marv406

I have a crazy idea about building a front wheel drive s-10 pickup with a 4bt cummins, I want something that will get about 40 mpg and not be a complete dog. I have seen on e-bay many times that you can buy old delivery van engines that are a 4bt with a turbo 400 trans attached. This seems like it would be a fairly durable set up. The problem with the small pick up here (Montana) is that there is no weight over the drive axle so they are terrible in the winter. I used to have an old toronado that had a big block and a transaxle that was basically a reconfigured turbo 400 I think it was called the turbo hydromatic 425. What I am wondering is if anyone would have any idea if a 4bt would clear the transaxle when bolted together. I don't think the width would be an issue but I was wondering about the depth of the pan. If anyone knows one way or the other please let me know.

Thanks Marv

MJDiesel

Interesting question. One of my friends got a 4bt out of a delivery van for a conversion into a 1/2 ton GMC. Suprizingly, the the van that the engine came from was an experimental front wheel drive model, and I think that it was set up with a turbo 400, or some kind of GM transmission. It may be hard to find one of these outfits, but chances are that the van and the transmission are still sitting at the junk yard down here. It will definitely be a challenge to fit a 3.9 and FWD system into something as small as an S-10, but it might work.

catmandoo

the olds uses a different bolt pattern on the bell housing,also on the toronado they had a notch in the oilpan to accomadate the right driveshaft