Was the 453 Detroit ever offered on the C series tilt cab? It seems like it would fit nicely under the cab of these small trucks. Never seen one, but in seems logical for Ford to offer this engine for local pickup and delivery type work for Detroit fans.

 

Never offered stock from Ford/ I think a better combo might be a 6v53, as it has a better torque rise / rpm range. But either one is going to require some serious noise abatement in the cab. Gotta love that two stroke sound though!

I have been looking for a 6v53 / Allison out of a retired garbage truck for some time, seems these are pretty rare now-a-days, but were common 20 years or so ago.

David

 

This would have been a DSO type truck. Fleets that liked the Ford cab (BUDD cab) but didn't like the standard engine offerings would request this set up. Typical fleet orders were for mulitiple indentical units, so it was worth Fords while to build these special trucks. Some fleets or utility companies liked to standardize with one engine manufacturer, so the engines were familiar with company mechanics. A 4 cyl diesel would probably only appeal to certain vocations, light loads around town continously around the clock.