I know this site seems to be primarily about conversions for 4X4 trucks, but you have all been a lot of help to me and I wanted to share what I have been building to say thanks. It's a 1965 Chevy C10 that belonged to my wife's grandfather. This is how it looked When we recovered it in 2016, literally 15 minutes after we pulled from under the tree. It had been sitting under a tree since he died in 1988.
After Disassembly and a lot of work, we got the chassis rebuilt with front spindles and disk brakes from a 1972 3/4 ton.
It was at this point that I began thinking about an engine swap, and this being an old farm truck, I got the crazy notion to install a tractor engine.
Found an old Perkins 4.236 with 4 speed SM465 mated to it. This thing ran beautifully and had an incredible sound, but being a very tall engine, I gave up trying to make it fit after a year and a half. (I know some of you will say that it would have fit very easily, and that is true if modified the frame - but cutting up the frame is something I didn't want to do) Biggest issue was the front sump oil pan and the large Chevy cross member.
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After selling the Perkins set up, I kind of felt like I was stuck with installing another diesel engine because I had already changed the gears in the rear end to better match the diesel RPM range. I soon came across this web site Because I was considering the Cummins 4BT. But Then found this branch dedicated to the the Isuzu 4bd series of engines. Because Isuzu has had a long standing relationship with Chevy, I felt like this was not too much of a stretch to install a Japanese engine in an American classic. I'm glad I made that choice. I think it was the right one. I soon found a donor engine that was VERY well used and in desperate need of attention.
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This engine, a 1986 4bd1T ended up having a cracked block at the base of one of the cylinder skirts and a spun rod bearing that chewed up the crankshaft journal. Thanks to this web site, I knew that I could combine two different models. I found another engine, a 1994 4bd2TC that had a cracked cylinder head and began the task of making one good engine out of the two broken ones. I made my own Sleeve puller with some threaded rod, a piece of hardwood, a ball bearing and some nuts and washers run through some extruded aluminum and .100 stainless steel supports.
Again, thanks to the part number thread on this site, I sourced a pile of new parts to begin making the new hybrid 4bd2TC block with 4bd1t head. I bought 4 Clevite cylinder sets that included the liner, 4bd1T piston and rings all together so I was sure that they would all be matched and work together well. Also installed all new Clevite camshaft, rod and main bearings.
Oops, System wont allow me to attach any more photos, I 'll have to add another post to continue. . .
