need help identifying a motor please

[cowboysevens]

i got this motor in one of the junk yards i bought but i dont know what motor it is or what it came out of, its not complete but i got a bunch of motor parts maybe there in there. its a V-8 and says 903 on the valve covers. thanks for any help

[scummy]

G,day mate , the photo's are a bit blurry but it looks like a 903 , it came out of the 4270 transtar conventional kit by ertl , kit number#8001.

[cowboysevens]

G,day mate , the photo's are a bit blurry but it looks like a 903 , it came out of the 4270 transtar conventional kit by ertl , kit number#8001.

so its the 903 international brand motor? thanks

[scummy]

Supose to be a cummins 903 .

[cowboysevens]

Supose to be a cummins 903 .

cummins 903???? hmmmmm i got some research to do so i can find the parts and complete this motor for later use. thanks for the help

dennis

[scummy]

G,day mate , if you go to the web site below there's all the instruction sheets for model trucks . Go to the ertl section then pick truck in question and see what parts are missing , Cheer's

http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/

[mackinac359]

The 903 was from Cummins. It was only available (kit wise) in the Ertl IH 4200.

If you were a fan of Movin'On, Sonny's truck (season 1) had a 903 in it.

Tim

[Jim B]

Auslowe offers a resin V903 and a VT903 (perfect for Sonny's truck). I'm not sure how popular the V/VT903 really was, but is seen some fleet trucks on Hank's with them in them.

[cowboysevens]

thanks guys i did not now cummins had a "road V-8" for semi's, i know they made and still make them but i thought they were all just for industrial uses ( pumps, generaters etc. ). ill have to check out the specs and see if it was a powerhorse or just another hummin cummins, lol.

dennis

[cowboysevens]

after a quick look on google i found the cummins v903 300 hp :

dennis

[Old Albion]

Dennis,

The V903 was as stated a V8 at 903 cubic inches displacement. Bigger than the standard Cummins straight 6 cylinder at 855 cubic inches. It looks like it was available from 285 HP to 320 HP in the standard Naturally Aspirated form. If an engine is turbocharged you can usually add about another 1/3 if your lucky for a 4 stroke engine. So I'm guessing that a VT903 would give about 400 HP. Probably on par with NTC400 engine. But that is where the similarity ends. Look at the chart I have attached below. This shows the engines available for the GMC Astro. At the bottom is the V903. Look at the stroke of the pistons and then compare them with the NH series 6 cylinder Cummins. The V903 is an over square engine. That is the bore is bigger than the stroke. The 6 cylinder Cummins is a long stroke engine and despite being a smaller displacement has a higher Torque characteristic. 6 cylinder engines are much smoother running and very well balanced particular at idle. So if I were choosing an engine I would pick the straight six Cummins with its higher Torque, Smoother running, and maximum power at lower RPM. Because its running slower usually less wear and tear. The only real advantage a V8 has over a 6 cylinder is the space envelope.

Dave

[Romell R]

Such good information in truck threads!

[cowboysevens]

Dennis,

The V903 was as stated a V8 at 903 cubic inches displacement. Bigger than the standard Cummins straight 6 cylinder at 855 cubic inches. It looks like it was available from 285 HP to 320 HP in the standard Naturally Aspirated form. If an engine is turbocharged you can usually add about another 1/3 if your lucky for a 4 stroke engine. So I'm guessing that a VT903 would give about 400 HP. Probably on par with NTC400 engine. But that is where the similarity ends. Look at the chart I have attached below. This shows the engines available for the GMC Astro. At the bottom is the V903. Look at the stroke of the pistons and then compare them with the NH series 6 cylinder Cummins. The V903 is an over square engine. That is the bore is bigger than the stroke. The 6 cylinder Cummins is a long stroke engine and despite being a smaller displacement has a higher Torque characteristic. 6 cylinder engines are much smoother running and very well balanced particular at idle. So if I were choosing an engine I would pick the straight six Cummins with its higher Torque, Smoother running, and maximum power at lower RPM. Because its running slower usually less wear and tear. The only real advantage a V8 has over a 6 cylinder is the space envelope.

