diesel swap

[406 Q-ship]

The 6.2/6.5 would be the best and easiest sway into the van, cause GM did the work for you. Use the 6.5 over the 6.2, the 6.5 runs like a 350 where the 6.2 runs with a 305. When I was working at the dealership in the 1990's the 6.5 would roast the tires in a G3500 van, the 6.2 would not turn a tire on anti-freezed polished concrete. We had a customer who had an early 80's G25 van that was the old style 6.2 that was just really tired, we had a 6.5 that was a warrenty takeout for head gaskets/head bolts. We changed out the gaskets and head bolts, installed that bad boy in the van, holy crap what a difference!

[ky_kid]

So I found a 93 Chevy with a 6.5 TD with everything there just a blown tranny. Will that bolt right in my 84 K10? My trans is a 4L80E
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[Your41Plague12]

Physically, yes it should bolt up. You'll have to make the rest happen though.

[willett]

i saw a guy drop a 4-72 into a 1 ton once. It was REALLY cool!

trouble was that he had to cut the hood so that the valve cover would fit. It turned out really well though.

[oily]

Yeah the 1983 van came with a 6.2, so that would be the easiest swap.
Better to just buy a rusted out van with a 6.2-6.5 diesel and swap everything over[springs etc]..

[blgsguy]

And remember diesel parts always seem to be more expensive than gas engine parts. I have a couple of cummins trucks, and I only use them for pulling/hauling, I drive gas vehicles around town and such.

[Edahall]

Originally Posted by ky_kid

What headers would you suggest? I'm only seeing the Hummer headers and they're a bit pricey.

Stans Headers makes a nice set of headers for the 6.2 / 6.5L diesel engine. They are very nice headers and they really help to wake up these engines. I gained a lot of power and some fuel economy. This is one item that GM should have installed on these engines.

Good luck getting the Hummer headers to fit between the frame rails.

[oily]

Well the chev v8 diesel is out too. Nothing like a inline 6 ..
"Main Bearing Web Crack: In both 6.2L and 6.5L engines this is reportedly fixed with a combination of improved higher nickel cast iron alloy and lower block re-design including, but not limited to, a main bearing girdle. These features are in the new for 2007 AM General GEP P400 6500 Optimizer enhanced 6.5L diesel presently being sold to the US Government for the 6 ton armored HMMWV.[1]

Crank Failure: Related to age failures of the harmonic balancer, the vibration damped accessory drive pulley, or the dual mass flywheel.

Pump Mounted Driver: Relates to thermal failures. The PMD is screwed to the DS-4 injection pump on the 1994-2001 GM 6.5 diesel utilizing fuel flow to dissipate heat. The injection pump is mounted in the intake valley (a high heat area). The PMD contains two power transistors that should be cooled by proper contact with the injection pump body. If the pump is not precisely machined to make complete contact with the transistors via the silicone thermal gasket and paste, the PMD is improperly installed without the gasket or paste, the PMD is installed off center with the pump body, or corrosion develops on the mounting surface the PMD will overheat. Several companies manufacture an extension harness and heat-sink kits. These allow an owner or their mechanic to relocate the PMD away from the injection pump to a lower heat environment and/or a place that can get more air flow.

Cylinder Head Cracking: higher mileage 6.5 engines exhibit stress related fractures in the cylinder head bowl. Stronger cylinder heads remedy this problem."
From :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit...V8_engine#6.5L

[hatzie]

Mains do crack on some 6.x blocks. The consensus seems to point to failed balancers nd rubber center crank pulleys. Fluidamper and solid pulleys fix that.

The 93 van will have the DB2 mechanical injection pump. The PMD is on the later DS4.

Most diesel engines crack between the valves. The real early 6.2 had smaller ports in the pre-cups. They got better fuel mileage but the thermal stress caused the normal small seat cracks to enlarge.

[oily]

So's where are the small heavy duty INLINE sixes that have proven to do the job since 1950 ?-- no computers just fuel pump, a good engine mount and go?

