In reply to mad_machine :
If an Olds 455 won't move it, you need to pack less stuff with you.
Leave the ceramic dishes at home, pack plastic instead.
In reply to mad_machine :
If an Olds 455 won't move it, you need to pack less stuff with you.
Leave the ceramic dishes at home, pack plastic instead.
What's something like that get? 5 MPG with a tailwind?
The 455 moves it just fine.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/jOkMMaQJGqY
I was all set up to buy one of those before I bought SanFord, but the deal fell through.
I don't think I would buy one to cut up either. They are climbing in value. I have seen them sell for upwards of $60k.
In reply to paranoid_android74 :
Through the magic of the interweb I found a pic of it
There's a shop down near Port Charlotte FL with a berkeleyton of these things outside.
Wall-e said:In reply to paranoid_android74 :
Through the magic of the interweb I found a pic of it
would make a good "command" vehicle for a fire company. Give the guys a place to cool down, get in touch with their supervisors and the like.
In reply to AngryCorvair :
He might be gone. There's a few hoarder types like it that have gone away recently.
There are a surprising number of people on this forum who don't appreciate the glory that is the big Olds 455. They are, in my opinion, one of the finest torque monster engines ever built- My 66 Delta 88, with the lowly ultra high compression super rocket V8 425, would make 5600 rpm in top gear...
they were a decent engine, if they are anything like the 429 I drove in a box truck, the trouble is, single digit fuel economy in something that big. In this case a Diesel is a lot better, just do not know if the toranado transmission can handle one
I would think that, given the age of them, if there were problems with the transmission, we would have heard something by now and the interwebs would have blown it completely out of proportion.
Like weak 10-bolt axles, exploding pintos and BMW final drive failures.
Showed it to my wife and one of her friends. The friend said "maybe if you repaint it, it could be ok." My wife looked at her funny, and dead serious said "why would you paint it?"...I love this woman. It's even close. (Un)fortunately we're also not yet in a place to pick up an RV/camper.
On the fuel economy front, apparently it had like a .31 drag coefficient. So even with the old carb'd big block, it still gets about the same fuel economy as similarly sizes modern gas motorhomes... In the "9-11 mpg" range.
Driven5 said:Showed it to my wife and one of her friends. The friend said "maybe if you repaint it, it could be ok." My wife looked at her funny, and dead serious said "why would you paint it?"...I love this woman. It's even close. (Un)fortunately we're also not yet in a place to pick up an RV/camper
I was going to suggest that with a wife like that you could rent her out to some of us. Then I realized there was a possibility for misinterpretation in that statement 
Just needs a knob update to be perfect
If I'm picturing the transaxle right it was pieced together from a Turbo 400, transfer case and a separate front differential. If that's how it's laid out could an overdrive trans be fit in there for more fuel mileage?
In reply to Wall-e :
If you're saying what I think you're saying, I'm thinking hacked in 4wd 4L80e. The the 4L80e is longer than the th400 though as far as I know. So you'd have to move things around, which would be a problem in a car but might work in one of these RVs.
They did offer the Toronado with that ill-fated Diesel V8 and FWD transaxle.
Not that I would wish one of those motors on someone.
That transaxle is a bellhousing attached to a chain drive with a differential mounted to the end of the TH400 case.
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