7 replies to this topic

[cavejohnson]

I haven't been on in a while, been incredibly busy. But I got some free time and picked up the AMT Chevy Titan 90 just for kicks. My grandpa (drove for 38 years) saw the 8V-71N and decided to share a few stories with me.

The first one happened in a 72 Kenworth K100 with a 8V-71T. He said that the guy who owned it was having massive problems with the parking brake valve and the parking brakes wouldn't engage. So that night, he parked the truck with the rear end facing the shop and left it in one of the low gears (it was a 5x4). Sometime in the night, the truck managed to hit compression and start rolling. The old 71 fired up and the truck started crawling. Now mind you this lot was in the middle of nowhere. The truck crawled forward and drove its way through a corn field and ended up face-first in a ditch. They showed up the next morning to find that old kenworth still rumbling away with it's rear wheels stickin up in the air still spinning.

The next one involved a GMC General with an 8V-92N that my grandpa drove for a while, he said that he rolled up to a stop and his foot slipped off the clutch, then he stomped it back down. The truck was in gear and it nearly died, but then started making all kinds of funny noises. Somehow the engine managed to reverse itself and it blew exhaust out the aircleaners for about 5 seconds before it died.

Anyways, once I get somewhere with that Titan I'll start post some pictures. All I've gotten done on it so far is an unpainted engine and blue manure spreader wheels =P

[Wagoneer81]

Yep! I was with my father about 18 years back, when he was driving a new a KW T600. He had backed under a trailer, let off the clutch, and forgot he had the Jake Brake on. The engine stalled, sputtered, spit and then came roaring to life... backward! It ran for about 6 seconds before Dad shut it off with the key. It took us a minute to figure out what happened. When we took into consideration that it had started blowing blue smoke from the intake and all the pressure guages suddenly went to zero, we figured it out. It had kicked just right and started running reversed... and that was with a big inline-6 Cat... Didn't hurt the engine any, he went on to put 248,000 on that engine in a little over two years and never had problem one out of it!

You'll love the Titan kit. Several have been built by other members and I have one in the works. One thing to look for; The cab sits about an 1/8th inch too high if built per box instructions. You may want to raise the front hinges, up into the cab, that amount. I did it and the result is worth it.

[rel14]

Use to work on them in the Army,,everything had detroits in them..If you didn;t adjust the injector rack prefect,
you would crank it up, and they work run away on ya,, and a 8V-92 could screeeem,, so you throw the big thick manual
book over the intake,, to kill it,, you ever see a book get sucked in and blowed out the exhaust,,it make a mess
of a engine,,, Lucky uncle sam had spares..LOL

[cavejohnson]

Oh yeah, those engines were really good at running away. Especially 53 series, I've seen so many 4-53, 6-53, and 6V-53s take off it's almost scary. Always wanted to see if I could mash an 8V-53T into an old 55 or so Ford F-300.

[scummy]

In the 70's all of the overnighter trucks ran 8v71 dets in australia , i had one in a 1974 series 2 atkinson and at full noise it screamed along at 75 mph .

[1972coronet]

Hardly any-one believes me when I mention that 2-stroke diesel engines were made ! The 53-Series (Chevrolet) , the 71-Series (GMC) , ad seq. , were definitely *unique* .

CaveJohnson - I've seen videos of light duty pickups with Detroits in them ; a 3-53 turbo / 8 speed in a '76 GMC ; a 4V-71 in an F-250 ; and a couple of others .

Wasn't their lubrication arrangement called Total-Loss Oiling ?

[BigBad]

Hardly any-one believes me when I mention that 2-stroke diesel engines were made ! The 53-Series (Chevrolet) , the 71-Series (GMC) , ad seq. , were definitely *unique* .

CaveJohnson - I've seen videos of light duty pickups with Detroits in them ; a 3-53 turbo / 8 speed in a '76 GMC ; a 4V-71 in an F-250 ; and a couple of others .

Wasn't their lubrication arrangement called Total-Loss Oiling ?

John, what do you mean by 53 series (Chevrolet) and 71 series (GMC)? To my knowledge (certainly limited) both series were available to both makes and everybody else for that matter.
Maybe I missed something or don't understand what you meant.
A 4V-71? That's a new one by me. I learned of the existence of the 8V53 not too long ago, so I guess anything is possible.

[1972coronet]

BigBad - From what I understand , the smaller series (the 53-Series) was available in Chevrolet's HD tractors , whereas the larger (71-Series) was what GMC's HD tractors received . Of course these engines were available in other manufacture's tractors ; I know that Dodge used them along with Cummins .

The 4V-71 was the truck's owner's claim . Given the application (light duty pickup) , a V-Four would be about right , as an inline would be too long . Let me see if I can find the video of the pickup in question .