I have A L900 with A 477 in it.I no longer have the patience or the money for gas to drive this painfully slow hunk of iron.Are there any diesels that would bolt directly to the same bellhousing as the 477?I would like to keep the same axles and trans if I can,just to keep the cost and labor down.

 

Most of the truly heavy duty diesels as used in the class 7 trucks won't turn the kind of RPM that the gearing that you have right now allows. Figure that you are going to be geared to about 1500 / 1600 rpm at 60 mph for a true heavy truck diesel. The RPM spread on shifts is tight also, so you will need a closer ratio trans with more gears to make it work properly (figure about a 400 +- RPM drop between gears every shift, a 10 speed road ranger comes to mind)

That said, you could use a CAT 3208 diesel possibly. It is a higher turning engine, more like the lighter truck diesels. Here you are looking at a RPM at 60 of say 2500 rpm or so (you are probably at around 2900 - 3000 rpm right now at 60?). These engines were available in hp ratings from about 160 to 350 depending upon turbo, intercooling etc.

Bellhousing would have to be changed, but that should not be a problem as you probably have either a clark or roadranger type trans now, and that will mate up to the 3208 Cat's bellhousing.

Good luck! D~

 

nothing will bolt up, but maybe call advance adapter and see if they can hook you up.

 

You could probably get a powerstroke out of wrecked school bus or equivalent size International, and use that flywheel housing with yourbellhousing and trans. Almost all the truck builders use the same frame sizes, so the IHC engine mounts should work. And hey it 450 or so cubes. International is only 175 hp while Ford started at 215hp so they are probably detuned enough that it won't hurt the rest of the drivetrain.
The 3208 is a good idea too if you can find a decent one but Highest ones I ever saw were 250hp. How about 5.9cummins several versions available and lots of medium/heavy uses.
I helped pdi one of the last C8000s made and it was a 250hp 3208 cat allison auto.
Is your truck the short front end with flat bumper or a setback axle version. This may affect the space limitations. You need to be care of where the rear engine mounts are , some on flywheel housing/some on trans.
I don't think anything is a bolt in!

 

An L-900 is a heavy duty truck, neither a Powerstroke or 5.9L Cummins is going to have the torque or durability to move that thing for very long. A Cat 3208 would work, and many L series Fords had them. In addition, many Super Duty V-8's were swapped out for Cat V-8's back in the day. The engines are close in size. Finding an L with a 3208 in a wrecking yard shouldn't be much of a problem.

 

If you are still driving a truck with a Superduty gas engine it probably has very few miles on it anyway so any small diesel will probably work, it probably has 6.88 gears or something like that. The last one I worked on was a 74 L900 and had a 534 in it with a 13spd tranny and a 2spd auxillary trans. and tandem 46,000 lbs It was geared so low you could use just about any engine in it and it would have worked. This was back in 1997 and the truck had only about 70,000 miles on it. Both manifold gaskets were out of it and I was the sucker that said I can work on anything.
It belonged to a concrete guy and was always loaded and had a giant boom on it.
A 5.9 cummins probably had more HP and torque than that boat anchor.
Actually your best chance for a 3208 would be out of an old C8000 1988-1990 because they had maxed out the HP.
Hey I love my old Fords but the Superduty V8s were awfully big for what they put out!

 

Don't these things have what is called an "SAE bell housing pattern"? If so, doesn't that allow a variety of engine/trans combos without much hassle--which is what HD truck buyers have always had, right? If so, you should be able to repower without too much trouble.

Google "truck repower" or variations of it, and find sites like this:

http://www.rebuiltdieselengines.com/cat3208.html

Where you can get more info. You could probably find out from one of these sites what engine will bolt to your trans, and then if you don't like their $6000 price, you can go hunting for used engines yourself.

 

A CAT 3406 might be an option as well.

Used Diesel Engines

 

Unless your Louisville has a doghouse,the only diesel that will fit with a minumum of work would be a 3208.Anything else is gonna require major surgery to the cab and firewall.Since 3208's were an option,the swap should be fairly straightforward.

 

The L 900 is the gas version of the L 9000 (diesel),as the L 800 is the gas version of the L 8000 (diesel). Clutch (bell) housings are engine family configured.Most truck engines w/belhsng will fit in the larger framed L 900/9000.Final drive ratio is another story.

 

i read somewhere that the ft engines had fe bellhousing patterns... but dont know for sure... but no diesels share a bellhousing with a 477... that im pretty sure on

 

I have a 67 N 950D the triuck that was replaced by the L series. My truck has a Cummins diesel with a ten speed transmission and 4:88 rears. The truck is governed at 2100 RPM and at that RPM it will run about 64 MPH. I am sure that your truck probably has a lower rear than does my truck. If you are going to change trannys I would suggest you get a thirteen speed over drive. The RTO9513 transmissions are not expensive and can be bought for about 500 to 700 dollars. You can buy a desirable rear end ratio for less than 500.

Michelle

 

If you get real ambitious, a detroit 6V92 2 stroke could be an option... winds high, smokes a lot too.

 

I wouldn't mind just putting a new cab on my chassis. Never done anything like that, but boy, at 2-3 miles per gallon, it's a motivator to learn. Could it be done?

 

The 477/534 use an SAE bellhousing. This means it's universal. almost all heavy truck engines will bolt to your trans. The gearing is what will get you. I'd use a 460 or 454 with an adapter.