The official 6bt conversion thread

[68Mercury250Ranger]

That sounds like a deal, but usually isn't ......


Where is KSL ? in Utah?

[mljjones67]

yeah in Utah

[68Mercury250Ranger]

Hey Art:

Jump in both feet, your daily driver would make an awesome truck as a 4bt , just find yourself a smallblock bellhousing to fit the breadtruck's adapter.

I just wish the 4bt/bta were more plentiful here, I have yet to see an old bread truck with a swapped in cummins here. C--v or Ford.

[averagef250]

These things are everywhere.

I used to think they were hard to find. Get out, look, develop some local parts connections and you'll be very surprised what turns up.

I've found Cummins engines are best sourced through industrial outfits. As in your average auto wreckers don't have a clue what you're talking about. Diesel shops, transport companies, fleet maintenance places are the places to make friends and look for these things.

And don't hold out for the 4BTA. The air-water 4BTA actually sucks. The intercooler is more of a restriction to power than a benefit to cooling air.

The plain jane 105 horse 4BT with the stock 16 CM non-wastegated H1C can easily make over 200 HP and low EGT's with correct fueling.

[68Mercury250Ranger]

I have been watching for one at a reasonable price for quite a while. First one I founds was in a rear and side entry wheelchair bus, (Air ride) with front wheel drive. It was mounted on an angle with the flywheel housing at the front . that one was a cummins reman with under 20,000 miles on it. the original motor only lasted 30,000miles. that one was $4000 firm, and it sold.

Next one came from a case backhoe and it had been burnt but had low hrs. suppposedly. no documentation and couldn't hear it run. 2500 complete(too rich for what you get)

The latest one was in a GM step van which had been converted in 1994 (I think) it had 220,000 miles on it and was running but needed work. He was asking 2800 for complete rolling chassis, or 2500 for engine and GM adapter . I offered 2000 just for the motor ,I didn't get it but he did sell the complete unit for 2600. It came up from the US in 2001

The last one was summer 2007.

I don't think there were any cummins repowers in stepvans done
in Ontario, not sure about the rest of Canada.

They are a popular item here those who can afford one but they are usually almost twice as much $ as a 6bt because they were used in Dodge pickups, and Ford,Freightliner mediums.

I would love to put a 4bt into my 79 Bronco witha smallblock ZF as my daily driver but they are just too hard to find here(too much$)

I may have to save up some holiday time and come to the US and get one myself.

[FormerMarine1981]

Lots of good info here. I was looking for this thread for a good part of the day. I'm going to read this thread completely tomorrow hopefully. I might find the answer in here but does anyone know where to pick up a 4bt or 6bt in Texas?? Thanks, Ben

[LincTex]

does anyone know where to pick up a 4bt or 6bt in Texas??

\

Got my 4BT from QC Core in Bruceville, Tx

[mljjones67]

http://www.zf.com/na/content/media/impo ... /S5-42.pdf

Good read on the S5-42 ZF

[mohavewolfpup]

so it seems like a conversion for a 67 f250 or so would be fairly straight forward? is it true that these are becoming hard to find? some ebay seller is claiming the vans are becoming difficult to find or whatever and proof has to be submitted they are destroyed?

would be so cool if one of these could be stuck into a truck in a weekend is that the case? and what's the deal with the slushbox? able to be done without the engine chewing it up like gum, or a C6 would last as much as the engine? thread seems to be full of go for it, or bad idea. Is a manual better to haul a camper with?

[mljjones67]

Try my project thread for more info.

[mohavewolfpup]

Try my project thread for more info.

it seems like the 4bt holds more ease of bolt in for a conversion, that's what i'm interested in but more concerned it's maybe just a engine to haul myself in only. i work for dog adoptions locally here and would want to tow a small camper trailer full of dogs. picture a stripped out camper with dog cages in it. not sure how much it weighs, a 5.4L V8 F150 with a automatic usually pulls it with no struggle.

it would need to stand up to 1.5 hour trips one way 2-3+ times a week. not sure if it's hilly, probably mostly flat desert. if it could haul that up the cajon pass to california, then i would be a happy guy. it's made greyhound buses pull over so as not to overheat before, so if it wasn't doing that then it would probably be good

[willowbilly3]

A couple years ago I took one from a bus to the machine shop and had it gone through. It cost $1500

[averagef250]

I think power is the most commonly underestimated apect to the 4BT. Many have used these engines in less than stellar shape or geared their trucks wrong and been disappointed. I've ridden it 4BT powered rigs and been blown away by how gutless they are because something was very wrong. Blown headgaskets, bad injectors, etc. I had a late model K20 with a 4BT/M5R2 swapped in come through my shop that ran very rough. The headgasket was blown between 2-3 and 3-4 and the IP had a bad governor arm inside defueling the engine way to soon. I fixed the problems and the owner could not believe the power the little engine had. It was atleast equal to the 6.5T that came out of the truck only running right on one cylinder and crapping out at 1900 RPM.

I've never had anyone ride in my truck and be anything less than surprised. When guys say the 4BT holds it's own they mean it. My truck will pull eye for an eye of what any 12 valve cummins under 200HP will pull (90% of them are 160-180HP). If I wanted more I have plenty of room for more.

[sgs]

I hope this isn't against the rules. I converted my 73 F250 to 4BT power. I have about 2,000 miles on it since completion. Here's the deal. I bought a 4BT from a salvage yard. It is an older one with a rotary pump. I have the CPL numbers at work. When I got the engine we pulled it down, replaced rod and main bearings, cleaned and inspected the pistons and replaced the rings. I had the valves done as well as some mild porting on the head. The cam was custom ground with a higher lift rate to increase low end torque and fuel economy. The injectors recieved new tips at a local fuel pump shop and the turbo was inspected.We used the stock frontal cooler from my 6.0F350. The frontal cooler piping was custom made.The exhaust was formed from the stock exhaust on my 6.0 and is almost new. All of the work is first class with nothing cobbled at all. Basically, it's a rebuilt engine. The bell housing is Chevrolet. The clutch is also new and has the Chev spline. We mated this to a Ranger overdrive ahead of the NP 4spd.

The truck runs good and has good power. We had it dyno'd and it put 126hp to the wheels so that should calc out to about 151hp at the flywheel. The max torque was in the 400 range. I pulled a 22'stock trailer loaded with hay over the biggest hill we have around here (about a 11/2 mile pull, my guess is about a 5% grade) starting at 60 mph and topping the hill at 55mph.

I truthfully never checked the fuel mileage but it seems very good.

I don't like the noise. Now there are thousands of these conversions across the U.S. and maybe it's just me but I don't like the noise. I'm pulling it out.

I will sell this engine with the flywheel, clutch, bell housing, mounts, frontal cooler,exhaust,alternator, starter and everything else you need to perform a conversion for $3,000.The ranger overdrive is not included at this price. A junk yard engine will normally run $1,500 to $2,000 and you won't get a bell housing or any of the accessories and you don't know what you are getting. The engine is still in the truck and any interested buyer can see it or drive it. I could take a video and post it or I could hold my phone next to it and you can here it run.

If anyone here is serious about a conversion this is a very good deal. You can contact me at sscaffidi6@gmail.com or PM me.
I am located in central Wisconsin.

[FormerMarine1981]

Sounds like a good deal, might want to try in the classifieds section of the site as well Where are you located?