1982 K10 6.2 Diesel build

[93M6Formula]

So I figured I would go ahead and start a build thread for my 82. I'll try to keep the introduction short.

Basically i've known about this truck for years, an older lady that lived down the road from my grandpa daily drove it for at least 15 years, her husbands dad bought it brand new locally so it's been around here in rural Nebraska its whole life. She unfortunately passed away so he just parked it in 2014. Fast forward to 2017 my dad ended up buying it and did nothing with it and let it sit... I was wanting another diesel square since I had an 82 previously that I missed so I bought it off him and got right to work.

The truck is absolutely original and ran and drove fine but many things were neglected. Since it lived on a gravel road it's whole life it never got washed so of course the bed is absolutely shot, not a single good piece except for the tailgate for some reason. Typical rust everywhere else but the cab is solid and fixable, floors and inner rockers are rust free.

Plans are mostly to make it a nice driver and keep it basically period correct but with tasteful mods. I didn't take good pics of the first repairs I did but i'll try to document now as I go along.

This is how I got it from my dad. Original down to the topper it came with new. Tires were 20 years old and dry rotted to hell but held air. Interior is super solid for it's age.

[93M6Formula]

Once I picked it up, i started on some maintenance. The original radiator leaked out of every possible orifice so that needed to be done before I could do some test runs and see what else it needed. Replaced it with a Spectre plastic tank version, along with some new hoses and a thermostat.

Also needed to do some brake work as it kept leaking fluid somewhere and losing pedal pressure. Ended up being a bad master cylinder so I robbed one off my 93 C2500 parts truck for the time being which works great FYI.

Once I got that done I began addressing the hard starting issue. Threw a new set of glowplugs in it but it didn't really help much with the starting. Previous owner did put in a pushbutton for glowplugs since the factory 82-84 system was less than reliable, I did the same on my last 82.

Since that didn't really help i looked elsewhere and found that drivers side tank had been leaking for awhile and was rusty so possible air intrusion, passenger tank seemed okay though. Ended up determining most of the issue was the injection pump. After sitting the seals on the pump were leaking pretty bad which was introducing air in the system. So next plan of action was go through the fuel system.

[93M6Formula]

After replacing the radiator I retired the original topper, just not a big fan. (Don't mind the potato quality pics, cracked my phone at the time)







Original "red block" 6.2

[93M6Formula]

Forward to last fall, I brought it home from the farm so I could work on it more often and really start fixing it up. My goal really was to get the mechanical issues sorted out before I deal with the body.

First things first it needed new shoes. I can't do hubcaps so a nice freshly powder coated set of factory ralleys, new centercaps, beauty rings and new 32" Mudstars were in order. It will also be getting a 2" lift and I already have a new set of Tuff Country springs i'll hopefully be installing this weekend as these factory springs are absolutely shot...as in both rear springs have broken or missing leafs and the fronts are so sagged out. I also ripped off the old corroded running boards.



HVAC controls and cruise wasn't working so i knew right away the vacuum pump was dead (very common), fortunately I hoard 6.2/6.5 parts so I had a spare lol. Unfortunately the cruise still didn't work due to what i suspect is a bad cable since the speedometer doesn't work and the needle is also broken off.

[93M6Formula]

Working on getting my shop built so unfortunately I can only work on the beast in fair weather and can't do much body work for now.

Better look at the cancerous box...

[93M6Formula]

So I knew I was going to dive into the fuel system so I started rounding up the parts.

I pulled the injection pump and sent it to my local Stanadyne dealer/service shop for a rebuild. Updated with ULSD parts for long life with todays fuel.



Now for 1982 6.2 diesels, they have one year only coarse threaded injectors which are getting a little harder to come by these days. Luckily my local shop can still get parts to rebuild them and even had a set on hand so I snatched them up. Sounded like he was happy to get them off the shelf lol.

[LT7A]

This is really cool! I've always been intrigued by the 6.2 L diesels. With the updates you're making to the motor and the probable 3.08 rear gear, and the 700 R4, you should have a really nice drivable package. Good economy and enough pep to enjoy it.

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by LT7A

This is really cool! I've always been intrigued by the 6.2 L diesels. With the updates you're making to the motor and the probable 3.08 rear gear, and the 700 R4, you should have a really nice drivable package. Good economy and enough pep to enjoy it.

Thank you! I've been messing with these personally for 15+ years or so and the 6.5s and i've always loved them. And yes it's 3.08 gears. I will be changing to 3.73s eventually since I put the 32's on, I think that will be a good match and still knock down some good MPGs.

[82Diesel]

Nice truck & Buy. You should know that the 1982 engine was *only* 1982 and will only interchange with certain parts until 1984.

Otherwise nice Buy the 1982 Is considered the rarest year bcuz of it... I am Factory Restoring my 1982 K10 Diesel as well. 3 yrs looking for correct parts on the eng alone.

If you want to get rid of that 700r4 diesel transmission I would be interested in buying it since it's the same YR as mine and Spline (82-83? 27 Spline) 84?+ It was 30-32 I believe.

Goodluck.

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by 82Diesel

Nice truck & Buy. You should know that the 1982 engine was *only* 1982 and will only interchange with certain parts until 1984.

Otherwise nice Buy the 1982 Is considered the rarest year bcuz of it... I am Factory Restoring my 1982 K10 Diesel as well. 3 yrs looking for correct parts on the eng alone.

