1955 Buick Special sedan - diesel conversion

[elhigh]

Think about how much material and energy investment this project avoids by keeping already-made stuff in use.

That's my strongest argument against buying a Prius: "...but the truck still runs." Drive it until it evaporates around you, I say.

I'd be curious to know what it weighs. Drive it to the dump's convenience station and roll across the scales, see what they say.

Bonkers cool project. I love it.

[Dave's Civic Duty]

Cool project! I will be following this one as well. I am hooked on diesel as well, esp when you mentioned biodiesel!

Good luck,
Dave

[t walgamuth]

cool project. It won't be a 40 mpg vehicle but it has the potential to get better fuel economy than the truck the diesel came with if the rear end gear is chosen for economy (I'd recommend a 308 to 330 or so rear end).

I am building a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup now and plan a 671 mercedes turbodiesel with a ford f150 five speed manual transmission. I will use if for casual use and some light towing. I'll be hoping for around 23 to 25 mph highway with it.

[Dave's Civic Duty]

Originally Posted by wndsofchng

Thanks Metro MPG..... Can't wait to get her going. Already sourcing out veg oil/biodiesel resources. She was about 12-15mpg on gas. Should get 20-25 on diesel/bio. IF (big if) I can keep a steady flow of used veg oil and dont have to buy my biodiesel, I should be on the road at about 60-70 cents per gallon!

*side note, traded my gas mustang in for an E85 chrysler and found 4 E85 stations in my area!!!

Great news, that's what's missing around my area, all these Flex Fuel cars running around & no place to Buy E-85. No local BioD station either!

Dave

[Dave's Civic Duty]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

cool project. It won't be a 40 mpg vehicle but it has the potential to get better fuel economy than the truck the diesel came with if the rear end gear is chosen for economy (I'd recommend a 308 to 330 or so rear end).

I am building a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup now and plan a 671 mercedes turbodiesel with a ford f150 five speed manual transmission. I will use if for casual use and some light towing. I'll be hoping for around 23 to 25 mph highway with it.

Is there a kit for making the 671 & the 5speed match up? I don't think I've ever seen a 39 Stude Express. How cool is that, going to have to google that one!

[t walgamuth]

I have a homemade adapter for the ford tranny to mb diesel. it is a little crude looking so I am going to check it out carefully before installing. The coupe express is simply the nicest looking best engineered car/pickup (for its day) ever built, imho.

It is built on the rugged commander frame which is about the same size as a short bed ford 150 of around 1985 or so. The studey also has fully independent front suspension using a transverse leaf like the 289 cobras and rotary shocks. I plan to install a ford 9" out back and am hoping for low to mid twenties fuel economy. I'll also plan to install ac and modern brakes and a full frame mount hitch so I can tow moderately large trailers with it.

I'll include pics of a restored one and mine.

Mine is shown ten years ago before the po disassembled it. It is not so nice now but it is a solid truck with minimal rust to repair.

[Dave's Civic Duty]

Originally Posted by wndsofchng

thanks! i like ambitious! the engine donor is an 84 Chevy 1500 :-)

What's the history on this 4dr Buick?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Flakbadger

removing the default equipment (engine, axle, etc. etc.) and replacing with modern components might save some weight, due to alloys and the fat-trimming that modern pieces have undergone

In many cases, replacing an old 3-on-the-tree with a floor-shifted 5-speed increases the efficiency without significative weight differences, altough often they can be even lighter...

I don't think a modern diesel will necessarily be lighter than the cast-iron gasser it's replacing.

Modern is a relative concept, i.e. regarding an old gasser from the 50's to the 70's and a light high-speed Diesel from the 80's. I've already seen many old American cars retrofitted with 4-banger high-speed Diesels under 3-litre, lighter than their stock V8 gassers usually above 5-litre and actually not feeling so underpowered at all

[MetroMPG]

I'm curious about that too. Back story please!

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

cool project. It won't be a 40 mpg vehicle but it has the potential to get better fuel economy than the truck the diesel came with if the rear end gear is chosen for economy (I'd recommend a 308 to 330 or so rear end).

Although a 3.08 would be very drivable in this setup, if this is actually as light as I think it might be I would recommend a 5sp NV3500 granny gear xmsn (make sure you have the granny gear or it is irritating like my suburban)
Then couple to a 2.5-2.83 rearend.

The 6.2 drives just fine near idle assuming your aero and weight put you into the sweet spot, there is a nice chart for the 6.2s max HP from 1000-5000rpms somewhere around here, if you could get a rolling chassis setup and figure out your goal speed and how much power it takes to push it you can determine your ideal overgearing setup so the 6.2 puts out just a tad more power than you need or you can put it spot on and just let the thing speed and slow and downshift to take off.

Just make sure if you do this (which I did in my heavier suburban) that you detune the 6.2 so it has a low enough IP pressure so it doesn't smoke near wot at low RPM. You may also want to adjust the static timing because contrary to popular belief it isn't ideal near the extreme RPM ranges of the motor.

My suburban is rather odd in when I can shift with the 2.73 rearend, in town I can drive in 5th gear idling just fine, on the highway I need to stay in 3rd or 4th up to about 65+ before I can enter 5th reliably depending on a variety of factors (terrain being one), I think I could solve this issue though if I fixed my IP pressure and the persistant fuel leak and the messed up throttle.

Good Luck