Posted by Galen on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 at 4:30PM :
In Reply to: 230 engine rebuilder posted by Marty on Tuesday, December 04, 2001 at 2:50PM :
I guess if you want the performance of a "modern" truck such as a Dodge Ram, you might as well forget the old PW. Lets face it its and antique, Yes, it will pull through the bush and up a mountain but NO, its not and never was designed for what is demanded on today's highways. And the problem goes well beyond just the engine displacement. Its rather simplistic to believe that boring out the engine, modifying the cam, adding headers, and caburators will get you what you want. The integral design of the origninal machine from its brakes to the LACK of safety equipment such as duel curcuit brakes, deficient braking surface area, non collapsing stearing collumn, no seat belts metal dash, high center of gravity, non performance front leaf spring suspension and so forth make the old PW a poor candidate for daily/highway use. So why put a big motor in it that will only eat up your gearbox? And it ultimately ruins its intrinsic value. Its like putting a 440CI in a model A. Now if you want to just put the PW cab and bed on a modern chassis thats another ball game. I guess I'm kinda tired of hearing people in this forum who have this fantasy truck in their heads. My recommedation is keep the old girl in the garage and take it off road and have fun but also spend the money for a daily driver. You'll be happy you did when its 11p.m. in january and you don't have to worry about your 6 volt battery turning over the engine when you need to go somewhare in an emergency.
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