Dodge Perkins

[larryj]

Seen on the net something about 1963 dodge had a option fo a 354 perkins Diesel engine in the D300 ,W300 I think this is a one ton truck.

this is NOT the D400 D500 or larger.

Any one have any Info on this diesel option.

 

[HBarlow]

Check the archives at allpar.com. If it was actually offered their files should have info on it.

 

[DJW]

About 1964 International in the USA used Perkins an English diesel in their van trucks not sure of tonnage, the usual large mainly local delivery say 18 feet long. Driver said it got 19 miles per gallon, of course no smog concerns in those days. On a welding job used a welder with a Perkins diesel seemed to be an old unit. In Britain a company I worked for had a Reo Speed Wagon (chrome and all) when the engine needed replacing replaced with a Perkins. Believe Perkins was like Continental in the USA just built engines for others and or replacement. That Reo also included another name sure looked a twin to an International. Diesel engined trucks and busses popular in Britain in the 1930s.

 

[DennyDay]

Dodge did offer a Perkins diesel in 1/2 ton pickup trucks in the early '60's Not much power, no turbo, but great mileage. It was also offered in Jeeps (CJ5 & CJ6). The Jeep Cherokee offered a French made Diesel for several yeard in the Cherokee in the mid '70's



Denny

 

[JLEONARD]

I had a 1978 T6. 354 (turbocharged) in a 34 ft boat rated at 160 hp at 2400 rpm. The natural version was rated at 130. I also worked on many in boats.

They all smoke like crazy until they hit 140 F then they clear up. that was partially due to the sea water cooled intercooler. Lots of iron as you would expect in a 1950's era design. They ran ok as long as you kept them limited to about 2200 rpm except for short bursts. Perkins made all the external marine addons out of cast iron and that took out a lot of their engines. salt water and cast iron don't get along very well in the long term.

I read that the knock on them in a vehicle was they couldn't take the high rpm and hold tegether.

Good engine in a tractor/loader when kept at 2000 rpm max.

And by the way you can juice them up via some easy pump adjustments.