Well, the 1978 Chevy truck with a short bed, 3 on the column and an inline 6 is now mine. It was my grand fathers and now I get to restore it. Fun fun.

So, I'm guessing it has a 250 ci (4.1 liter) 6 right? I know a guy here that loves to build custom turbo applications so I was thinking about building the 6 and putting a HUGE turbo on it....or build a HUGE rat (496 at least).

I still plan to buy/build a 1st gen Camaro, but this will be fun for now....Plus I need a truck to pull my Camaro/trailer.

Thanks for the input!

 

My dad has a '77 with the 250 and it is a great engine. Personally, I think the BB would probably be easier, but the turbo I6 would be alot more interesting. A friend of mine is working on a '65 Mustang with a turbocharged I6. He currently has an I6 on nitrous, and it is quite cool, too.

 

Does anyone want to guess at the weight of the truck? Does 4200 lbs sound about right? A friend told me I was wasting my time if I built the truck to drag. He said it'd take 540 inches to run 10s (my goal with the truck or a 1st gen Camaro). Is he right?

 

Its likely under 4000lbs. If its a swb 1/2 ton with no power windows etc It should be in the area of 3800-3900lbs. Just do a bigblock. THe inline6 will be too stressed out to tow with. If you do go for an I6 upgrade to a 292ci. You will lose HP but gain a ton of torque. My LWB 70 weighs 4500lbs with heavy duty everything . Going to try to get it around 3800lbs when Im done. Head on over to www.67-72chevytrucks.com The 73-87 board isnt as busy as the 67-72 but it still is a good resource.
CoryM

 

Thanks for the info Cory!

And yeah, I was going to go with a 292 but finding aftermarket parts for that motor is next to impossible, especially if I wanted to run 25 psi into it.

 

You could run 10s with just about anything, but a BB would be much easier. BTW, fast trucks are just cool.

 

Well, I was thrown for a loop when my plans went from saving for a 1st gen Z to restoring an old C-10. I'm getting the truck for free, so I figured why not restore it and put a rat in it....I have the resources to make it fast either way, but I'm leaning towards a BB because you just can't beat the sound of a one....

Cheers

 

If you're going turbo why not look into a V6? Dont think it'll run fast? Look at the heavy GNX. There is a decent aftermarket for them also. If you want something larger than a 3.8L then go 4.6L.

Ya, a BB sounds good but so does a 6 when it's spooling up. The good thing about a 6cyl turbo is you can dial down the boost and get decent milage on pump gas then have a fuel cell w/race gas for when you crank up the boost.

You'd also have the added advantage on competition at car shows with not having a very common engine for a modified truck. If thats your thing. You'd also have a sleeper advantage on the street if you get a relatively quiet turbo.

Just my $.02. Either way, it'll be a cool project. Could have the best of both worlds and turbo the BB.