'47 KB-5? Mail Truck

Just for the fun of it, you may like to check out the GM 53 two stroke engines that have been transplanted, your L160 would be big enough to easily handle a 4-53 with an Allison, or any transmission of your liking. Where I used to work, the only engine that was in the fleet, at one time, was the 6V71. There were a few 12V71s and did they ever sound fantastic on the dyno.
http://youtu.be/a4bkDjU6jKk
This should get anyone started looking at the possibilities. I suppose these GM two strokes might be reasonably priced because they have no real commercial value. A 4-53 or even a 3-53 should get your 160 Howling. These old trucks should be full of questions and cause person to ask what did you do??? I might look for a nice 4-53 just to have on a stand in my shop. Every time I feel depressed, I could wind the engine and myself up. LISTEN to this neighbour.
http://youtu.be/je0LHKp51u0
http://youtu.be/tGzUb2Rpges

I do think the 53's would be really neat and would be more fitting with the age of the truck, I just figure a Cummins would be easier to find and keep oil in. But if I found a -53 with a jake brake it would be a no-brainer.

Leaks could be a problem, which may have contributed to the name "GREEN LEAKER". I have seen a very few of these engines sealed up nicely but this was only in the last few years with the availability of better gaskets and sealants. In the last year r so of the 6V71s at work, the use of LOCTITE made a huge difference. There was a time when the company posted a bulletin from the engine manufacturer that suggested keep topping up the oil daily and change filters at regular intervals. True. I think the V engines leaked more than the in-line. Maybe it is really OK to have a small leak after a bunch of really enjoyable screaming noises. I'm just saying ;-}>

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-53N-RA-Detroi ... 1193833291
That is a link to a Detroit 4-53 for sale and it included a torqueflite transmission. If it is a runner it could be a good deal.

I'm on board with the sound these things make. Locally we used to have a guy with a brush shredder run by one and another guy that drove a 1950s Greyhound Bus (yes, a Greyhound bus was his personal get-around vehicle) that had one of those engines. What a WONDERFUL noise!

Oooh! Thanks for that link. I've got some thinkin' to do.

We used to have a really interesting old machinery recycling yard in the area. It was called PHOENIX EQUIPMENT. The owner was a one legged hard man who never left any doubt about how he felt about anything or anyone outside of mainstream and his idea of normal. I was told that someone else's mistake claimed his leg and when he was able to get up on one leg and with the help of his single crutch, he returned to work and on his first opportunity left little doubt with those he felt responsible for his loss.
Much of what he repurposed was from mines, mills and logging. I remember there was always a large number of Detroit Diesel two stroke engines in the yard, some removed and others still attached to interesting machines. There were other engines in the yard including the first single cylinder Detroit I had seen and other great single cylinder engines with flywheels as tall as a modest house, some Diesel and others dry gas.
The main building had an 80 foot ceiling and the walls were lined with shelves that were filled with bearings, magnetos, control cables, levers, and hundreds of engine parts. The floor of the shop was 50 feet wide and the length maybe 200 feet end to end. The north end of the shop had a separate workshop well equipped with vintage machinery, an old school British trained millwright/mechanic , the owners office and I sign that read, 'I'M SORRY THAT I MISSED YOU, IF I AM NOT HERE IT IS LIKELY THAT I AM AT THE RANGE WORKING ON IMPROVING MY AIM'.
Sadly PHOENIX EQUIPTMENT has passed into history and all that I have, other than the memories, is a retractable ballpoint pen with all of the contact information and the owner's name. The yard was on the Queensboro edge of the North Arm of the Frazer River and it had some sturdy docking and a drag-out ramp, with a very heavy winch, that disappeared into the river. The rising prices of real-estate and taxes made it impractical to maintain the yard and the owner sold it to developers and another West Coast bit of history was buried under a bunch of less interesting row housing.
I bought a box full of EAGLE oilcans from a Craigslist advertisement and the seller's address was where the original shop south door had been located. I had a moment of nostalgia and then I left for home. I was told that the owner had passed into eternity. I do not remember there being a service, but that may have been the way "The Man" would have wanted it.

Well, I think I need a shop more than another engine, especially since I already have a BD264 to swap in so I'm gonna let that 4-53 by. Probably in a year or two I'll be kicking myself.

That's an interesting story that seems to be the way of things everywhere anymore. All the interesting stuff gets overrun by economics and yuppies who don't want to look at "junk". Here locally we had a small business building log broncs (small steel tugs used to push logs around). The yuppies in positions of power decided the operation was unattractive for the town and caused it to move out of the county. Fortunately, after they left the appearance of the place hasn't changed, only the loss of tax revenue for the local governments. For some reason most people don't like to see how the rest of us make a living.

That piece of real-estate might have been worth over ten million dollars when it sold to the developers. More things change around here because of very high real-estate values. The interest on that kind of money is not easily made from recycling old bits and pieces.
We get a lot of rain here and it is necessary to keep things dry and be able to lock up, so we built the shop first and then the projects followed. My shop went from 350 sf to just under 1000sf when we renovated. I would have liked to have the shop bigger, but the Board of Variance with the city permits would not allow anything larger. That was in 1990, In 2002 the rules changed and the maximum garage size became 600sf if the house was not too big. There are some rules about maximum lot coverage. Some of the very old construction has been "Grandfathered". There are a very few very large shops left. My neighbor and I will be the last guys to play with tools, on this street, and when we are gone, our lots will be sold, leveled and monster houses built.

That is certainly an odd looking truck. Reminds me of an old paddy wagon more than a mail truck.