rig truck help

[welder_one]

i am looking at a 1946 gmc coe truck. i would like to modernize it with new model duramax diesel and allison transmission. anybody have any pointers for this?

[fun4now]

i have a 51GMC i considered just pulling the frame out from under t and replacing the hole bottom 1/2 with new frame engine and trany. make a few alterations as needed to get the shell back on and call it done.
might be an option ?? or are you looking to keep the frame and just drop in a new motor?? as i understand it you have to move the steering box outside the frame causing a shorter turning radius to one side. that is you just drop in a V8 although many cut the front of the frame out and replace it with the hole front of another one. mustang 5.0's being a popular choice.
be shore to give us lots of pic's.

[welder_one]

i ahve not ever dealt with the restoration of an older vehicle. it was a thought that i have to pull up to a job with an old gmc, but with diesel power to have the power. you know... it is an idea to use the body on another new truck frame. i don't know, i havent even bought it, just dreaming mostly...

[fun4now]

i have had mine for about 12-15 years now. nice truck, i love the side cab corner windows. i saw one similar to mine with a tool box bed like the phone company uses and it looked sweet. thought about going that wrought seeing as some one rear ended me a wile back and trashed my bed. its a few $1,000 to replace the hole bed. but all the steel is available ready to install.
i was just thinking a cab swoop would be the easiest way to get all the electronics needed with a newer motor. not to mention a new suspension and steering setup would be nice. i do have the original steering wheel in it so its huge and helps with turning but for a cruse around truck i think i would like to go to automatic and power steering. figure if i get a newer donor truck i can possible do a little modification to the power windows and get that set up in my old door's. all the extra parts would come in handy no question about it. i also have a bad spindle on one of the front wheels where the bearings blew out on me and it eat up part of the spindle in the middle. doesn't effect the fit as the bad part is centered but its just one of them things that needs fixing. my front leaf spring is also got a crack in it and part of the mount is in bad shape. its all fixable just a question of how i want to do it ??
its my first real restoration too. all i did to mine when i got it was get it running and start using it as a work truck. now that i am retired i figure it deserve to be retired too, only in better shape than me.

[HMW]

i am looking at a 1946 gmc coe truck. i would like to modernize it with new model duramax diesel and allison transmission. anybody have any pointers for this?

Cool old project. That would be cool to put a new "modern" diesel and trans in an old truck. but...one problem......Both the duramax and the allison are computer controlled. There is a considerable amount of wiring, harness's, PCMs, etc . Not to mention sensors, relays, electric fuel pump and so on, envolved with todays diesels not to mention the cost. An old carburated gas engine or old diesel would probably suffice at way less cost an headache. They do make after market fuel injection kits for older gas engines that from what i hear work well. Unless you could find a totalled truck and use all the wiring and all from it. My opinion would is the project would be cost prohibitive Of course if you have the money and time I would love to see it completed, it would be very cool.

[welder_one]

hmw, it would be cool, but you are right, the cost would overcome me quickly. especially if you asked my wife...lol. i wonder if there is a way to get an older...say john deere or cat diesel to mount to a more modern tranny(would rather a stick anyways) and work it that way. i am grabbing for straws here...

[calweld]

Back in the early 80's, when I was living in San Luis Obispo, there was a guy, had a '46 Mack, with a late model (for that time) Detroit Diesel and appropriate transmission for it (this was hill country). Very cherry rig, he did mostly SS tig work, don't remember what machine he had on the back. Very simple doing the physical retrofit, done it many times myself, especially with forklifts, strip the frame, drop the engine/transmission in, build mounts and driveshaft to fit. Like was said before, better to stay away from newer electronic setups, unless you have previous experience and knowledge.

[PLUMMER]

It can be done, but how deep are your pockets for this ??? You will probablly have to up the rear end as well. Thus a double check on chassis width for the new axle. Full time your looking at 18-30 months if your not a full time mechanic liscensed for the Dmax. I would look at The diesel page.com for some minor technical info on the DMAX. Get an issue of Diesel Power and search some links. This months issue has some nice retro fits with the Dmax,cummins, and powerjoke. Shouldn't be hard to find a good used D&A combo with under 50K and for under 12K. Maybe even under 10K, have heard of some good finds. An easier project would be the Cummins with common rail injection.( milage-power and a true million mile motor) The allison would need a custom program tho.

[BWS29128]

Thanks For The Link

It can be done, but how deep are your pockets for this ??? You will probablly have to up the rear end as well. Thus a double check on chassis width for the new axle. Full time your looking at 18-30 months if your not a full time mechanic liscensed for the Dmax. I would look at The diesel page.com for some minor technical info on the DMAX. Get an issue of Diesel Power and search some links. This months issue has some nice retro fits with the Dmax,cummins, and powerjoke. Shouldn't be hard to find a good used D&A combo with under 50K and for under 12K. Maybe even under 10K, have heard of some good finds. An easier project would be the Cummins with common rail injection.( milage-power and a true million mile motor) The allison would need a custom program tho.

