[AT] was Trailer brakes now Olds engines

[Mark Greer]

I still have the remains of a late 70's one ton Chevy "Camper Special" 
single rear wheel that was originally a 5.7 diesel. It got replaced with a 
rebuilt 455 Olds gas motor shortly before I got it. The truck is still here 
and the Olds has under 40k on it since the rebuild. The truck got parked 
when it needed all new steel brake lines and then when my barn burned in '07 
the truck was a semi-casualty as the interior got cooked and one of the back 
tires got cooked. I need to pull the 455/TH400 and scrap the rest but I 
can't seem to find one of those "round tuits" that I need to get the job 
done.....
Mark

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ralph Goff" <alfg at sasktel.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2009 11:53 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] Trailer brakes


> Charlie, I'm pretty sure I've discussed this here before, but it might 
> have
> been on another forum.
> You no doubt recall GM's first foray into diesel power for cars and 
> pickups
> in 1978. It was an Oldsmobile built 350 cubic inch diesel engine and 
> lacked
> strength in a few crucial areas so were not too successful. Mine had 
> leaking
> heads when I bought the truck in 86 so I took the easy fix and bought a 
> used
> 403 Olds gas engine which is pretty much identical to the 350 and bolted
> right in with no modifications. Of course the bell housing had the
> Buick-Olds-Pontiac bolt configuration to match up with Olds gas and diesel
> engines. I was actually looking for a 350 Olds gas but at the time there 
> was
> such a demand for these engines that all I could get was the 403. No 
> regrets
> though.
> That transmission seemed slippy and dragging for years and the oil was
> beginning to show signs (and smells) of overheating so I figured before it
> left me walking I would have it fixed. Also the lock up torque converter 
> had
> never locked up. The trans shop fixed that too so now I've dropped at 
> least
> a couple of hundred rpms at highway speeds which can only be a good thing.
> This truck does not use much (if any) more gas than the 4.3 v6 in my 97
> Blazer and that has the overdrive transmission. Got a fair bit more
> horsepower under the hood with the 403 also.
>
> Ralph in Sask.