Perkins 540 v8 engine in a 1 ton chevy rat rod pickup????

Went with wife into the Barnes and Noble book store today......looking at the newsstand display and stumbled across a rat rod magazine......some cool stuff in there built completely out of a junk/scrap yard......some very creative minds!!!!
So all being said I had the light bulb turn on in my head...."how cool would an old 30's,40's or 50's 1 ton chevy truck be with a perkins 540 v8 under the hood be!!!"
I have an old 540 out of an 1155 tractor but I don't think it will fit under the hood of a pickup truck. I did some looking and perkins made a configuration of a 540 for fire trucks.....little more compact but they seem very rare to find.
My question is if I decide to go thru w this crazy brainstorm idea I need to find an engine and an old chevy 1 ton truck.....anybody out there know where to find old chevy trucks or automotive 540 v8's??? Thanks

Hi
I got a 510 fire truck motor in my Belarus
puller I turboed , i shipped that tractor over
from the U.k when I moved here.

I had a pair of 540's to. the block was
cracked bad in one, the other was rust seized
so I scrapped them.
i think you need to be in England or Europe
for them in automotive spec. My 510 was in an
English ERF and the 540 was in an English
Dodge Fire truck, the other was in a Ford cab
over truck. There was a few more fords, and
Leylands used them to over there as well.
The blocks and stuff are the same, it will
just be the intake and exhaust manifolds, and
probably oil pans that are different I think.

As you know that motors heavy it's going to
need a pretty heavy frame and suspension and
trans to hold it all together.
I doubt it will be easy to find over here in
North America, and no I'm not selling mine
L.O.L.
Regards Robert

(quoted from post at 06:28:30 01/03/15) Hi
I got a 510 fire truck motor in my Belarus
puller I turboed , i shipped that tractor over
from the U.k when I moved here.

I had a pair of 540's to. the block was
cracked bad in one, the other was rust seized
so I scrapped them.
i think you need to be in England or Europe
for them in automotive spec. My 510 was in an
English ERF and the 540 was in an English
Dodge Fire truck, the other was in a Ford cab
over truck. There was a few more fords, and
Leylands used them to over there as well.
The blocks and stuff are the same, it will
just be the intake and exhaust manifolds, and
probably oil pans that are different I think.

As you know that motors heavy it's going to
need a pretty heavy frame and suspension and
trans to hold it all together.
I doubt it will be easy to find over here in
North America, and no I'm not selling mine
L.O.L.
Regards Robert

Click to expand...

Hi Robert!
I don't blame ya for not wanting to part with yours! Lol
Yeah, I'm aware they are extremely heavy that one reason I figured I'd need at the minimum a 1 ton pickup frame. Even then I will probably have to add more leafs to the springs plus possibly beef up frame to handle the engine.
Yeah, your right.....I've searched online and the engines needed for this application are all overseas!
Those 540's u mentioned scrapping were they automotive spec'd? If so did you by chance keep the intakes,exhaust manifolds and oil pans off them? Would you sell me the components to convert my 540 to automotive style engine?

I've been searching for a cummins 3.9 to put in my
57 chevy big window pickup. Used units cost over 3k
so may as well use my 400 small block. Just can't
figure why they cost so much. Twice the mileage
won't equal 3 times the cost!

Hi
All the ones i had were automotive. Sadly i
don't have any of the other parts like that
left, other than pump and injectors.

When you move country's your kinda limited to
what fits in 2 40ft shipping containers. you
could custom build the manifolds and intakes,
to suit what you need better than originals. I
think there was several different styles of
each.

I'd need to look at mine you might be able to
custom build the pan to, as i think the block
flange is flat and no special shapes in it to
seal other than the flat bottom block flange.
It's a lot of work to build what ever you do
from the things I have built. So manifolds and
stuff wouldn't be much more in the general
scheme really by the time your done .

I come up with the same things to for in the
back of my mind projects, I know parts are out
there in the world, but just not this side of
the pond, and shipping kills it stone dead
these days sadly. Even just between the U.S and
Canada that are joined together!. There are
some of those motors on youtube so you can see
what they are like compared to your tractor
Motor. Some guys are fitting them in Fordson
majors. I might have some pictures of mine or
be able to take some if needed, when it warms
up.
Regards Robert

If you put in a 3.9 in a vehicle, make sure it has the balancer kit in it or it will vibrate like crazy at more than 2200 RPM

If where to do a project like this I'd use 2" x 8" x 3/16" or 1/4" wall tubing for a chassis rather than a stock frame of some sort.

(quoted from post at 17:36:32 01/04/15) If where to do a project like this I'd use 2" x 8" x 3/16" or 1/4" wall tubing for a chassis rather than a stock frame of some sort.

Click to expand...

Well like most things in life this project is more of a pipe dream.....will probably never get off the ground! To much other stuff that's a necessity around the farm needing done!
Another problem as with all projects is cost.....all the deals are gone out there.....everybody has caught on to the whole rat rod thing and trucks/cars that were considered scrap are bringing big bucks now and everybody that has a barnyard full of old vehicles is cashing in!
Another problem is finding the time! As everybody else out there I have to many other irons in the fire! Maybe someday I'll get the opportunity before I die!? Lol

(quoted from post at 18:45:58 01/04/15)

(quoted from post at 17:36:32 01/04/15) If where to do a project like this I'd use 2" x 8" x 3/16" or 1/4" wall tubing for a chassis rather than a stock frame of some sort.

Click to expand...

Well like most things in life this project is more of a pipe dream.....will probably never get off the ground! To much other stuff that's a necessity around the farm needing done!
Another problem as with all projects is cost.....all the deals are gone out there.....everybody has caught on to the whole rat rod thing and trucks/cars that were considered scrap are bringing big bucks now and everybody that has a barnyard full of old vehicles is cashing in!
Another problem is finding the time! As everybody else out there I have to many other irons in the fire! Maybe someday I'll get the opportunity before I die!? Lol

Click to expand...

I know the feeling!!!

I would try rather a Cummins V8 555.
Much cheaper and easy too find.
And they wound up at 2800 rpm, so it is good for a truck!