1850 Repower


The workhorse

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Post Tue Aug 30, 2016 5:01 pm

1850 Repower

HI everybody: I have a 1970 Loadstar 1850 dump truck. The truck has a Cummins 555 engine with a spicer 5 speed transmission. The 555 has a leaking rear main seal, I repaired the leak with a sleeve and new seal, but it still leaks. I have to tear it back down to be sure, but pretty sure its the rear main. If it is I have decided to pull this engine and repower the truck. GVWR for this truck is 27,500, anyone have any suggestions for a good repower? I am considering a Cummins L10 its on the large side, but I am pretty sure it will fit. My 1850 has a hatch in the fire wall that will allow for the extra length of a straight six. Unfortunately the original diesel engine is long gone. I know it will take some fabrication to fit the L10 in, but my son and I are capable of such projects. Anyone ever done something like this? Your thoughts and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Here is a little video of the truck, before much work has been completed.

https://youtu.be/hT7t-qH1lxQ

Golden Jubilee
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Post Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:13 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

Not sure if this is a direct comparison, I have a pair of Fleetstar's Both have a "doghouse" for the engine, the one that had an RD six has a small doghouse like a Chevy van, The one that has a 6-71, the doghouse comes all they way back between the seats, there is about 12"-18" between the back wall of the cab and end of the doghouse.
What I'm getting at is I don't think an L10 will fit. they aren't much smaller than a 855.
6V53 Detroit, 3208 cat and 466 IHC are potential.
There is a lot consider when doing an engine swap, the more homework you do the better the chances it will be successful.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:15 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

I would second a vote for a DT466. It would have more horsepower and a lot more torque that the triple nickel. And it should be quite a bit easier to fit that the L10. The L10 is a good engine in its own right, though.

Dean
Lifelong Kansan
Grew up with red paint
Moved off the farm 33 years ago.

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Post Wed Aug 31, 2016 10:33 am

Re: 1850 Repower

Thanks guys, that information is invaluable. I looked into the DT466 and really like what I have found, not that I am disqualifying the other suggestions. After I posted my first post I went out and removed the clutches and flywheel from the 555 and found the rear accessory cover was leaking badly. In my rush to reassemble everything I forgot to install the gasket, will be doing that today and run the truck again watching for leaks. Maybe I wont have to repower as soon as I thought. But overall I don't expect the 555 to last and I will still plan on a future repower. I will let you guys know how today goes.

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Post Fri Sep 02, 2016 4:57 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

After I put a gasket on the rear accessory drive cover, reinstalled the flywheel I ran the engine for 20 min. The accessory drive and the rear main are not leaking. But I still had oil leaking from around where the oil filter screws onto the block and the oil pan. I checked the oil pan bolts and found several that were very loose, I tightened them up and ran the engine for an additional 20 min. I still have oil leaking from the oil filter and some coming from the rear of the engine. The leak coming from the rear of the engine is minimal and I can live with it, the oil leak coming from the filter is quite substantial and I am going to remove the filter and see what I can find, it should be an easy fix. After that I still have to sort out why my break lights stay on, I replaced the pressure switch and the break lights worked fine last fall, but this spring they stay on. Could be a defective switch, or air might be leaking by the valves and exciting the pressure switch, I think. I also have to finalize the dump pump install. I installed a new one, its much bigger than the old one and of course nothing lines up. I also have a new drive shaft to connect the pto to the pump, which has to be cut to length and installed. After all this I think I am ready to get her inspected. Here is a little video of what I have done since the last video listed above.

https://youtu.be/Wsl-Cnt017g

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Post Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:20 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

Check for extra gasket material where the oil filter goes, could just be a hard chunk in the way.

Golden Jubilee
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Post Fri Sep 02, 2016 5:49 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

The 555 was never very popular and I have no experience with it. But other Cummins of that vintage (small cam 855's) the bellhousing that bolted to the back of the block and sealed the rear cam bearing. They were a common place to leak. This is different than the rear main seal but would leak in the same general area.
When Cummins changed to the Big Cam 855, they changed how they sealed the cam, it has a more conventional "core plug" in the back of the block. Just somewhere to look.
The thing you are calling the clutch plate/ ringgear combo is the flywheel (pot type). Generally if there are "hot spots" and small heat checks (small cracks) a truck machine shop can re surface the flywheel. Yours looks like it has serious cracks, and should be replaced. You most assuredly don't want the flywheel to come apart with the engine running at speed, there is a very good chance you wouldn't survive to know what hit you! Not worth the gamble!
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Sat Sep 03, 2016 1:42 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

A Cummins 8.3L might be an option. They're used in (among others) the Kenworth T-300 which has a pretty short hood and not much, if any doghouse. At least not enough to notice. Or a Cummins 5.9 would probably be pretty easy. If you can find one from a school bus or a medium-duty box truck with air brakes it might be a pretty simple swap. It won't be a huge amount of horsepower but if you aren't running it all day every day it won't matter so much.
'52 L-160 dump truck
'57 RD-405
'58 Allis Chalmers D grader

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Post Mon Sep 05, 2016 10:08 am

Re: 1850 Repower

Thanks guys: The more I look into the DT 466 the more I like it. At this point I have decided to go with it as soon as I can swing it. Now I have to decide on a transmission. The 555 has a spicer 5000 series behind it, it works just fine, but I am not sure if it would bolt up behind the 466. Also the clutch and pressure plate are obsolete, I tried to replace them but Fleet Pride could not find a match. I could have them rebuilt but decided to run them as they are, which is about 50%. I would like to keep it a manual and of course it has to have a PTO, preferably on the passengers side. Yes I now know the part is called a flywheel, I did not know that when I first took it apart, but my experience with cars told me the flywheel was toast. Unfortunately a replacement has proven very difficult to find. Cummins would gladly sell me a new one, for just under three grand! No thank you, I can repower for close to that, the 555 is not worth the investment. I tried to locate a used flywheel, and their are many around, but unfortunately they are all different than the one I have. I was very concerned about the flywheel coming apart, but after having it looked over by several diesel techs they felt the cracks are not bad enough (yet) to be to worried. Since a repower is planed as soon as all the parts are collected, I decided to just run it for now, but it does make me nervous. Today I hope to get the oil filter off, I have a feeling the leak is coming from where the oil filter, oil cooler housing bolts to the block. Maybe I'll get lucky and find some loose bolts, or that someone forgot to remove the old seal when they replaced the oil filter! Yea probably not. LOL
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Tue Sep 06, 2016 10:10 pm

Re: 1850 Repower

Before you get to far into collecting parts for a certain engine get out your tape measure and make sure it will work. There was a really nice R-190 on ebay a few years ago that had a 466 swapped in and the custom doghouse stuck so far back and was so wide the throttle pedal had to be moved back something like eight or ten inches. I couldn't have driven it very long like that. Now I wish I had saved the pictures.
'52 L-160 dump truck
'57 RD-405
'58 Allis Chalmers D grader
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