300SD Engine Swap
 

I posted at some length in the Diesel Performance section but Roy suggested that I post here too so more folks might see at my questions.

Basically, I'm swapping the driveline from an '84 300SD into an '82 S10 pickup for Land Speed Racing.

Any help would be appreciated.

Dan

Something makes me think a 617 engine/trans is going to make the front of that truck way too heavy....

Dan you got the front clip off? One issue is the interference between the oil pan and the Chevy front end. Not sure about the steering linkage and the oil filter housing. You going with the MB transmission? Pull it and the engine together to make it alot easier.

Planning to pull everything as a unit. I don't have the truck here yet (that'll happen in a couple of weeks) and I figured I might have to negotiate around the suspension.

The truck has a blown (not supercharged, BLOWN) all-iron small block Chevy (SBC) and a TH350 in it so I don't think the MB will be a lot heavier.

I was worried about the driveshaft but Carolina Driveline can work with this and put the slipyoke at the rear, using the rest of the MB driveshaft. Doesn't sound terminally expensive.

Dan

A specific question that comes to mind...

How do I transfer the tach to the S10? I'd like to keep it as it works for the 5 cylinder Diesel and not many aftermarket tachs can say that. I think I found the pickup on the vibration dampner and it can stay there just fine but I'm not sure of how the whole deal wires up and where to disconnect the wiring connectors. I guess a tach wiring schematic would help, too.

Thanks
Dan

You need a tach?

I'm thinking it may be easier to see if you can transfer the S10 sensor to the MB engine or use the MB tach drive mechanism in the S10.

Definitely need the tach. The S10 unit is a racing tach (Autometer, I think) and senses distributor pulses to determine RPM. The MB tach looks to be an optical sensor (maybe magnetic?) on the vibration dampner and should be just the thing - if I can transfer all the bits to the truck.

Probably should mention that the S10 is a race truck with MANY Land Speed runs on it. It has a full cage, a fuel cell (I'll have to purge the fuel system), on-board fire supression system, etc, etc. The whole nine yards. It also has a race shifter for an automatic and I'm not sure if that will work with the MB trans yet so I'll grab the MB shifter before the carcass goes away.

Thanks guys
Dan

Trans Questions for My Engine Swap
 

The trans seemed to work perfectly when I test drove the car. Questions are - at what RPM does the trans shift if I just put the pedal on the floor and leave it there? Or would I be better off to manually shift it and if so, at what RPM? I don't want to scatter the engine but I don't know how many RPM it likes.

Related - Should I move the shifter assembly to the truck or do you think the B&M shifter in the truck will work? The B&M has a reverse lockout (required) but I can jury-rig one for the stock shifter.

THANKS
Dan