Mid-70's F-600?

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In the late 70's, after graduating from high school, I worked some summers for a local paving company in Virginia. During this time, I sometimes drove a fuel truck that was on an F-600 chassis. They also had some light dump trucks on the F-600 chassis. IIRC, these were 5-speed with a 2-speed rear end. Normally we would start off in second.

What engine would these trucks have had?

Also, I sometimes drove a GMC oil truck, or "distributor" that sprayed oil on the road surface when we did surface treatment. This one carried approx. 2000 gallons of oil (that's what they called it, I think it was some sort of bituminous substance). IIRC it was a 4 speed/2 speed combination. This truck had a V-6 and was probably the slowest-accelerating vehicle I've ever driven. Any idea which V-6 it would have used?
 
Gas would be a 361 or 391 FT...basically, an extreme-duty FE motor. I drove an F-800 with a 2bbl 361. Painfully slow is the word!

GMC V6 could be 305, 351, 401, or 478ci.
 
GMC V6's



305[edit]


The 305-cubic-inch (5.0 L) 305 had a 4.25 in (108 mm) bore and 3.58 in stroke (90.9 mm). The 305 V6 was the standard pickup truck engine for GMC from 1960 to 1966, and was one of the first V6 engines produced by an American company. Rated at 220 ft.lb. of torque and 120 horsepower.

351[edit]
The 351-cubic-inch (5.8 L) 351 had a 4.56 in (116 mm) bore and 3.58 in stroke (90.9 mm). It was basically an enlarged 305. In 1972, the 351 was replaced by a 379.

379[edit]
The 379-cubic-inch (6.2 L) 379 had a 4.562 in (115.9 mm) bore and 3.86 in stroke (98 mm).

401[edit]
The engine was further enlarged for the 401-cubic-inch (6.6 L) 401.It has a 4.87 in (124 mm) bore and 3.58 in stroke (90.9 mm). This was a 351 with the 478 crankshaft. Produced in '73 and '74 only.

432[edit]
In late production there was also a 432-cubic-inch (7.1 L) version with enlarged crankshaft journals (bore 4.875", stroke 3.859").

478[edit]
The 477.7-cubic-inch (7,828 cc) 478 was one of the largest V6 engines ever built. Gross output was 235 hp (175 kW) at 3200 rpm and 440 lb·ft (597 Nm) at 1400 rpm. Bore was 5.125 in (130.2 mm) and stroke was 3.86 in (98 mm). It was introduced in 1963 in the 6500 series trucks.

It was superseded by the 1966 478M "Magnum" series, and production ended by 1974. Gross output was now 254 hp (189 kW) at 3700 rpm and 442 lb·ft (599 Nm) at 1400 rpm.
 
On the fords I think the fe/ft went away in 75-76...replaced by the 370/429 which is the hd version of a 460....in the real big trucks there was a 477/534 although I have never seen one in person..the 370/429 was super common in the medium duty stuff until fairly recently then the v-10 mod motor showed up.
 
I had that 305 V6 in a pickup. Took it for smog testing once and the guy doing it yelled at me because he thought it was a diesel since he couldn't find the spark plugs. He was pretty embarrassed when I showed him they were. It was a slow motor even in a 3/4 ton truck.
 
In my youth I drove a grain truck with a 305. It had 4 and 2 iirc. I was 11 years old. The clutch was so heavy I needed both legs to completely disengage it so my uncle had to increase the idle speed so I didn't have to feather the throttle to get the truck moving.
Fully loaded that truck couldn't get out of its own way. But man could it pull.
I remember hauling loads to the elevator (when they were still in operation) and the guy thought there was no driver because I could barely see over the steering wheel.
I learned to drive a stick in that truck. It could pull a full load of grain,and a tractor on a trailer,albeit not very fast,but at 11 years old how fast did I need to go.
 
I had about 32,000lbs on that F-800 once...Grand Marquis over the cab, two Vics on the deck, and a 15-pas Dodge van on the stinger. It pulled it...but wow, was that painful on hills. A 6% grade meant about 15MPH, pedal pinned in second gear.

Top end (empty) was 67MPH at ~3200RPM. (It had 10.00-20 tires and I think 5.57 axle gears.)
 
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