still be bought for a pretty fair price but that may have changed. They made at least one other in the same body style, called a Warlock, similar body but didn't have the hp360 in it.

 

[94BULLITT]

Because people on message boards would rip the auto manufacturer if they released a 150 hp diesel in a truck, look at what they do to the eco diesel. I wish they would release a truck like that though . I'd buy a s-10 pickup with a little 4 banger diesel. I love the little cab over foreign trucks they sell to ranchers around here. I think they get 40 mpg +.

The ecodiesel is not that great because it does not have much power for today and it the fuel economy is not much better than the gas offerings. Now if we had a little truck that good 40mpgs I think people would overlook that it was not much power.

 

[dodge man]

The ecodiesel is not that great because it does not have much power for today and it the fuel economy is not much better than the gas offerings. Now if we had a little truck that good 40mpgs I think people would overlook that it was not much power.

Your kidding right? People actually get 30 mpg with an Ecodiesel, there are a lot of cars made that don't get that out on the highway.

 

[94BULLITT]

Your kidding right? People actually get 30 mpg with an Ecodiesel, there are a lot of cars made that don't get that out on the highway.

I haven't seen any tests were they get that.

2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test - New Updates

 

[dodge man]

Good article but I guess your right, I didn't see where they got much better than 27 mpg. Looks like he has gotten near 20 at times towing. With that kind of fuel mileage, I would probably have sent it to the crusher by now.

 

[wawajake]

The ecodiesel is not that great because it does not have much power for today and it the fuel economy is not much better than the gas offerings. Now if we had a little truck that good 40mpgs I think people would overlook that it was not much power.

This exactly where I didn't want my thread to go, that bashing is occuring already on other threads please leave it on those.......thanks

to get us back on track here is a picture of a piston I now use for a ashtray in my garage, it is from a late 1950's Euclid mine truck, almost 6 inch diameter........when I was in my twenties I found it in an abandoned mine warehouse building in Northern ontario that operated from 1957 to 1964. My now deceased Father in law was a mechanic at that mine and knew what it was from, I will note it has an old valve that they inserted in a burn't hole in the top of the piston so they could reuse the piston.
Can't imagine what cubic inch that engine was.