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Swapping in a 366/427 in place of 8.2 Detroit

Duromax04

Active Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
40
Location
Holt, MO
Occupation
Sales Rep
Has anyone ever taken out an 8.2 Detroit and put in a 366/427 gas burner? If so, how hard was it to do?
Thanks in advance for any and all help. Its in a Chevy C-70.
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,636
Location
Claremore, OK
Occupation
Field Mechanic
It’s doable, like Doug said it would be helpful to have a complete donor truck. I know where one is with a 366 in it. You’re about 275 miles from it. If you didn’t need the whole thing I bet we could get what you needed into an 8’ pickup bed. Food for thought.
 

Duromax04

Active Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
40
Location
Holt, MO
Occupation
Sales Rep
Thanks for the input. I found out it had an Allison Automatic in it, which would make the swap, a lot harder to do, and the rear gear would probably not be to good with the gas burner. And I would have to add a clutch pedal and so on.
Its to bad as this truck is a really nice truck with no rust and clean. The 8.2 has a blown head gasket (big shocker there). Truck has new tires and brakes on it. I just don't know anything about fixing those 8.2's and all I have read is that they are built on a rather flawed design. I can make gas burners run and I am at least somewhat adept at troubleshooting them.

I have been looking for an older dump truck that i can haul dirt/rocks in. I raised a house and dug out all the crawl space down 13 feet and set the house back down on a new foundation that now has a livable space under it. Now I have a huge pile of dirt that I need to move.

Junkyard, is that donor truck an old school bus or something? I might still be interested in those parts you have.

Thanks for the help.
 

Junkyard

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2016
Messages
3,636
Location
Claremore, OK
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Field Mechanic
The donor truck is a dump truck, more like a lumber delivery style bed than rock and dirt. It’s been sitting in a pasture for a few years. It probably needs some wiring done before it’s drivable. Last I saw it was complete. It might be less work to fix it than cannibalize it. Here pretty soon I’ll go fetch it and bring it to my shop to decide it’s ultimate fate lol.
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,063
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
White Truck.jpg

Want a nice truck no conversion? It was 366, I couldn't time it. Rebuilt a 427 tall block and swapped it. When I couldn't time the 427 either, I discovered a broken nub in the distributor. I just solved a fuel issue, (fuel pump sucking air).
59000 actual miles 5000 on engine. 27500 GVWR air brakes. Eaton 5 speed, two speed rear differential.
As of today it is a cab & chassis with PTO hydraulics. A small bit of body rust blistering above a new cab corner I installed ten years ago. Otherwise solid cab.
 

Willie B

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2016
Messages
4,063
Location
Mount Tabor VT
Occupation
Electrician
You said its a 427. It would be less costly to get it hauled than to buy the gas.
You may have a point. I've never calculated gas mileage. I can't bring myself to do it. I'll say I get much better mileage with a truck loaded at 26,000 than with a trailer gross at 22,000! Very little flat in my corner of the world. I'm either climbing, or going down a steep hill.

Didn't have the C65, but today I came home from Island Pond. I91 is uphill both ways! There is NO part of that highway that isn't 65 MPH & steep!
 
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