Question for my US friends!

[StefanOnHisS10]

Digging into the collective knowledge here,

I am looking for some answers about a car i am looking into. Preferably answers from people who have actually owned or used one of these.

I am looking for a good advertisement car for my business and same time getting pleasure using it around town.
So came across this one owner 89K mile '78 Chevy 454 dually with Washington plates. Rust free, garage kept.

I would like to know what a real world fuel consumption would be.

And there is a line in the add that says "Runs and drives like new as you can see in the test drive video has the original 454 V8 engine automatic transmission with a turbo 400".
I know the engine and transmission bit but what is the Turbo 400 part?

In my possession it would get only light use and 99.99% without load or trailer. Any other things i should be looking at before purchasing?

Thanks in advance!
Stefan

 

[cyclemike4]

Digging into the collective knowledge here,

I am looking for some answers about a car i am looking into. Preferably answers from people who have actually owned or used one of these.

I am looking for a good advertisement car for my business and same time getting pleasure using it around town.
So came across this one owner 89K mile '78 Chevy 454 dually with Washington plates. Rust free, garage kept.

I would like to know what a real world fuel consumption would be.

And there is a line in the add that says "Runs and drives like new as you can see in the test drive video has the original 454 V8 engine automatic transmission with a turbo 400".
I know the engine and transmission bit but what is the Turbo 400 part?

In my possession it would get only light use and 99.99% without load or trailer. Any other things i should be looking at before purchasing?

Thanks in advance!
Stefan

View attachment 116611

I have never owned one myself but i have known many who have owned them. the 454 of that year is no powerhouse. It will not out pull or our run much. It is still a very strong motor with some grunt to it. they are rock solid and good motors as well. the Turbo 400 is just the name of the transmission. Not sure where that name came from but it is bigger and heavier than the turbo 350s that were in the half ton trucks. there are two turbo style transmissions. one is what is called american and the other is metric. If it has the american that is the better one. you can tell by looking at the oil pan on it but it has been so long I can't tell you what to look at to tell. As far as gas mileage goes if everything is right and you dive it easy don't expect much more than 12 miles to the gallon. I could get that and sometimes a little more out of them but i drove them easy. The boys who owed them only got between 8 to 10 miles to the gallon. They drove them pretty hard and worked them hard. pulling a heavy goose neck trailer about 6 to 7 miles per gallon was it for mileage.

 

[cyclemike4]

Oh i forgot to mention that is a great looking truck for the age. I like it!

 

[Checkswrecks]

Had a couple that were not dually rear ends. A truck like that in Europe would be pretty rare and imported for a purpose which the mirrors give away. Somebody was using it as a tow vehicle so you might look into what they were towing. A large camping versus heavy trailers with construction equipment. My guess is camping trailer for a number of reasons. The engine and transmission were solid. That's about when ignitions went from points and condenser to electronic.

Looks great but driving it in the EU with the dually rear would not be much fun on narrow roads in town and even country roads. It has the turning radius of an ocean liner.

 

[Tenforeplay]

I would look at the undercarriage, that would tell you more about the truck. I would want clean and rust free. If it is carbureted you don’t want to put ethanol gas in it unless you treat it, ethanol will destroy the carburetor. All parts should be easy to find.

 

[Sierra1]

That truck, in that condition, would be rare over here, never mind over there. It's obviously been taken care of but automatic transmissions do wear out, especially of that age. I echo everything that's been said about it. STA-BIL 360 advertises that it prevents ethanol damage, and I use it in my TW that's still carbed. Starts easy every time. I wouldn't want to drive it around some of the road that members have posted. That thing will take up the whole lane.

 

[Wymbly1971]

Nice truck and a pretty rare find being in such good condition and low mileage. These were very simple, reliable and easy to keep trucks and nothing much goes wrong with them. Being a bigger truck it probably has dual tanks and that system can be a bit unreliable and hard to get parts for. Most ended up using only one tank. The body sounds good which was one of their weak points. Fit and finish was pretty crappy right from the factory, so don't be surprised if the fenders, hood don't quite line up. door seal leak, etc.

For occasional use the fuel mileage probably won't hurt your feelings much. They can be real pigs on gas especially with the automatic. Expect 10mpg on a good day.

The "Turbo 400" trans is the biggest and strongest of the GM TurboHydomatic 3-speed automatic line used in the 70's and 80's. The 400 was used in GM's biggest cars (Cadillac Fleetwood, Buick Electra) and heavier duty trucks. It's easily identified by it's weird, non-symmetrical oil pan and lack of mechanical kickdown (it's electric kickdown). The more recent 4L80 4-speed is based on the Turbo 400.

 

[SkunkWorks]

As already stated, the Turbo400 is describing the Transmission.
It is actually named "Turbo Hydramatic 400", but most people shorten it to just Turbo-400.
It is one of the strongest Transmissions that GM produced.
It was used in everything from Muscle-Cars and big Luxury-Cars, to HD Trucks and Vans, and even exported for use in Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, and even Ferrari cars of the era..........................Yes, you read that correctly.
It is a 3-speed Transmission, with no overdrive. Most, if not all of them came with a 1:1 ratio top-gear so don't expect very good fuel mileage from this HD-Truck.

I had the Pontiac version in a Firebird Formula-400 that I used to own. Very stout Transmission.

edit: Wymbly1971 was posting the exact same time I was, and just beat me to the thread.......

 

[StefanOnHisS10]

Thanks you guys. Good information so far, none of my vehicles run on fuel with ethanol in it. Have had too many problems with that. What octane fuel does it prefer, or better do you know the compression ratio? Around 10MPG would translate to 1 liter for every 4km, a liter of 98RON (91AKI in US or premium) costs around €2.30 here so she is costly.

