Motor Swap

[new2cub]

I am wondering if anyone has ever done or heard of someone putting a different engine on a Cub? I have a 2 cylinder Onan diesel that could be a neet swap? I also have a chance to get a 3 cylinder Cummins diesel that is liquid cooled for a cheap price. Also where could I find a tractor for a reasonable price that I could use for this project. It would be nice to find a basket case for this

[Bigdog]

Does this count?

[George Willer]

I just thought I'd throw this in... That tractor started life as a white demonstrator!

[TOOLMAN]

Who owns her?

[George Willer]

Who owns her?

Rick Prentice AKA billyandmillie.

[Tedd Ill]

That is one sweet Cub!!!

The front AG's are a nice touch too.

What kind of engine is that stuffed in there???

[George Willer]

That is one sweet Cub!!!

The front AG's are a nice touch too.

What kind of engine is that stuffed in there???

That's a Mopar V-6. Repowering opens up a LOT of side issues that Rick solved quite well. It's not a project to be taken on by the faint of heart.

In a way I'm hoping Gary Dotson blows up his high revving Cub so he'll get on with the Nissan (I think) diesel repowering.

[Bigdog]

Maybe we just need to get Gary's cub to your place in January George. Then we could "borrow" his engine for research and he can move forward with his re-powering project.

[new2cub]

That looks cool. But I was looking for something a little more practical. The Diesel I am looking at is about 5 more hp. but a little smaller than the stock engine. The other deiesl is air cooled and only 1 hp more. I thought I would find someone that had put a v-twin briggs in or even a more modern 4 cyl car motor. Would the Cub drivetrain hold up to a larger 4 cyl?

[Steve Butram]

George Willer wrote

That tractor started life as a white demonstrator!

Good one George I'm tring not to bust my gut

I'm still waiting to see Gary dotson's CUB -BOTA

Steve

[George Willer]

That looks cool. But I was looking for something a little more practical. The Diesel I am looking at is about 5 more hp. but a little smaller than the stock engine. The other deiesl is air cooled and only 1 hp more. I thought I would find someone that had put a v-twin briggs in or even a more modern 4 cyl car motor. Would the Cub drivetrain hold up to a larger 4 cyl?

More important... How would you support the front end? The radiator? Starter? What RPM is the engine running at max HP?

The drive train is a little fragile but strain is somewhat limited by traction as long as the weight is kept down.

The beauty of Rick's conversion is that it isn't obvious the huge amount of work it took.

[BigBill]

First BigDog that pic is awesome and think about it if a cub was still manufactured today thats probably what it would look like.


I was thinking along the lines of using a Jeep 134f head with the drivetrain(4x4) in a 154 frame or copy one. I have a jeep tractor thats half jeep but one that looks like 100% tractor would be neat too. I was also thinking of using a GM truck 3/4 or 1 ton drivetrain(4x4) to build my next tractor too. A 454 or 350 with a 400TH automatic with a 4,000 stall converter with the special lower first and second gear with diff lockers and ag tires would have enough torque to tear down houses if we added 5:38 gears too. The 1 ton rear with dual wheels is rated for 11,000lbs if you get the right one its a dana 70. We have to get all the goodies so its maxed out in strength. Once we get talking the options are limitless....

I still love the cub and jeep 4 bangers there's just something about them.

[Clem]

I saw that Demonstrator of Rick's today, only I didn't know it was a demonstrator until Rick told me. Rick is a genious, I was impressed with his knowledge of Cubs, physics, and engineering.

[gitractorman]

Rick's v-6 cub is an amazing piece of work. I think that your idea of a diesel engine would be quite a bit easier to do. One of Rick's biggest obstacles to overcome was the exhaust headers and the width of the V engine. Either your Onan or the little Cummins would be really close in size to the C-60 in the Cub , and you would at-least have only one exhaust manifold to deal with, again, similar to the C-60.

Rick built a set of frame rails that bolt to the bellhousing and either bolt or are welded to the radiator support, and form a cradle for the engine. Then he was able to utilize motor mounts similar to the installation of the engine in the car that it was removed from.

The V engine also provided some difficulty in finding a place for the starter, which Rick overcame by mounting the starter on the rear of the tractor, and engaging the PTO to start the engine. On the down side, I believe that he cannot use the PTO for anything else. But this does tell you a little about how strong the driveline and clutch in the cub are.

I believe the drive train in the CUB is more than adequate to handle either engine you are thinking of using. I believe that Rick said the little Chrysler V-6 Dino'd at around 145 hp and he is using the stock transmission. Matter of fact, he can spin the tires in third gear!!

Go for it. Check out the post about the guy in NJ who has a basket case Cub he wants to part out. You might be able to pick that up and even sell the engine and some other parts off of it to offset some of your cost.

Good luck, and if you go for it, take LOTS of pictures. We love Pics!
Bill

[Rick Prentice]

Good one George I'm tring not to bust my gut

.

George is correct it is a white demonstrator. When the cub was won, I was the high bidder on ebay for $611 and I drove it on the trailer. The seller said he was going to part it out, but didn't have the time. Research was done and then I realized the serial number 103xxx(can't remember the last 3 digits right now) was right in the middle range.

I was new to cubs at the time and decided there would not be an ugly white "ODDBALL"cub in my collection

Now, I want one of those beautiful white "ODDBALL" cubs in my collection Amazing what a couple years will do to a guy It's all your fault Doc(videodoc)

Anyways, I left all the traces of white paint under "Harley's" hood for evidence, and I still have all the original parts to put things back to original(engine and steering shaft)

Bill was pretty close on the installation, however, the biggest hurdle was replacing the big tall injection intake and making a whole new aluminum one with a frontdraft "Harley" motorcycle carb.
The v-6 engine had multiple mounting holes down both sides of the block, so a simple steel cradle was made that bolted to the front bolster and the torque tube new adapter and the engine sets in that.
I plan to have the hood lift up by Cubfest 07 plus I need to adjust the carb for Cubtug 07

I thought about giving "Harley" a big brother with this big block Chevy , but I had multple tongue lashings from people with "Harley" telling me I totally destroyed that Cub

I'm trying to remember MR GW's reply, when people ask him why he ever made a tricycle cub. It was something like " Just because I wanted too, no logical reason

Thanks,
Rick