striaght six DD duty, reliable

[K5wrench]

Zombie thread!

It rises from the dead after 8 years!

Halloween is in a week i guess.

What the heck, i'll play.
I would not swap your 454 for an inline 6 unless it's a diesel.

When we were kids there was a guy about 20 who had a White GMC Suburban with that huge Chevy I6 in it.
He'd have us pile in the back and take us to the drive-in movies.
No, he wasn't a wierdo.
Those were simpler times.
He'd fire that thing up and take us to Thrifty Drugs for an ice cream cone.
How he put up with a bus load of 10 year olds.. i dunno.

I still have fond memories of the GMC and remember clearly watching Tom change the oil and wash the oxidized white paint.

 

[diesel4me]

You may have to go to Brazil to find a straight six now,since most are all gone in salvage yards here..down there GM kept making many models of trucks and cars no longer allowed in the USA due to the emission laws,for several years after they were "banned" here..(they still had air cooled VW's decades after we couldn't buy one here!)----they had some EFI versions of the straight sixes down there too,why GM never tried using that here or sold any (that I know of--never seen one in person),I cant say..I bet it would have increased fuel mileage and make the engine last much longer..

I feel bad when I think about all the good running straight sixes I saw get yanked out in favor of a V8 in many of my friends vehicles,and they just dumped them on the ground and let them sit,or scrapped them..junkyards didn't keep many either,because of the low demand for any--those who had one rarely blew them up,and everyone wanted a V8 ..

I'd not trade a 454 for a straight six though..in a heavy truck or one used to tow,a straight six will be struggling to keep it moving and your top speed uphill will be like 40 mph...the old saying "there's no replacement for displacement" applies there..they can pull heavy loads,but not very fast..they were great for farmers in rural settings,where speed limits were lower and nobody is in a big rush..

The one weak link I found in my straight sixes was the "masonite" camshaft gear,I had two of them strip and leave me stranded,one in my 235 six in the '56 Pickup,and the 250 in a '75 2wd Blazer with the integeral head 250..--they are a fiber type gear that usually lasts 100,000 miles or so,but can fail at any time should a hunk of crud get in the teeth..they suck to replace too,you must remove the grille,radiator,fuel pump,valve cover,all the push rods and lifters,then take the camshaft to a machine shop to press off the old gear and install a new one.

They did have an aluminum gear available for "heavy duty" use,I tried to order one from Sealed Power when I worked at a parts store,one of few brands that listed one,but none of the warehouses stocked one,so I had to put another "wooden" gear in ,reluctantly..
I think you can probably find one online now from places like Clifford Research or one of the other "stovebolt" six places that have hop up parts and 4 barrel intakes,cams,etc..I guess they used fiber to reduce gear whine,I would think the "Pete Jackson" sound would have been pretty cool myself..

 

[obijuank5]

I am that crazy person who would yank a bad 454 and put a 292 in it. One of my favorite motors.

 

[blackandgold51]

You may have to go to Brazil to find a straight six now,since most are all gone in salvage yards here..down there GM kept making many models of trucks and cars no longer allowed in the USA due to the emission laws,for several years after they were "banned" here..(they still had air cooled VW's decades after we couldn't buy one here!)----they had some EFI versions of the straight sixes down there too,why GM never tried using that here or sold any (that I know of--never seen one in person),I cant say..I bet it would have increased fuel mileage and make the engine last much longer..

I feel bad when I think about all the good running straight sixes I saw get yanked out in favor of a V8 in many of my friends vehicles,and they just dumped them on the ground and let them sit,or scrapped them..junkyards didn't keep many either,because of the low demand for any--those who had one rarely blew them up,and everyone wanted a V8 ..

I'd not trade a 454 for a straight six though..in a heavy truck or one used to tow,a straight six will be struggling to keep it moving and your top speed uphill will be like 40 mph...the old saying "there's no replacement for displacement" applies there..they can pull heavy loads,but not very fast..they were great for farmers in rural settings,where speed limits were lower and nobody is in a big rush..

