GM, Dodge and Ford engine sizing in the past

[94BULLITT]

We had a 230 in our '70 Nova. Great little engine. I had some work done to it after I got ahold of it. It would turn 7200rpm and chirp the tires in all 4 gears.

You need to look at the back of the tach and switch it from 4cyl to 6cyl.

 

[MossRoad]

Here is one I bet most people don't remember. How about the GM 5.7 diesel? It didn't last long. We had a caprice with one when I was a kid. Likely one of the biggest POS diesel engines ever released by the big 3.

I had a friend with one of those. He'd smoke people with it.... and I mean literally... smoke. Tons and tons of smoke! We'd get in front of people we knew and he'd floor it. Looked like the DDT mosquito fogger truck from the '50s. :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

I remember people either loving or hating those cars (Chevys/Olds/Buicks) with the 5.7 "diesel". If you got a good one they were pretty good, slow but very good mileage, plus the big GM ride quality. If you got a bad one they could be really bad. Saw quite a few practically given away and repowered with a 305/307/350 gas engines. Turned Americans off of diesel for quite a few years, may still have some lingering effects. GM should have spent a few more $$$$$$$ and went with a proper diesel foundation, I think they would have sold a lot of those cars.

Q

My friend got tired of the diesel and dropped a gas 350 in it. Twice he loaned it to people and they filled it with diesel for him. YIKES what a mess.

 

[MossRoad]

You need to look at the back of the tach and switch it from 4cyl to 6cyl.

Nope. As I recall (and that's getting harder to do) I had it bored .60 over. Huge stupid cam. Head work. 4 barrel and headers. I think I got most of the parts from Clifford's (they're still in business Clifford Performance :: Make 6 = 8). Had the machine work done by a company called Shaker Racing in Granger, IN. Blew up the three on the tree. Put in a 4 speed. Squeal, chirp, chirp, chirp!

 

[TomSeller]

I had a friend with one of those. He'd smoke people with it.... and I mean literally... smoke. Tons and tons of smoke! We'd get in front of people we knew and he'd floor it. Looked like the DDT mosquito fogger truck from the '50s. :laughing:

I do that with my old Mercedes 240D 4-speed That thing can not get out of it's own way. So if I have someone riding my bumper, I downshift, rev it up and smoke them out. They back off, it works every time.

 

[MossRoad]

I do that with my old Mercedes 240D 4-speed That thing can not get out of it's own way. So if I have someone riding my bumper, I downshift, rev it up and smoke them out. They back off, it works every time.

Nice!! :thumbsup:

 

[AGRIMAN]

We had a 230 in our '70 Nova. Great little engine. I had some work done to it after I got ahold of it. It would turn 7200rpm and chirp the tires in all 4 gears.

Wow, you had that baby twisted up tight ...LOL. I shift my old BB at 7800.

 

[Bird]

I do that with my old Mercedes 240D 4-speed That thing can not get out of it's own way.

A neighbor and close friend bought a new 240D in 1980 and I bought an Isuzu I-mark diesel sedan in 1981. We parked them side by side with the hoods up for comparison and they looked almost exactly alike with the Isuzu engine being slightly smaller, entirely different size and shape batteries, and the Mercedes had plastic return lines while the Isuzu had steel. And I was very much surprised at how sluggish that Mercedes was compared to the little Isuzu.

 

[Diamondpilot]

My friend got tired of the diesel and dropped a gas 350 in it. Twice he loaned it to people and they filled it with diesel for him. YIKES what a mess.

My FIL had a diesel 6.2 GMC that was so problematic that GM did a engine swap on their dime to a gas 5.7. This was in a 1500 truck that he still has to this day.

Chris

 

[downsizingnow48]

I had the 6.2 diesel in a 1982 GMC pickup. It was OK although had a nasty habit of losing the prime if you parked heading downhill. Then was tough to get started again. At about 25k miles I traded it to my brother in law for a plot of land and put up a spec house which made me good money. He put a flat bed on it and used it for another 100k in his construction business with no issues. So in the end we both did OK with it!