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Hey - I resemble that remark! LOL Actually guys, I don't think it is that unrealistic at all. Putting a 6.5 or 7 litre Chev V8 diesel into a Nissan Patrol or Toyota Landcruiser 4WD is a pretty common conversion here, so finding the conversion kit to suit the 5 speed or auto gearboxes and drive trains from these cars would be pretty easy and they are pretty heavy duty so there's no need to worry about that - check out 'Marks Adaptors'http://www.marks4wd.com/products/engine-trans-conversions/toyota/landcruiser/lc-FJ80CHEVV8diesel.html who are based in Melbourne as they may have something 'off the shelf'.

A V12 in a Chevy is one thing but the builder of that car also put a V12 Merlin into a Packard chassis - the Warman Special.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AMJJjeqX1o

This is one seriously nice piece of work - but then Ray's like that (and a nice bloke as well).

No offense intended Snapey.

The 6.5 or 7 litre Chev V8 diesel engines you mentioned have already been used in light truck applications, I believe, unlike the 2-cycle blown "Detroit Diesel" engines, (sometimes known as the "Jimmy" from the days that GMC owned them), which were specifically built for heavy trucks, heavy equipment, and I believe some marine applications such as tugs. They are built all the way up to V24 ("24V" in their nomenclature) configurations for applications like diesel-electric mining dump trucks.

Thanks for the update on the V12 king of Australia. I just wish he had used a "real" Packard-built Merlin in the Packard project. But finding these aircraft engines must be quite a chore to start out with, so give Ray his due. He appeared in a clip about the Chevy with an automotive reporter, and he did seem like a decent sort.

Thanks for the links.

Here's one for the Merlin Powered '55 Chevy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIj2GVfua84&feature=related

Yes, I think that using one of the GM diesels would be a completely different matter - although I didn't think that this was the original intention. When I was younger we lived near a fishing harbour on the NSW north coast in a town called Ballina and the biggest fishing trawlers used the 2 stroke supercharged GM diesels which always came with the most impressive noise. They were always my favorite and I used to ride my bike down to the harbour of a morning before school and help the fishermen unload their catch (and would be given a bag of prawns, a couple of crabs or some fish for my efforts). Great and tasty memories that are closely linked to thunderous, bellowing diesel engines.

But if we were to be depressingly realistic for a second - a modern V8 diesel in and older Packard chassis would not be that big a task. My father (who has been putting far too much horse power into small chassis for many years with great success) saw the '34 senior chassis that I am working on for the first time today... he thinks it would do a 10 ton truck proud and that it needs a V12 aircraft engine in it just to make it look 'to scale'. This said, I don't think that a 7L V8 is a big ask - especially not when you could buy conversion parts off the shelf.

Sorry - did I just make this seem all too 'doable'?

Yes, Snapey, when something is "doable" then you have to start questioning whether it's impressive enough. If it's really, really unreasonable, you're close, but only when it appears impossible is it truly worth doing.

We had a 4-Cylinder Detroit Diesel (OK to call it GMC, but it's bad manners to call it "GM") in a huge tilling machine, made by Seaman Corp. It could go through rough ground and leave behind 12 inches of soft, pulverized soil. Used to do custom tilling with it for farmers. Many times they followed directly behind planting corn in what had previously been rough pasture! It would chew up small trees for making woods roads, as well. Cut at least a 10 ft swath.

Anyway, the tiller being old and worn out but the Detroit Diesel being plenty limber, my dad transplanted it into the frame of a Walters "Snow Fighter" chassis. These things had torque sensing differentials (long before "Tor-Sen" was around) AND a torque sensing transfer case. 100% torque would go to any wheel that had traction. Dad thought it would make a swell stump puller, but the beauty part was just driving it around. Fast and nimble (power steering). LOUD. Imagine a "Road Warrior" car on steroids. I should get a pic of the thing posted somewhere. It's an awesome sight. It was always just called "The Thing."

The project was undoubtedly something that Dad dreamed up over a period of time. I think it was on his "bucket list." He had experience with a Walters Snow Fighter he owned himself years before, plowing on an as-needed basis for the county, city, and sometimes even the state plows when they had drifts that their equipment couldn't get through.

