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steelsoldiers · 03-28-2002, 07:32 PM

Hi Guys,
Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm going to go for it. As for the engine being too close to the firewall, I got two things working for me. 1) The Caddy distributor is on the front of the engine. 2) The adapter to mount the 500 on my TH400 is 5/16" steel so that should help scoot it up a little bit. We'll find out soon enough. Another question is about the fuel system. My plan is to use the stock tank and fuel lines. I have an intake and a return line. I believe they are the same size as a gasser truck. The fuel pump will be replaced with one meant for gasoline. My main concern is the tank. It's a 27 gallon unit and it has a thick skid plate under it. Will I be OK just taking the tank out and flushing it out (or having a radiator shop flush it)? Anybody out there converted a diesel to a gasser and kept the tank? Any thoughts will be appreciated. The diesel radiator should be more than enough to cool the Caddy. Plus, it has a built in tranny cooler and a oil cooler. The wiring won't have to modified too much. I'll be able to disconnect all of the glow plug harness and just run a wire to the coil and to the starter. One other question I have is what to do about the brakes. The truck has the Hydroboost system on it right now. It has had some problems, but generally works pretty good. Since I'll now have a source of engine vacuum, I could convert over to vacuum boost. Or, I could try to bolt up my Hydroboost pump to the Caddy. They should be almost identical. Hmmmmm. Well, I'm off in search of a beater '70-76 Caddy Eldorado for my engine. I'll keep y'all posted.
Sincerely,
Chris

03-28-2002, 07:32 PM	#11
steelsoldiers Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 79	Hi Guys, Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm going to go for it. As for the engine being too close to the firewall, I got two things working for me. 1) The Caddy distributor is on the front of the engine. 2) The adapter to mount the 500 on my TH400 is 5/16" steel so that should help scoot it up a little bit. We'll find out soon enough. Another question is about the fuel system. My plan is to use the stock tank and fuel lines. I have an intake and a return line. I believe they are the same size as a gasser truck. The fuel pump will be replaced with one meant for gasoline. My main concern is the tank. It's a 27 gallon unit and it has a thick skid plate under it. Will I be OK just taking the tank out and flushing it out (or having a radiator shop flush it)? Anybody out there converted a diesel to a gasser and kept the tank? Any thoughts will be appreciated. The diesel radiator should be more than enough to cool the Caddy. Plus, it has a built in tranny cooler and a oil cooler. The wiring won't have to modified too much. I'll be able to disconnect all of the glow plug harness and just run a wire to the coil and to the starter. One other question I have is what to do about the brakes. The truck has the Hydroboost system on it right now. It has had some problems, but generally works pretty good. Since I'll now have a source of engine vacuum, I could convert over to vacuum boost. Or, I could try to bolt up my Hydroboost pump to the Caddy. They should be almost identical. Hmmmmm. Well, I'm off in search of a beater '70-76 Caddy Eldorado for my engine. I'll keep y'all posted. Sincerely, Chris __________________ webmaster, www.steelsoldiers.com 1984 M1009 CUCV Military Blazer w/ Caddy 500 big-block and a 1970 M35A2 2.5-ton 6x6 cargo truck w/ 478ci multi-fuel straight-six engine. Both in desert tan CARC paint from Operation Desert Storm.