Good to know the engine and gearbox (great info!!) are solid, I’ve seen pictures of the undercarriage and that is solid too. Tomorrow I’ll go and see it in person. Found a video of the US auction on YouTube and at that time there was a canopy (is that the right word?) on it. I guess it didn’t do hard labor, looked more like camping style. Picture below, what do you think? That would explain the low mileage.

 

[Tenforeplay]

Nice looking truck. I'd guess more like 8 mpg, avg. 87 octane should suffice for that vintage.

 

[magic]

As others have stated, the Turbo 400 is a solid transmission. This truck would have a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor and GM's High Energy Electronic ignition, HEI. The HEI had some issues back then with the rotor burning off the tip and also burning the contacts inside the distributor cap, Also lots of problems with the coil which was built into the distributor cap. Really pretty easy to fix, if you can locate the parts. Same for the carburetor, nothing serious but locating parts and someone who knows something about carburetors may be a challenge. Maybe a race car shop? Other than that it kind of depends on how much it costs and the gas mileage will make you cry especially if you are towing.

 

[EricV]

1981 was the last year for 454 engines running on regular octane grade gasoline, (lowest level of octane at the pump). Many of these had 40 gallon fuel tanks, for a reason. 8 mpg all day, towing a house, coasting down hill, just the same. 10+ is overly optimistic.

My Father owned an '81 3/4 ton Chev Suburban for nearly 20 years. He finally sold it after going to fill it up and handing the guy a $100 dollar bill, and it wasn't enough.

 

[SkunkWorks]

1978 vintage Chevy 454 engine is considered a "Low Compression" engine (probably somewhere around 8:1 ?)
Regular grade petrol will be just fine, and the engine will probably run on anything you would put in there........
They weren't rated very much horsepower during that era, but they make a decent amount of torque!

 

[StefanOnHisS10]

1978 vintage Chevy 454 engine is considered a "Low Compression" engine (probably somewhere around 8:1 ?)
Regular grade petrol will be just fine, and the engine will probably run on anything you would put in there........
They weren't rated very much horsepower during that era, but they make a decent amount of torque!

Thanks

 

[Sierra1]

A tad bit of information on the '78 Chevrolet.

454 CID V8

Optional for: C10 Big Ten C20

LF8

240 hp @ 3,800 RPM

370 lb-ft @ 2,800 RPM

C20	K10	K20
GVWR			6,400-8,200 pounds
Drivetrain			RWD
Axle Ratio			4.10:1
Front Brakes			12.5" Rotor
Rear Brakes			11.15" x 2.75" Drum Brakes

 

[mybackhurts]

Digging into the collective knowledge here,

I am looking for some answers about a car i am looking into. Preferably answers from people who have actually owned or used one of these.

I am looking for a good advertisement car for my business and same time getting pleasure using it around town.
So came across this one owner 89K mile '78 Chevy 454 dually with Washington plates. Rust free, garage kept.

I would like to know what a real world fuel consumption would be.

And there is a line in the add that says "Runs and drives like new as you can see in the test drive video has the original 454 V8 engine automatic transmission with a turbo 400".
I know the engine and transmission bit but what is the Turbo 400 part?

In my possession it would get only light use and 99.99% without load or trailer. Any other things i should be looking at before purchasing?

Thanks in advance!
Stefan

View attachment 116611

Oh fuck. My weiner. I can only get so hard.

 

[mybackhurts]

Digging into the collective knowledge here,

I am looking for some answers about a car i am looking into. Preferably answers from people who have actually owned or used one of these.

I am looking for a good advertisement car for my business and same time getting pleasure using it around town.
So came across this one owner 89K mile '78 Chevy 454 dually with Washington plates. Rust free, garage kept.

I would like to know what a real world fuel consumption would be.

And there is a line in the add that says "Runs and drives like new as you can see in the test drive video has the original 454 V8 engine automatic transmission with a turbo 400".
I know the engine and transmission bit but what is the Turbo 400 part?

In my possession it would get only light use and 99.99% without load or trailer. Any other things i should be looking at before purchasing?

Thanks in advance!
Stefan

View attachment 116611

Turbo 400 is the trans, and I think it's a decent one. You should look into Vice Grip Garage on youtube. He can help.

You may want to look into a 4l80e conversion but it may be splitting hairs.

Overview of the GM TH400 Transmission – Gearstar

www.google.com

 

[Sierra1]

. . . .You may want to look into a 4l80e conversion but it may be splitting hairs. . . .

Yes, it is the better transmission. But the juice probably ain't worth the squeeze. Cost and availability and all. On the other hand, there's a '78 dually one-ton with WA plates in the Netherlands.

 

[mybackhurts]

Yes, it is the better transmission. But the juice probably ain't worth the squeeze. Cost and availability and all. On the other hand, there's a '78 dually one-ton with WA plates in the Netherlands.

Yeah I get that. He might have the pockets.

Love Euro builds. Like to see how they adapt.

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . Any other things i should be looking at before purchasing? . . . .

We've all been talking about the powertrain, and we haven't mentioned the suspension. Body mounts, ball joints, sway bar links, etc. Look for cracked rubber and leaks. But there's a good chance that on a 46 yr old truck, the suspension has already been addressed; at least once. Oh, and that shell that was on the back looks like a work shell more than a camper shell. Regardless, over there, that truck is going to get a lot of attention. Here in TX? "Nice truck".