345 Info

extractors are here too - www.castleauto.com.au . - Cheaper than the ebay ones above.
CH-29 INTERNATIONAL TRUCK. 1610 & A-SERIES 6 CYL. TRI-Y DESIGN 1 3/4" PRIM.$370
CH-43A INTERNATIONAL ACCO C & D SERIES 1710A & 1810A. (Long nose bonnet body) 345-392 V8 TRI-Y DESIGN 1 3/4" PRIM.$550
CH-43 INTERNATIONAL ACCO. 1800 - 510 - 1910 (Cab over ebgine body style) 345-392 V8 TRI-Y DESIGN 1 3/4" PRIM.$550

My AB only has the 240 straight 6. And I do have the Extractors. Unsure what it would have been like without as that is how it came. But I have done many miles with my truck loaded up around 6 ton's. And I have found that couple of things really have affected power.

Octane rating of the fuel. I normally run on normal unleaded unless running full load up hills then I go over to premium. Might only be a couple of octane higher but does make a difference to power on hand.

Put a alternator on instead of the Generator. More Volts and amps means more spark! If the Genny is ok this might not be such an issue but mine was on the way out also!

Get the timing spot on. I still run standard distributor. But I have basically replaced leads, plugs, coill and put a ballast resistor on also. All to ensure good strong spark.

Good carby. The more fuel the more power!!!! Just a thought maybe your gas system isn't big enough to supply enough gas?

But I have found you need to rev to get power with my AB and it certainly not like a diesel as it does not like to lug down low.

Another vote here for the 4bbl carby.
Need everything you can use when ya run gas, as that straight away looses ya some power.
Also get the gas unit reconed, if it's been on a while. maybe even look at a new system, as they are far more efficient than the old ones.

thanks all for the input
apologies for the silence, I'm working evenings so only get on the computer mornings thru to about 1400
Kenny and IhScout, reckon you're onto something I thought when I first looked over this bus that a 6.0 v8 at full noise through a 2 barrel carb just didn't sound right. I've got an old four barrel spreadbore vac sec Holley in the shed, can't remember the part no. now but when I looked it up it turned out to be designed as an OE carby for the old big block Yankee light trucks and delivery vans of the '70s, running on 454s and 460s and the like. I found it on a 308 I bought and ripped it off because it was way too big. It worked, kinda like a 44 gallon drum full of fuel sitting on the inlet manifold with a couple of holes punched in it might work... it'd need a kit by now as it's been dry for years but if I could track down one of these 392 manifolds of which you speak I could see it going straight on. From what I gather the 345 was not known for good flow, this on one end and a set of extractors on the other might help a bit.
Aussiehooker, I was thinking tri-y extractors, on a car these are more of a street design and a good set tend to give you a small improvement right across the range rather than just letting more gas out at full noise like 4 into 1s. I'm not expecting huge power increases out of them but if nothing else they'd have to be some sort of improvement over the stock manifold? Even if only for economies' sake when I'm not crawling up hills! When it comes to economy this thing needs all the help it can get. And it would sound cooler
Yeah Acco, I wish this thing had come with a manual in it, better yet a manual diesel, but it didn't so I'm having to play with what I've got. If I get to the point where I'm taking large bits of it out, I doubt if they'd ever go back in!
I'm really keen on ditching points ignition and playing with the timing. I've heard later model Scouts had leccy ignition distributors; how hard are these to find? Is there any reason they would not work in an 8 ton bus rather than a 2 ton 4wd? And how far is too far when advancing the timing? I've heard anything from set it at TDC to 6, 8 or 10 degrees. What were these motors officially meant to run at in a heavy application? Cheers
Rob

I used to drive a ACCO 510a with a 4speed transporting inter tractors it would use a full tank in about 160km
point gap had to be spot on if they closed up it just would'nt pull, timing was set at around 12 degress
this motor did lug down well
I agree with last post ditch the auto

Interbus, no reason why you can't fit electronic ignition from a Scout. Can get all you need from a US supplier like Scoutparts.com (just make sure they send you what you ordered, they have a habit of sticking the wrong things in the wrong boxes).

Also regarding your LPG you need to be aware that the LPG you buy away from the big cities is almost certainly 100% Propane whereas in the city its more likely to be 60/40 Propane/Butane mix. Butane burns hotter and faster so it gives a bit more horsepower in a car engine, but not ideal for a truck. The Inter 345 was actually designed for Propane as an alternate fuel. I'd be making sure I had a full tank of propane then take it to someone who has a gas analyser and knows what they are doing for a tune up. That's someone who knows about old trucks, anyone used to tuning gas for cars won't set it up right for what you want.

the advantage of american petrol engines is from around 1972 ? ..they usually have hardened valve seats ..to run on gas or unleaded ..also the inter V8s have sodium filled exhaust valves . . ..also from memory the exhaust valve is cantered away from the combustion chamber to eliminate any chance of burning it out.. also eliminates the chance of decent horsepower

I don't know about the 345s, but my understanding is that IHA dropped the 392 as an option because they couldn't/didn't want to make it ULP compatable.

Bund126, if you're still about, can you remember what the points gap was supposed to be? My mate Google tells me .018 for new points, .016 for used, does that sound about right?
While the search is still on for a leccy distributor, I might just have a play with the points. It seemed to be running well enough so I haven't touched them since I bought it, but I didn't realise it was that critical for pulling power. It had new plugs before I got it, and what looks like a recently new coil, but when I threw some 9mm leads at it it did improve noticeably so maybe the spark is still not all it should be.
IHScout, just to check, if you're saying butane is bad for these engines, and country gas is straight propane that would mean country gas would be better for it? Just thinking it would help justify paying the extra 20c p/l for gassing up out in the sticks

Interbus .016 sounds about right
the longer the dwell time the better for the coil