[Vwdiesel] Diesel conversions

[LBaird119 at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/27/2007 5:04:41 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
toensing at wildblue.net writes:

> You are increasing my interest in converting the Packard. I wouldn't put in 
> the GM 5.7L as I believe this is the converted Olds gas engine that GM 
> offered in their rear drive big cars from Chev to Cadillac back in the early '80s 
> that gave GM &diesel a bad name. 

  I've actually heard a lot of good reports on the LATE 5.7 
engines.  As much as 350K miles and such.  There's some 
website on them that I have burried here somewhere.  I'd 
heard rumors otherwise that the over-the-counter ones were 
quite  dependable also.  I think it was anything after 82 or 83 
and of course I think they stopped putting them in anything in 
84 other than over the counter for a few years.  They'd be 
the lightest, had good power and WERE indeed economical.  
A lot of failures that I knew of personally had more to do with 
intolerance of misuse/minor abuse than out and out failure.  
In other words diesel owners didn't have near the problems 
that gasser owners did.
  There's always the Nissan 2.8 six.  :-)  The RD28 sure is 
a sweet looking thing and it'll handle a turbo and should be 
really smooth.  I have a 4 speed automatic on its way to 
put behind it in the '37 Chevy.  Hope it's a lockup.  
  BTW, HOW do you calculate gear ratios in an automatic?  
It's not like I can mark the shaft and count the turns like on 
a standard tranny!  I'll eventually need to calculate up tires 
sizes, rear end transplant and then find a speedo cable box.
  Oh, on trannys, a local shop swears that with the upgrades 
and a cooler that he can build a TH700R4 that's a stronger 
tranny than a TH400.  I put manual lockup on my GMC van's 
700R4. It had the one wire tranny so it was easy to do.  It 
still shifts down into 3rd when needed so no lugging issues but 
I can now lock 3rd, or unlock 4th or 3rd if I need that little bit 
more to get around some moron.  (well, COULD before a friend 
killed the engine for me.)  Fixing the lockup took it from about 
14 to 16 mpg up to 20 around town and 23mpg on the highway.
     Loren


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