I'm staying out of this conversation for the most part, but thanks for the link...it should help me with a project I've got planned.
~Clint

[HMW]

How big is this truck. Ive not heard of that model before. Is this a pickup sized truck or larger, medium duty truck. Either way. We have no cummins but lots of Cats, Powerstrokes, and duramaxs. I know that all newer Cats, Duramaxs and Power strokes are computer controlled, I would assume the cummins is to unless you can find an older one. I hear they are great engines. As far as common fuel rails I'm not sure why that would be an issue, Plummer would have to explain a little more why thats better. t would seem there are bigger obstacles than that. All the new diesel engines are similar and share a common fuel rail or galley. The Fords have a common fuel rail in the head and Hi pressure oil galley in the head, the duramaxs have a common oil galley in the heads with an external common fuel rail. The Cats have both fuel and oil galleys in the heads. Again not sure about the cummins. All the diesels actually have oil fired injectors, In other words hi pressure oil is used to acuate the fuel injector, unlike the old days when you had "piston" type injector pumps.
Plummer thanks for the web site.
I still would serously consder gas engine, theres also the weight issue if not a larger truck.

Sorry for rambling, hope this helps some
If any one has any questions on diesels or gas engines, I have worked on them for 25+yrs and have tons of resources. I'd help if I can.
Good luck with the project, let us know what you decide

[PLUMMER]

Well for any iron over 7500lbs Diesel would be the choice without question. There is NO gasser that will hold up for the long haul. Being a 1 ton ford pickup is already tipping 8000 LBS I would assume this rig will be well equiped as well. The older common rail cummins is much easier as far as electronics goes. Less computer and more mechanical means of adjustment. How they mate a Ally with the Cummins is by a custom plate. I would think the hardest fitment will be the Front and mid motor plates and having room for them. Since its an older piece of iron it sholdn't be a problem. I guess when I was reffering to the common rail it was also the mechanical injection models of the cummins. Its what all the serious fabricators and racers are using. Easy to find , cheap price, and lots of info and parts available cheap. Plus there is NO worries about whether it will last. The cummins is what most UPS trucks use, just a 4 cyl version, alot of pop and beer trucks run the cummins too. Its by far the most proven motor and most widely used with the most applications. Since the intro of the cummin 6BT5.9 in 1978 Ford and GM have gone thru 9 + full size diesel powerplants, this doesn't include the Dmax nor any of their OTR diesel power plants for the bigger trucks. And still today none have produced a package that has even come close to the power and reliability of the single Cummins design. Now the Dmax is a great engine and will be slightly easier to marry together electronically, but if your not dead set on the Dmax ,research the 2 more. In fact theres articles of the Cummins in a 66 ford bronco. A Dmax in a 1970 C-10 pick up, and a powerjoke in a jeep wrangler. What ever you do, do as much research as you can. Because I can gurantee you'll be doing plenty during the build. You WILL become one heck of a fabricator and engineer by the time your done, but thats nothing compared to the pride you'll have of owning a piece of Iron like that.

[welder_one]

http://www.classiccoe.com/oldcoetrucks/4754.htm

this is a link to what a coe truck is. they usually were rated at about 25,000 lbs. most called them a duece. it is a big, old piece of iron, therefore a diesel. i would really like to have a stick shift anyway, maybe an eaton-fuller 10spd. the cummins motors do have a long life and easy to build/work on, just not a big fan. was thinking more along the lines of a 3306 cat or the likes in john deere's version.

[HMW]

Everbody has an opinion about engines, same as Ford and Chevy battle. I see that its a med duty truck and I would agree with diesel too. However, I dont agree that anything over 3/4 ton needs to be diesel. I think it depends on the use. We have lots of C and K3500s with gas engines and service bodys with over 200K on them. But for what your looking at I think diesel too. Some guys are just set on diesels in pickups and Im not. As I said I work on them all the time and maintence cost is huge on diesel. But fuel mileage is better. You can buy a long block gas engine for the cost of a set of injectors nowadays. Again If i was fixing up the truck you are I would find an old cummins like Plummer said or Cat

I figured thats what you meant plummer about the "mechanical" fuel system and not just a common fuel rail

Good luck

Just my 2 cents worth

[HMW]

Was thinking about your project some more and forgot about the older Dt466s as well. They were pretty reliable and like the cummins they made lots of them.

Maybe I missed it in your post, are you going to use it for work or just cool project? Also after looking at the website, I dont think you need as big a diesel or trans, like a 10 speed as you think. As you see they came with straight 6s gas engines and a 4 speed trans. Can't rememebr ever seeing one of them, pretty cool. You can find lots of old farm trucks with gas [some diesel] and a 5 speed trans that would work great for cheap.

AS far as the cummins being way better than the rest, The 6Bt has been around along time and seems to have a good track record. I have 2 friends who have them and love them. The only thing I dont understand is if they are way better than the others why does Ford sell more Powerstrokes than anybody?? [I work on the Fords, and am not fond of the 6.0, the old 7.3 was great] I also work on the duramaxs and so far only a few small injector problems. I wonder if its because the cummins is in the Dodge chassis and Ford is more popular as far as pickups go. Not sure why more fleets buy Ford than anything else.
Anyway good luck, hope you get it, it would be a cool project

[fun4now]

that link has some great trucks on it. i would love to get ahold of one of them old book mobiles.
my 3/4 ton 51GMC was gas but it had a trany on it that would let the cylinder 260 (i think) pull over a house. it also had a port for a 2nd drive shaft for powering a lift or some thing ?? was a great work truck. i replaced it with a 235 and it still had lots of pull and power.
man i realy gota get onto getting her back into shape.