ya too bad it went into a class 8 GMC General tractor, that was sooooo beat down it wouldn't pass CVIP so it was relegated to a yard truck..............AND then they dusted that engine 2 weeks after they got it

 

Someone older and wiser then me once said, "The Detroit Diesel was General Motors answer for the self lubricating truck."

 

Another old saying. The 2-cycle Detroit Diesel is one of the most efficient devices ever invented by man for the conversion of diesel fuel into smoke and noise.

Rusty

 

So did ya buy it?

 

Detroit 2 strokes are extremely easy to work on. DD has some of the best manuals available for doing repairs. It could be fun. But it would need to be very cheap. I love the sound of a screaming Detroit.

 

man, they do sound sweet!

the detroit is tops when it comes to converting diesel to noise, but the all time king of converting any fuel to noise is the harley

 

Here is the deal: I went and looked at the truck yesterday afternoon. It is a 78 Chev 3/4 ton. The cab is pretty clean, the frame is pretty clean, and the guy that has it now just put a different box on it. Overall it is in fair shape. It had been used for plowing snow the last 15 years, so it has a plow on the front and a sander in the box. Both would be junked because they don't work anymore. It is a non-turbo, 4 cylinder Detroit. On the left side of the engine there is a cover that says GM diesel. The only thing I could read on the engine plate was 5129805. It has a 5 speed manual out of something, and a divorced transfer case. Both the front and rear axles looked pretty small for a 3/4 ton. It has a pretty big suspension lift with 38-15.5-16.5 ground hawg tires. The tires are bald, but I have a set of 40's that I could throw on it. I am pretty sure I could get the truck for a couple hundred bucks, but I don't know if I will be getting myself in over my head. What do you think, should I get it?

 

Did you take any pictures? I'd like to see under the hood.

 

It's hard to go wrong for a couple of hundred bucks. If you decide to bail out later, you could probably sell it for scrap iron and get that much. Where are you located? If you don't get it maybe I can come and buy it.

 

btw, that engine is supercharged, no turbo. blower is on the side of the block

 

It's really gonna be slow being a non-turbo engine. It'll still sound pretty cool straight piped.

That "blower" is just a scavenge pump. It's not a supercharger.

 

Actually it is a supercharger, because multi cylinder two stroke engines with a common plenum chankcase have to have positive pressure on the inlet or the cylinders wouldn't fill.

 

In its design application on the -53, -71 and -92 series Detroit Diesels, it's a scavenging air blower. It's not a supercharger. By engineering definition, for it to be a supercharger, cylinder air pressure at the beginning of the compression stroke has to be significantly above atmospheric pressure - this isn't the case. The blower just moves scavenging air through the cylinders since the 2-cycle engine does not have an exhaust or intake stroke.

Rusty

 

if you can get it for less than $1k and you don't buy it, you're not a man!

 

I stand corrected. I can't see how they could possibly maintain atmospheric pressure though, and why would they want to. If a person were to overdrive the "scavenge" pump they would have a supercharged 2-stroke diesel which would broaden the torque curve down in the RPM band.