I'm planning on trying to get the 454 to roll over tomorow. Any hints and ideas? Never used a carb vehicle, so it has a very very low chance of starting. They will take to scales sometime to find weight. Flat bed should be simple right?

 

It turn sover and I smell gas. Doesn't seem to be gettin spark. Just bought a spark tester and going to check it tomorow. Any one know what I need to convert this truck? With the camper special will the front end hold the weight? Probably need a special driveshaft. The rear should hold right? Does a 1st gen tank bolt easily to a chevy frame? Tried doing a compression test, most showed 50psi, but I couldn't get a goot seal(tool wasn't made for combustion chamber test. Had 1 over 100psi. When doing compression test I pulled all plugs and wires, wouldn't crank. Put one plug and attached wire to it and it cranked(tested twice). Is that normal, I cant understand that. The owner said it got hot before it died, but didn't get too hot, anything I should check like head?

 

If you want a running 454 Cheby crew cab camper special.Just needs floor pans let me know.Dont worry I can get it over to Metropolis ILL for you.

 

I'm lookin at one for scrap price. That one is probably a lot more than $400.

 

Ill put it this way less then 1750 more then 1000.Anything in between Ill take.

 

that's a crew cab

 

Got it runnin, but steam leaking around head. I should have it bought next week. How do I see if it is the gasket or the head without pulling head. Any guesses on the weight? I should know in a couple days. Waitin for Chevy-Cummins.com to be made.

 

If you know the general area where the steam was comming from, look around that area with an inspection mirror and a very bright light. You should be able to find it easy.

 

Just found out it weighs in at 3.4 tons=$300. Started it and looked for the leak, but no sign of it. There was a hissing sound but I couldn't see anything. I topped off radatior and ran about 20 mins. Coolant looks very green and oil is black with no signs of coolant. Buying it tomorow and should have it licensed. Now I just have to collect everything for the conversion. Anyone know whats under the alt? There was a pump on top of it and the hoses going to the exhaust manifold were not connected, but plugged. I might fix up the service bed and run my stacks under the doors.

 

You stole it. You can easily get $500 for a running 454 chevy, no matter how inferior they are to most of the alternatives. If it's got chevy written on it, it's gold around here. Unload the boat anchor truck motor on somebody, and set about putting the cummins in there. As a bonus, that truck will have a turbo 400 (assuming it's an automatic, I can't remember if you said) that's worth a decent amount if it works ok. If so, I'd try for about $300 for the transmission separately from the motor.

Any manual that came behind a 454 is unlikely to last very long behind a cummins if you can find a bellhousing to adapt it in the first place.

 

I agree with v8440 - clean up that running 454, change head gaskets if you need to and stick it on ebay. Crate it up well, and you should get more out of it than you paid for the whole truck. Good luck with the project!

 

Thanks. It has the manual. Planning on my getrag. All I need is a $7 wire to be ready for two batteries cause it has holder for em. The two barrels on carb stick open when I pushed them. When reving with pedal I had to play with it to get back to idle. Any idea to fix this?

 

Yep-put a rebuild kit in the carburetor. It almost certainly has a quadrajet if it's the stock-style carburetor. The kit will be available at most auto parts stores, and may cost less than $20. You should go ahead and pull the carb before you buy the kit. The reason is that there is often a tag or number somewhere on the carb that allows the store personnel to get the exact kit for that carburetor-relying on what vehicle it came on is less accurate in the case of carburetors. A quadrajet is not hard to work on. About the only annoying thing to me is when it comes time to put the top back on the middle section-the metering rods hang down, as does the accelerator pump piston. You have to line all of those back up when you set the top back on the main body. Not terrible, just sometimes aggravating if you've never done it before.

If you do this, you can clean the whole thing with a few cans of brake parts cleaner and an old toothbrush. You may be surprised at the stuff you find in there.

 

brought it home last night. When I got home the belt for alt and fan was broke off. I just added 1.5 gal and started it after belt install. No steam or visibal leaks and oil is still black. When tightning the alt it arcked and now it isn't charging. Did I ruin the alt?