Anyway, he did the whole conversion himself in the last years he was able to do that kind of work.

It seems to me we should all have something like that-- our "last hurrah" vehicle.

Have to agree with that - although timing it correctly would be an equally impressive accomplishment...

As to the (OK) 'GMC' diesels - how about using a TS3 'Commer Knocker' motor instead? 2 stroke supercharged, they were used in lighter trucks and are even the correct vintage...?

Of course since Packard developed a diesel aircraft motor and diesels ran at Indy, this is not (IMHO) as rude a concept as some might think.

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Please do! This sounds amazing. I love the combinations of machinery people come up with! I've decided that pretty much anything with an internal combustion motor makes me happy.

A good friend of my father built and sold a number of lawn mowers - doesn't sound so impressive I know, but these were based on a VW Beetle floor pan and the motor drove a 5' diameter blade! He was able to mow his lawn at 40mph and could cut down trees with the thing!

With a platform built on top to act as a carry tray they were popular with small hobby farmers that didn't want to spend the money on a tractor and just needed to slash the horse paddock occasionally and carry a few bales of hay. Our friend got sick of building them after a while - once he had perfected the design it got boring...

Great story Snapey. I hope you have better luck finding pics of one of those mowers than I have so far with "The "Thing." It has been captured in stills, and perhaps even video, but I think my brother has all the stuff. It's like pulling teeth to get anything out of him, but I'll try.

40 mph lawnmower, eh? If he used it at home, I hope he had a big lawn, or an understanding mate who wouldn't get too attached to lawn ornaments.

In the old days we had a very lame imitation of this kind of unit, which was a "brush mower" mounted on the front of an Allis Chalmers tractor (a "C" I think). It ran off an hydraulic motor and had a blade a few feet wide, with individual teeth set around the diameter of a solid disk. I reckon that was your friend's setup as well. A two-edged sing blade 5 feet wide would tend to have some negative aerodynamic qualities...

This is a great thread! The more Crazy Ideas the merrier.

------but these were based on a VW Beetle floor pan and the motor drove a 5' diameter blade! He was able to mow his lawn at 40mph and could cut down trees with the thing!

Well, now we know where Tim Allen's show got all their ideas for the souped up lawnmower races he was always having with Bob Vila. Hopefully your fathers friend had his go forward upon command instead of reverse like Allen's always seemed to.

Just looking for some more crazy ideas... especially ones that have been turned into reality and actually worked-- or didn't work in a spectacular way.

Unfortunately, I can only offer the following ideas as "what-ifs."

1. What if one were to replace the road tube on a vintage engine with a hose plumbed into the air cleaner housing for instant PVC? Would there need to be further modification or a PVC valve to make this seat-of-the-pants pollution control work? Not just thinking of the pollution here, but the advantages of alleviating fumes at idle, and adding the benefits of an oil fog through the engine intake?

Has anyone ever tried to install catalytic converters on vintage car exhausts? Would it require a leaner mixture, different timing/distributor curves to prevent overloading the converters, or perhaps multiple converters (with the "pre-converter" setup used on some modern cars). Or would it just require slappin' a couple in and seein' if they worked? I've also considered whether straight pipes (no mufflers) and catalytic converters would result in a cool rumble or just be too loud (in other words, how much sound control do catalytic converters contribute)?

In the semi-practical realm, converters need heat shields, especially if they run under the floors of the passenger compartment. On the Senior '55 and '56 V8 Packards, one could get rid of the resonators and have a convenient spot for converters of similar size and shape. Some heat shielding would still be needed, but transfer of any heat into the passenger compartment would be eliminated.

I've often considered making these two mods workable on a pre-pollution control car. Partly just to do it, and partly to feel piously ultra-responsible with my toys. So I can brag and preen and bask in compliments, you know.

It seems like both ideas, done with little or no forethoughtt (remember these are crazy ideas and most fun when they are done in haste) could result in some really neat explosions and/or asphyxiations.