my grandfather has a mid 60's brockway i believe it is a 147 and it has a continental 427 straight 6 gas job with a cracked piston and it has some other issues but anyway i got thinking how hard would it be to put a 250 or 350 cummins in it so that it might be useful again and cheaper to run on the road its like a 33000-37000gvw truck
Installing a Cummins 6, you might have a problem with the engine being too long to fit, and you'll certainly have an excessive amount of engine weight on the steers. The Cummins is a big engine, in physical size, and they're pretty heavy, in comparison to a gasser. A cheaper, moderate mileage Cat 3208 out of a parted-out school bus might be a better idea. An 855 Cummins weighs 2930lbs, a 3208 truck engine weighs 1340lbs. The Continental gasser probably only weighs about 1000lbs. The 3208 will also rev to 2800RPM, whereas the Cummins is limited to about 2100RPM. This means you could fit an overdrive transmission with the 3208 and not have to change the rear axle ratio. The Cummins would need a rear axle ratio change, because its maximum RPM is too low to get adequate hwy speed, even with an OD transmission.
well we do have another slightly smaller gas job for it that my grandfather wants to put in so he can use it like a farm truck but any way i already know a 3208 wont work as it is too wide of a motor plus my grandfather doesnt like them and these trucks had a 170 cummins as a diesel option back in the day and i thought the 250 was about the same size as the 170
What about a BT6 cummins from a school bus ?
uh i think thats a little too new id like to keep it as period correct as possible so like maybe bring it into the 70's at the latest for engine tech so its still easy to fix
The 170 Cummins option available new, would have been the 855 cu in engines predecessor - the 743 cu in engine. They are a only little lighter than the 855, and they are still a big engine. The Cummins option back in the day would probably have had a heavier duty front axle, heavier springs, and possibly even lower-geared steering, to cope with the weight on the steers. There's a reason why the first Cat truck engines failed to gain any market share in the period from 1939 to 1942. They were heavier than anything else around, and no power steering was available in those days - so you had to be built like Big Moose and have biceps like Arnie to be able to wrestle that steering wheel around. My first Mack, a cab-over F-700, in the early 1970's, didn't have power steering, and it was a beast to manouver - and it only had the 6cyl 237HP engine.
uhhu this truck has no power steering so that is a slight problem but it never seemed that hard to turn when we had to pull it with 941 to move it out of the way but would the 3116 fit cause that seems to be about the right size
oh yeah brockways were always designed to be rugged
Yep, great old rigs from the days when men were men and women were women and everyone knew the difference. A 3116 would fit, but they are an electronic engine, so you'd need to install the required electronics to make it go - and that's not exactly period, is it? Also the 3116 is not the best motor that Cat have ever built, and the 3208 is probably a more reliable motor. The 3116 had a lot of injector/head problems. Google "3116 problems" and you'll find a lot of unhappy owners. Another engine to consider is the 8.3L C series Cummins with mechanical injection. A more compact, and a reliable 6cyl engine that wouldn't look out of place in the Brockways engine bay.
What about an older DT466? There are a million of them in school buses. Cheers, Neil.
hm i think that is too wide but i know my grandfather likes them for the milage. i wonder if a 3306 will fit
A DT466 is the same size as a 3116. I would put a 6bt out of a dodge pickup in. Put the dodge manual trans in it at the same time. Good tough engine, good mileage, and reliable.
well i guess it is a 148w because the 147 had a 363ci engine but any way i think a dt466 wouldn't be bad i just don't want anything too new so it might be fine to put in the other gas job and maybe use it as a farm truck to get a load of loam here and there and to move the d4 to a job once in a while until we can get a better truck like a military 5 ton with the 250 cummins as a short haul horse
Just a minor correction: most 3116s were full mechanical and the electronic ones were late and were the exception being quickly replaced by the 3126 if I have my chronology correct. But just the same, the 3116, 3116E and 3126 were not good motors.