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by oily

So's where are the small heavy duty INLINE sixes that have proven to do the job since 1950 ?-- no computers just fuel pump, a good engine mount and go?

You will not recoup the dollars you put into a project like this on fuel savings.

It's not a cheap or easy project even if you're using one of the 6.2 or 6.5 Detroit, Navistar, AMG engines. The 6.x will bolt to your bellhousing and motor mounts with no frame, firewall, or radiator support mods. I have done this swap using a 96 5 speed rollover wreck as a donor. It still cost over $1500 in non donor parts...

Diesels weren't fitted to light trucks till the late 80's. Rare exceptions are the late 70's scout with the Nissan SD33 forklift engine. The Cummins 4BT can be fitted but you'll need some patience and a bunch of work. It will take time find a reasonably priced 4BT that still runs and you'll need a whole truck to do it cheap. You will not put this engine in a 1/2 ton truck and keep your axles in one piece.

Maybe a 1980's FUSO or Isuzu cab-over truck engine... Not cheap or easy and likely completely thrashed. You will be rebuilding the engines and injection systems. Making custom bellhousing and motor mounts... That's after you buy it and really discover whether you even can fit it under your hood.

Medium truck diesel engines from Cummins, Detroit and Cat are TALL and HEAVY. These motors won't just bolt to your mounts and go. A lot of the older medium and heavy trucks have been melted down and turned into cheap Chinese crap already. Parts for the older diesel engines that are left are VERY expensive. Try buying pistons for a GMC Toro-Flow. If you go this route do your homework.

Forklifts or farm equipment... Usually use an SAE bellhousing pattern. Adapting them to light duty trucks is a lot of work and a lot of money. The injection systems are a very high dollar item. You would be engineering a very custom system. The original injection systems were designed to run in a very narrow RPM band not a quickly variable wide range like a road vehicle.

[lindstromjd]

Originally Posted by hatzie

You will not recoup the dollars you put into a project like this on fuel savings.

It's not a cheap or easy project even if you're using one of the 6.2 or 6.5 Detroit, Navistar, AMG engines. The 6.x will bolt to your bellhousing and motor mounts with no frame, firewall, or radiator support mods. I have done this swap using a 96 5 speed rollover wreck as a donor. It still cost over $1500 in non donor parts...

Diesels weren't fitted to light trucks till the late 80's. Rare exceptions are the late 70's scout with the Nissan SD33 forklift engine. The Cummins 4BT can be fitted but you'll need some patience and a bunch of work. It will take time find a reasonably priced 4BT that still runs and you'll need a whole truck to do it cheap. You will not put this engine in a 1/2 ton truck and keep your axles in one piece.

Maybe a 1980's FUSO or Isuzu cab-over truck engine... Not cheap or easy and likely completely thrashed. You will be rebuilding the engines and injection systems. Making custom bellhousing and motor mounts... That's after you buy it and really discover whether you even can fit it under your hood.

Medium truck diesel engines from Cummins, Detroit and Cat are TALL and HEAVY. These motors won't just bolt to your mounts and go. A lot of the older medium and heavy trucks have been melted down and turned into cheap Chinese crap already. Parts for the older diesel engines that are left are VERY expensive. Try buying pistons for a GMC Toro-Flow. If you go this route do your homework.

Forklifts or farm equipment... Usually use an SAE bellhousing pattern. Adapting them to light duty trucks is a lot of work and a lot of money. The injection systems are a very high dollar item. You would be engineering a very custom system. The original injection systems were designed to run in a very narrow RPM band not a quickly variable wide range like a road vehicle.

Nissan SD33(t) from the IH Scouts is the only inline 6 that I can think of that's not super tall or ridiculously heavy like the Cummins. Good luck finding one though; they're rare enough in a Scout, and finding someone who wants to get rid of a good, running engine when they know what it is will be like finding a single needle in 100 haystacks. Maybe if you got really creative you could put a Mercedes 5 cylinder diesel in there, but once again, lots of fab work for something that wasn't actually designed to be put into your vehicle. Or if you really didn't care about power and speed, the Isuzu 4 cylinder that came in Chevy LUV trucks...