Dave

thanks dave you made some excellent points and good imformation. im looking towards putting a V-8 in the double bunk 4070 im biulding, i wanted to put a 3406 but am having big issues with stuffing it under the cab without major modifications. so i was rumiging thru the ol motor parts box and saw this 903 motor, lol im still supprised that cummins made an over the road V-8. im thinkin it might look good under that 4070, of course we have to turbo it up lol.

dennis

[Old Albion]

Dennis,

The big Horse Power engines like the Cat 1693, the 3406 and the Cummins KT series were a problem for the truck manufacturers. They were big and needed a lot of space in particular height and cooling capacity (Later on Aftercoolers added to this problem). Thats why Peterbilt built the 352H (check Tims Web site) which was a nominal 4" higher to allow for the bigger engines. Also International introduced the Transtar 2 to accomodate for them as well. Prior to the Big Cat and Cummins engines the biggest HP available was the Detroit 12V71, but even so on some trucks the manufacturers had to raise the cabs to get the engine in. Big horsepower engines takes a lot of space and takes a lot of cooling. The 1693 was 14.6 litres, the 3408 was 18 litres and the big Cummins KT was 19 litres. Some of the points also apply to Conventionals thats why the extended hoods appeared. A Cummins KT will fit in a 359 Pete with a BBC of 119" but the bulkhead is specially modified to suit. I have seen photo's of 2 359s like that (both from the east coast of the US). The problem is you can only get at 3/4 of the engine and loose the advantage of having the tilt hood for access to the rear of the engine. But they had no choice because they were regulated to the maximum length laws.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[cowboysevens]

Dennis,

The big Horse Power engines like the Cat 1693, the 3406 and the Cummins KT series were a problem for the truck manufacturers. They were big and needed a lot of space in particular height and cooling capacity (Later on Aftercoolers added to this problem). Thats why Peterbilt built the 352H (check Tims Web site) which was a nominal 4" higher to allow for the bigger engines. Also International introduced the Transtar 2 to accomodate for them as well. Prior to the Big Cat and Cummins engines the biggest HP available was the Detroit 12V71, but even so on some trucks the manufacturers had to raise the cabs to get the engine in. Big horsepower engines takes a lot of space and takes a lot of cooling. The 1693 was 14.6 litres, the 3408 was 18 litres and the big Cummins KT was 19 litres. Some of the points also apply to Conventionals thats why the extended hoods appeared. A Cummins KT will fit in a 359 Pete with a BBC of 119" but the bulkhead is specially modified to suit. I have seen photo's of 2 359s like that (both from the east coast of the US). The problem is you can only get at 3/4 of the engine and loose the advantage of having the tilt hood for access to the rear of the engine. But they had no choice because they were regulated to the maximum length laws.

Hope this helps.

Dave

oh yes i know what ya mean with the big motors, i have actually seen a kt 600 shoved into a 1981 freightliner conventional, lol he removed the grill gaurd so the radiator could stick out the front and cut into the firewall on back side and it still hit. lol was purrdy hillbilly but he ran it up and down the interstate. yeah and one thing about these 4070 models is the transtar II cab and mounts are the same as the 4070a, the double bunk im biulding is a transtar II and im having the same problems, if i lower the engine all the way to where the oil pan rest on the axle it will stuff under it but still touching on both sides= the mechanical drives off the front , the intake manifold, the turbo, alternator, and riser for the intake. lol it just gonna take alot of modifying to get it to go in, just not sure i wanna put that much more time into this truck. so it will probly end up with a V-8 or just glue the cab down, lol !!

dennis

[cowboysevens]

well after thinkin bout it i remembered that i had got me a couple of the 4270's so i went to go dig em out so i could use the instructions to find the motor parts,lol after about an hour of searching i gave up and decided i would just pull the motor out of the kit i dug out. but much to my supprise the "complete kit" i bought off evilbay was missing the motor, trans, steering etc. etc. so i figured id pull from the other kit, lol but i cant find it along with a few other kits. the wife got rid of some boxes for me thinking they was empty, so i guess i just aint gonna use the cummins V-903!! so i dug out a 3408 cat and it fit puuuuurfict, lol.

hey guys i really appreciate all the help with the information on this motor. if anybody has a V-903 they would like to trade out let me know please. thanks alot

dennis

[phoneguy]

Here's a link for the instruction sheet for the 4270. http://public.fotki.com/modeltrucks25thscale/truckkit_instructions/ertl/8001_international/

Killer site for a wealth of info.