Posted by Clint Dixon from 63.91.25.202 (qco25.qconline.com) on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 at 10:56AM :
In Reply to: Re: Is that for real? No... posted by Cheyenne Dave from 65.100.92.67 (?) on Tuesday, March 19, 2002 at 9:01AM :
I regularly cruise 55 mph in my '47 WDX "worktruck" with the stock 230 L-head, 9.00x16 tires and 4.89:1 gearing and carrying a load. I did, though, completely rebuild the engine 50,000 miles ago. No fancy stuff. Just .060 over to take the taper out of the bores. I didn't balance the engine, although next time I will do this.
When I picked up my latest girl, a '51 B3PW, from the original owner who had not used it in the past 8 years, I was followed 100 miles through the hilly "coolie" section of Wisconsin by a friend and fellow Power Wagon owner. When we arrived at his place for the night, he asked me, "Why did I feel that I needed to install 4.89s in it?" He said that according to the speedometer in the Cherokee that he was following me with, I was averaging 50 to 55 mph. I was not trying to push the truck to its limits. I was just allowing it to run in that "sweet spot" that you develop a feel for after driving these trucks for over 20 years. The ears and the seat of the pants will tell when a 230 is running easily and smoothly. Now that i have the 4.89s installed in this truck too, I set the governor at 3000RPM and let it do the work when in traffic.
I do not want to talk anyone out of completing a clean professional V-8 installation in their truck. But, the old 230 L-head is capable of pulling the truck along with traffic. It just has to be healthy and in tune. Acceleration does not compare to a V-8 though.
Clint
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