question abbout diesel conversion

[rockinj2000]

i was talking to a buddy about putting a cummins in a 46-68 civilian style truck and he told me you couldn't fit a big enough radiator to keep a cummins cool is this true?

while i was looking for an answer i found this truck i guess it proves my friend wrong...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lNLBbPCxdU

[pieter]

It won't fit w/o body modifications. The firewall will have to be modified for the length of the engine. Most will recommend the 4BT as it will fit nicely in the engine compartment without butchering things up. Also has more then enough power for typical needs.

This truck is Bob Jones with a 6bt in it... Very nice truck.

Pieter

[MoparNorm]

Your friend may have been thinking of the 6BT, the vast majority of Cummins to old Dodge conversions are with the 4BT.
JimmieD, Charles, Cabel, Paul M and several others have converted MANY Cummins engines into Dodge Trucks. I have not heard of any overheating issues.

[Charles Talbert]

Overheating isn't a concern at all. Most of our conversions get an all aluminum custom radiator, however a good condition original radiator will do just fine also.

[JimmieD]

Like the guys said, and for a fact it seems the Cummins diesel needs less radiator than a large V8! They have very large cooling jackets and also on a diesel you don't see but maybe 1/2 the rpms of a gasser engine.

That means that water is continuously moving very slowly through the block, with more time for it to absorb heat. This also means that same hot water takes a very leisurely journey through the radiator core with a longer exposure to cooling effects.

The Cummins 4BT or 4BTA has a ridiculous amount of power & torque available for its small displacement, definitely a WOLF in sheeps clothing!

[Desoto61]

Plus the reason diesels get great mileage is because they are more thermally efficient than a gas engine. So more of the energy of each combustion event is converted to motion, which means less has to be removed from the block as heat.