Re: [Amc-list] AMC V8 Diesel - Did AMC ever create one?

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: Archimedes <Freedom@xxxxxxxx>
" 
" 
" greg_taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx said:
" 
" >I've never seen this pop up in AMC discussions before ... did AMC ever 
" >create a V8 diesel prototype?
" 
" 
" Given the gas crisis and the diesel activity at GM in the late seventies, it's a sure bet AMC was looking.  However, with truck sales in the range they were at the time, it probably would have cost AMC too much to make its own V8 diesel.  Heck, Ford used an IH diesel in its F-trucks (I have a 1990 -- no throwing rotten fruit, please, I only bought it to haul around AMCs), Dodge still uses the Cummins diesel...
" 
" AMC would have been foolish to try.  GM had a lot more money to spend engineering a V8 diesel for its big car line (Impala, Park Avenue, etc), and they flubbed it up miserably.

you can't lay all the blame on engineering.  what would you have said
to an impala 6.2?  it still could be a sweet swap.  but that engine
couldn't be ready in time.

" []
" 
" >What would be involved in converting an AMC V8 over to make it a diesel? 
" >An idea I've been milling around for my '89 Grand Wagoneer.
" 
" 
" The big mistake GM made with its car line diesels was to assume their block was strong enough for the extra stresses of burning diesel.  They weren't.

they actually covered that pretty well.  olds, buick, and pontiac
always used high strength iron in their blocks like amc, and the olds
and poncho smallblocks were low-deck bigblocks.  olds actually shrank
their 455 down to 350 to make the diesel, with correspondingly thick
cylinder walls for a start.  they also filled in many places where the
455 block was webbed, like around the main journals.  the diesel block
weighed substantially more than a 455 block.  but in a dozen other
ways the design wasn't up to it, not least in manufacturing precision.
decks have to be squarer to the crank than a gas engine and flatter.
bores have to be squarer and rounder [if that makes sense].  and so
on.  race engines are built this way but no manufacturer wastes
resources doing this on production gas engines.

it's possible the 5.7 was a stopgap while they designed and tooled up
for the 6.2/6.5.  it might have been better if they'd waited.

" AMC V8's were always overbuilt and orders of magnitude stronger in many areas than the Big Three smallblocks, but even so I doubt they are built strong enough for diesel.

i agree.

data point: the gm 6.2/6.5 was designed to fit within the same
'envelope' as the chevy 350 and 454; width/height/length generally,
and also motor mounts, bellhousing pattern, and water outlet
placement.  but it still weighs over 100 lbs more than a bbc, and at
that it's a lightweight in its class, not used afaik in anything
bigger than a 1-ton.  427s could once be found in 5-ton dumps, the
powerstroke is rated for 33000 lbs gvw and the cummins 66000 lbs [and
the 12v version was warranteed for 500000 mi between overhauls].
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought
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