I see the debates about swaps and remember something my old man did before I was even born.

He took a '71 Ford One Ton (A hard to find beast as it is) and did his own custom build.

POWERPLANT: I453 Detroit Diesel
TRANS 1: Four on the floor HD
TRANS 2: Under-Direct-Over Three Speed out of a Mack Cement Truck
REAR END: Dually w/ Limited Slip Diff.

This thing was a TANK. The engine put out enough torque he could put the steer tires against a curb and the drives would spin AT IDLE.

For those that don't know the old Detroit designations, here you are:

Letter: I or V depending on configuration
First Digit: Number of Cylinders
Last two digits: Displacement per cylinder

I (Inline) 4 (Cylinders) 53 (Cubic Inches Per Cylinder)

Of course the EPA would hate him (or me) if we still had this engine. It was one of those nifty Two Cycles that were next to impossible to emission control yet put out some serious power.

I miss that truck.

So, onto a different tangent: One the commercial side of the Ford Truck division the F-650 has the ISB Cummins as an option. Now that Chrysler/Dodge and Cummins are no longer exclusive which would you folks prefer to see in the future:

Powerstroke
Cummins
Mercedes-Benz (Owners of Detroit Diesel now, except the DD Line doesn't go under thirteen liters)

There are plenty of choices for a swap, but as usual one has to take parts availability into account.

Me? I'd find me a Direct Injection Mechanical diesel since those run on literally everything. YouTube these older monsters and hear them ROAR!

 

A 4-53 in a 1-Ton is a great swap. I've seen a few starting back in the 70's. We got a 3-53 in a 1-Ton running around this area. You can sure hear him going down the road.

Bill