The one weak link I found in my straight sixes was the "masonite" camshaft gear,I had two of them strip and leave me stranded,one in my 235 six in the '56 Pickup,and the 250 in a '75 2wd Blazer with the integeral head 250..--they are a fiber type gear that usually lasts 100,000 miles or so,but can fail at any time should a hunk of crud get in the teeth..they suck to replace too,you must remove the grille,radiator,fuel pump,valve cover,all the push rods and lifters,then take the camshaft to a machine shop to press off the old gear and install a new one.

They did have an aluminum gear available for "heavy duty" use,I tried to order one from Sealed Power when I worked at a parts store,one of few brands that listed one,but none of the warehouses stocked one,so I had to put another "wooden" gear in ,reluctantly..
I think you can probably find one online now from places like Clifford Research or one of the other "stovebolt" six places that have hop up parts and 4 barrel intakes,cams,etc..I guess they used fiber to reduce gear whine,I would think the "Pete Jackson" sound would have been pretty cool myself..

How about if you put a turbo on a straight six ?

With 4:10 gears and 4 speed automatic, plus the sound of a 8v92 series Detroit Diesel

 

[diesel4me]

Can't say I wouldn't do the same myself..IF the 454 was "bad"..

It depends on what your going to do with the truck..a 454 may have more bling and power,but the fuel mileage isn't so great..(but neither is a 292 six,really)..

A 292 certainly is a lot easier to work on than a V8--you can almost stand up between the frame rails and the engine,everything is easily accessible ..I like simple vehicles,that you can fix on the side of the road if you had too,but do not have to very often,and a straight six GM fits the bill perfectly..

I remember a friend who bought a nice '68 Chevy Nova off an older lady--it had a 250 six with a powerglide and 3:08 gears..
He bought it for $100--it had sat in the same spot several years,and the engine was "stuck"..he put marvel mystery oil in the cylinders and put a bottle jack up against the flywheel teeth and jacked up on it,and the motor broke free--after he turned it by hand a few revolutions,he tried starting it up,and he was surprised it ran..

He put big 15" 60 series tires on it ,and was bummed out it wouldn't break them loose unless you poured oil or bleach on them..
He did his best to blow up the straight six,but it refused to die..
One day another friend of his wrapped his '66 Impala around a pole ,slid on ice and crashed it--he bought the 327 out of it and put it in the Nova..it would burn tires now,but he hated the powerglide,and ended up buying a TH350 to put behind the 327..
Two weeks later,he spit the diff gears out of the 10 bolt non-posi,and he went looking for a replacement..he found a 12 bolt,with 3:73 gears,but had to pay $400 for it,a ransom back in the 80's,but it was a posi and thats what he wanted..

After he drove the car to Maine and back,he said "You know--I kinda miss the straight six & powerglide--I was getting almost 20 mpg with that combo,now I'm lucky to get 10!..and this thing SCREAMS on the highway now,I thought I left it in second gear when I had to pass people and get it up to 70 mph..

He gave the 250 six and powerglide to a guy who lived up the road from him--he put them in a home made tractor and put a Fisher plow on it,and used that thing around his property many years..he said it was the only engine he could let sit for months,and get it to fire right up with a little gas down the carb,maybe file the points..he put a 4 speed truck transmission behind the powerglide,it had a lot of power..

 

[obijuank5]

Since this thread is off the rails already I almost fired this one up. 292 th400 lomax dana 300 kingpin 35 spline 44 with jk gears and a 1955 ho72 4.56 Detroit.
3 link front and spring under 0" lift and 38s.

292 had propane pistons and Clifford cam and 4 barrel intake. Would have been a rocket in that CJ.

Had my first kid then and just couldn't keep the blazer and the jeep.

 

[blackandgold51]

Since this thread is off the rails already I almost fired this one up. 292 th400 lomax dana 300 kingpin 35 spline 44 with jk gears and a 1955 ho72 4.56 Detroit.
3 link front and spring under 0" lift and 38s.

292 had propane pistons and Clifford cam and 4 barrel intake. Would have been a rocket in that CJ.

Had my first kid then and just couldn't keep the blazer and the jeep.

My uncle had one of those Jeep's when I was little, it was a two seat and had four drag slick tires along with a chrome grill. 4 speed standard

It had a straight 6 and the exchaust while idling and going forward sounded like a V8 and a detroit at higher rpm.

I asked my uncle later did that thing had a V8 he said no, straight 6