Yeah, we know. This is pretty much a first. I am not sure in all of the Craigslist find posts I have written over the last (almost) six years that even one of them has advocated the “un-doing” of a diesel swap into an old truck. In this case, the swap looks to have been physically completed OK, but the choice of engine is just bad and brings none of the overt diesel benefits to the table. In case you don’t know, both Chad and I really love this era of Chevy/GMC truck and to have one as clean as this one that is up for sale in Minnesota, lots of guys are probably prowling around the listing.
The classic red and white paint scheme is all good, the big diameter painted steel wheels are money in the bank, the interior looks decently fresh, but under the hood trouble lurks. Trouble would normally run, but when we’re talking about an NA 3208 Caterpillar, there’s no actually running. While it is cool that a relatively large CAT diesel was wedged into the truck, the fact that this one makes roughly 200hp in the non-turbo form that it is in now, delivers 10-12mpg on its best day and only propels the truck to a speed of 65mph (more a transmission/axle issue) down the highway makes it three strikes and you are OUT! This baby needs a Duramax in it badly and the D-Max needs an NV4500 transmission behind it so you can row gears and still take advantage of the motor wherever you are. Interestingly, the transmission in the truck is a large five speed auto that was hooked to the engine wherever it was before the pickup. Since the truck it was in had air brakes, there is no parking prawl in the transmission. The seller just uses the dually’s emergency brake to keep it from rolling away.
Overall we think this is is a very cool truck and hope that it find a good home (where someone can get a modern motor in it like a CRD Cummins or the aforementioned Duramax. It would make the thing better to drive seeing as the Cat motor has to weigh something on the order of 1600-2,000lbs. Modern stuff is far lighter (and vastly more powerful) than older engines. The Cat 3208 had a long and productive run. For hot rodding applications like this one and the other we proposed, it doesn’t seem like the right choice. If you wanted a truck capable of dragging a building down the street (slowly) the CAT would have you covered!
Thanks for the tip, Chris Cabe!
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While I agree with everything else, the plus sized wheels have to go. Or at least tune up the wheel wells so they look like they belong there. Oversized wheels look like a cold sore on the lip of a beautiful woman…it’s all your eyes are drawn to, no matter how nice the rest of the package is.
They probably needed those larger wheels and heavy duty tires to keep the front ones from shredding due to the weight of that engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWqoUudgu34
Silver Bullet puller makes 3,000 h.p. with a CAT 3208 . . . . (Try that with your electronic Isuzu Dud-to-the-Max)
BTW, I wonder how much of that uber rust-prone “Rounded-Line ” box bod is made of crumpled newspapers and Bondo?
The reason they rusted so bad is actually because they used high quality, high carbon content sheet metal.
I hate how when cars rust out they metal is the first thing blamed even though is just comes down to the the material if prep’d and finished.
Different gearing would probably help the mileage. Running a diesel close to redline is not a great way to up the MPG’s. A different transmission/rear gearing would help wonders. Then again, it still wouldn’t do anything a Cummins/Duramax swap wouldn’t.
If they want to put a stump pulling diesel in it…why not a small Detroit?
This is in the town I live in so if anyone wants more specifics I can check it out and give an outside opinion.
This looks like Vern Moats old truck. He hauled his alcohol funny car with it.
Just because you have it laying around doesn’t mean you should use it
Put a powerstroke in it with 5sp and 4:10 gears and dual stacks with rain caps
Hi this daniel im havn a look at ur old awesome as car i like it whereabouts is it and have u got it up for sale i liven in mackay what sort of engine is in it atm and is the car like a f100 or f250 truck i would so love ta buy it have u got any pictures of the interior if i owned in i would get a steering cover a uhf overhead for sure and i would save to get it painted red or black it really is nice wer is it right now so it would be a v8 or 6 anyway would u be able to send me a email back about it and the interior aswell cheers thanks
awesome love gm dually’s