If you want to get rid of that 700r4 diesel transmission I would be interested in buying it since it's the same YR as mine and Spline (82-83? 27 Spline) 84?+ It was 30-32 I believe.

Goodluck.

Thanks! I hardly see anyone actually restoring the diesels and leaving them alone for the most part. I enjoy them the way they are it's nice to be different once in awhile, I've owned quite a few of these and loved every one of them so I was excited to get back in one again.

I was thinking of doing an NV3500 swap down the road but for now the 700R4 works flawlessly.

[82Diesel]

Originally Posted by 93M6Formula

Thanks! I hardly see anyone actually restoring the diesels and leaving them alone for the most part. I enjoy them the way they are it's nice to be different once in awhile, I've owned quite a few of these and loved every one of them so I was excited to get back in one again.

I was thinking of doing an NV3500 swap down the road but for now the 700R4 works flawlessly.

Rite. People just don't care for them & ofc "Boat anchors" well let me tell you so is an SBC/BBC they are all made out of some sort of Metals. The only difference is Power/Tq & Weights, On the NV3500 topic. The only real hard to find part you'll have getting is the petals. A lot of them these days are reaching $500 - 800 online. Unless you come across some in your local yards.

I would love to get my hands on a Crew cab with a 6.2L. My dream.
Keep us updated & let me know if you ever need some parts.

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by 82Diesel

Rite. People just don't care for them & ofc "Boat anchors" well let me tell you so is an SBC/BBC they are all made out of some sort of Metals. The only difference is Power/Tq & Weights, On the NV3500 topic. The only real hard to find part you'll have getting is the petals. A lot of them these days are reaching $500 - 800 online. Unless you come across some in your local yards.

I would love to get my hands on a Crew cab with a 6.2L. My dream.
Keep us updated & let me know if you ever need some parts.

I may have a line on some hydraulic pedals for cheap I just need to look them over and confirm they are hydraulic, and you are right, people are asking crazy prices for them.

But yeah i'll let you know if I ever need anything, I have my own stash of 6.2/6.5 parts I need to burn though first

[straight6chevyguy]

Cool build.
Keep up the good work!

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

Cool build.
Keep up the good work!

Thanks! Hopefully I can turn the old girl into something nice.

[93M6Formula]

Not much to update, I got antsy and cleaned out the one good tank it has and got fresh fuel in it so I could drive it, I'm still putting new tanks and sending units in here soon. I took it for a spin to get a few miles on it since it really hasn't moved much for awhile and especially since I did all this work.

Runs and shifts great but of course as soon as I pulled in the driveway a rear brake like blew out... not a big deal though, easy cheap fix and at least it happened now. Just need to work out a few kinks, get my lift springs in and do some body work.

Took a couple pics after getting some fuel in it last night. She's ugly but hopefully that will change soon.

[93M6Formula]

So i'm still deciding if I want to keep the original color or not, it's kind of growing on me. But at least for the meantime until I can afford to paint the whole thing, I found my exact truck but 2WD for parts from a guy I know. Has a newer crate 6.2 in it and is mostly rust free. The box is in pretty good shape and since it's my color, i'm going to swap it to my truck so this thing looks a little more presentable lol.

[Corts60]

Wow! Nice score on an identical parts truck. That's awesome. Great work so far!

[straight6chevyguy]

I'm cb/radio nut so naturally I'm curious about the cb. Any pic's?

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

I'm cb/radio nut so naturally I'm curious about the cb. Any pic's?

I'll have to grab some later, it's very 80s with the woodgrain and all.

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

I'm cb/radio nut so naturally I'm curious about the cb. Any pic's?

Here's the CB

[93M6Formula]

Also remembered I have a set of bumperettes laying around so i'll be cleaning these up and installing.

[straight6chevyguy]

Originally Posted by 93M6Formula

Here's the CB

Looks like a cool little radio.
I'm not to familiar with that model cb but I think it's from maybe sometime around 1976. However the wood grain does go well with the early 80's theme.

[straight6chevyguy]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

Looks like a cool little radio.
I'm not to familiar with that model cb but I think it's from maybe sometime around 1976. However the wood grain does go well with the early 80's theme.

For those that are interested, All cb radios with only 23 channels were manufactured before 1977.
After 1977 all full channel radios had 40 channels.
There was a few cb's that were made at the very end of 1976 that had 40 channels but not very many.

Like I said, I'm really into this stuff. LOL

[93M6Formula]

Originally Posted by straight6chevyguy

For those that are interested, All cb radios with only 23 channels were manufactured before 1977.
After 1977 all full channel radios had 40 channels.
There was a few cb's that were made at the very end of 1976 that had 40 channels but not very many.

Like I said, I'm really into this stuff. LOL

Yeah after you posted about it I did some research and this looks to be a 1976 model or so. I ended up finding an owners manual on ebay so that will be here next week lol. I'm pretty sure it works, some of the wiring is just a little shoddy now.

[LT7A]

I like your idea of holding on to era correct upgrades. That bumper is unusual and cool and the CB radio is just right for the time. My 1982 GMC also came with a CB radio. The previous owner was a trucker and told me he spent a lot on it. I'd like to find out more about it. FWIW, I know that you are planning on a 2-inch lift and I wouldn't want to talk you out of your plan. But I did want to say I think your truck sits just right for that stock+ vibe. Like in posts number 4 and 20. Also, I see some brass with a big Z on it in the background while you're holding up your timing cover. That means we have something else in common.