Is it possible to drop a Detroit Diesel V-12
in a 1st Gen Chevy Monte Carlo?
http://image.hotrod.com/f/2004powertour/8728904+w799+h499+cr1+ar0/113_04_33az%2B1970_chevrolet_monte_carlo_coupe%2Bfront_hood_left_side.jpg
Somebody already put in a Cummins turbodiesel in one.
I assume the Cummins engine in the video is out of a Dodge pickup truck and so, while I’m sure it took some doing, it’s at least an engine designed to go in something roughly car-sized. That V12 looks a lot bigger (industrial? semi-truck?) and while anything is possible given sufficient applications of time and money, it’s going to be a bit more of a project.
LOL, no way. That’s a 12V-71. It weighs as much as the car. 3500 lbs dry, give or take:
Plus, it’s a two-stroke so it’ll be incredibly noisy and dirty. if you want a diesel in an old Chevy car, drop in a 6.2 from the older C/K-series pickups. the 6.2/6.5 will fit anywhere a big-block Chevy V8 will, and in many places were a small-block would.
this guy put a turbo 6.5 in a Nova:
Of course it would be ridiculous, but awesome!
I figured, the 60 deg. v12 is narrow enough, and the engine bay is ENORMOUS.
The general problems with diesel swaps are weight (as mentioned) and block height. Most big truck engines are incredibly heavy and far too tall to both fit under the transmission tunnel and not drag on the ground.
Anything’s possible with enough willpower and money, though.
you’d more or less be better off shortening a truck frame (yes, there were over-the-road trucks which had 12V-71s, but they weren’t common) and mounting the Monte Carlo body on that.
http://hankstruckforum.com/htforum/index.php?topic=23239.0I’m not knowledgeable enough to answer the question, but I just wanted to chime in that I saw a guy at a car show a few years back who’d put a diesel of some kind in a second generation Monte Carlo. Damn it was noisy. And just weird to hear that sound coming out of that car. The guy said it had plenty of oomph, though!
Here’s the physical dimensions of the DD V12
http://www.detroitdieselpartsdirect.com/Documents/detroit-diesel-specs/12V71-Power-Unit.pdf
I’m still looking for the dimensions of a Monte Carlo.
How about a Suburban or a Silverado 3500?
too long. The most I’ve seen stuffed into a Chevy/GMC (besides the Cummins 6BT which people put into everything) has been a 4-53 or 6V53; and the 6V53 is already kind of bursting it at the seams.
here’s a 6V53 dropped into an old '70-something F-250. Those trucks had tons of room underhood, and this V6 is a tight fit.
Holy cow Enola Straight! The engine you picked is over 7 feet long! And over five feet tall! It won’t fit under the hood of any normal passenger car or truck. You could install it on a big rig chassis and then build the body of your choice over it. It will never be a sleeper. I don’t want to discourage your dream but this seems…ambitious.
If you’re doing it to make an ultimate ‘muscle’ car then you’re going to have to also install an appropriately heavy-duty transmission, driveshaft, differential and rear axle. Diesels generate torque an order of magnitude higher than gasoline engines and an engine that powerful will eventually (and inevitably) destroy the original drive train.
You’d also have to severely beef-up the suspension and brakes if you want it to handle or stop even remotely reasonably.
nitpick: those dimensions are for the entire “power unit” in the linked picture; the engine, fan/radiator, intake and exhaust hardware, output coupler, and frame. if you were building a generator set you’d buy the power unit and hook it to the input of an alternator. the bare engine isn’t quite that long.
only inasmuch as we’re looking at a fairly large diesel engine, at least in comparison to a typical gas engine. On a per-displacement basis, a turbodiesel and turbo gas engine have broadly similar torque outputs; but the gas engine will have significantly more horsepower.