Quote:
Originally Posted by rggale
305, 4-speed. I don't know why they don't just call it a 3 speed with House Mover Mode.  |
That creeper low gear comes in handy when you use a truck for work. Makes a little engine do BIG things. And with a torque monster like that 305 you get a superiority complex.
Before Dad got the '60 Chevy he had a '56 F-350 pickup, 9 ft stepside box, 272 V-8 and a 4-speed, probably a Borg-Warner. Neighbor's would go to the feed mill and get 500 pounds of feed in their 6-cylinder Chevys. DAD would load 5000 pounds of ground feed in the auger wagon behind the F-350, then pull ahead and toss 500 pounds sacked feed in the truck, then head out of town and pass the neighbor's. Using the V-8 that hard normally sent the engine into vapor-lock. FORD ran a cross over exh. pipe from left side to right side exhaust manifold just a small fraction of an inch from the gas line, close to upper radiator hose, and maybe 2-3 inches from the carb. Today we would have put headers on that truck, kept the heat away from carb and gas line. But it was fun before the engine died and had to cool off.
Had the exact same problem with a 292 Y-block in a '58 or '59 F-750 a few years later. Same cross over pipe. Hot summer days and loading to 35,000-36,000# didn't mix. I used that low gear frequently.
That's one thing GMC did right that no other gas truck engine company did, they kept heat away from heat sensitive things like the distributor, carb, fuel lines, plug wires.