Diesel Question

[dhunterp]

Would it be easily possible to put a diesel from a 2500 model truck into a 1500 model truck? I'd want to do this in a mid-80's Silverado...

[dhunterp]

Can someone tell me why this is a Sticky now? Just wondering.

[94_Blacklabel]

You might be able to put the old 6.5 Turbo in a 88-98 C-1500.I have seen a 94 C-1500 z-71 with a 6.5 in it. They are pretty strong motors as long as they hold up,they arent known for there reliabilty

[dhunterp]

Where can I get one of those, a junkyard?

Any other engines?

[94_Blacklabel]

They arent real hard to find there everywere around here

[red suburban]

theres a 6.5L on ebay (located right by dallas texas) thats $250 right now. came out of a 94 1 ton, guy says the engine runs but needs the turbo rebuilt. has another 18 hours on it.
you would need a tranny though, the 4l60e wouldnt live up to it for long.

[94_Blacklabel]

check ebay and junkyards

[STLCHEVYHD]

Did he ever think of going the Cummins route? An older model 6 cyl? An old boss of mine put a Cummins in his '79 3/4 ton 4x4 Chevy pickup. He got an adapter to mate it to the TH400. He also got a Cummins out of a wrecked Fed Ex truck and put it in his 86 1/2 ton 4x4 Suburban. He got an adapter and mated it to the 700R4. He spun the torque converter in that one so he had it all beefed up. We pulled some crazy loads in that pickup and it never even blinked. Just food for thought.

[dhunterp]

Did he ever think of going the Cummins route? An older model 6 cyl? An old boss of mine put a Cummins in his '79 3/4 ton 4x4 Chevy pickup. He got an adapter to mate it to the TH400. He also got a Cummins out of a wrecked Fed Ex truck and put it in his 86 1/2 ton 4x4 Suburban. He got an adapter and mated it to the 700R4. He spun the torque converter in that one so he had it all beefed up. We pulled some crazy loads in that pickup and it never even blinked. Just food for thought.

Examples of these engines, on ebay or something?

Also, I'm not too skilled in this area yet, so this would be a learning process for me. Would I be WAY in over my head on this?

[dhunterp]

theres a 6.5L on ebay (located right by dallas texas) thats $250 right now. came out of a 94 1 ton, guy says the engine runs but needs the turbo rebuilt. has another 18 hours on it.
you would need a tranny though, the 4l60e wouldnt live up to it for long.

What do you mean another 18 hours?

Yeah, I suspect that the transmission wouldn't do too well with a diesel :guns:

[pdmted1]

How about the 1500HD? Wouldnt that be a more compatible candidate for a swap to possibly a 6.6?

[red suburban]

What do you mean another 18 hours?

Yeah, I suspect that the transmission wouldn't do too well with a diesel :guns:
that item on ebay had another 18 hours left when i posted before it would be sold.

this project's difficulty would entirely depend on which motor you currently have in your truck and the engine you plan to put in. if your current truck has tbi or carb it shouldnt be difficult to remove all of the hardware attached to the motor. if you have fuel injection it would be alot more difficult.

the motor your dropping in would be much simpler if it uses mechanical injection (better for deep water as well) because there are little to no wires at all. the 6.2, ford 7.3 (before powerstroke), and any older diesels (93-older) are mechanical injection (6.5 offered as both so make sure to check that), so they are much simpler to install. the newer motors have more power yes, but WAY more difficult to install with all the wiring (expecially the duramax).

[pimpasschevy]

I saw a mid 70's crew cab 4X4 with some kind of cat motor in it... that thing was a monster!

[Troller]

Swapping in a diesel would pretty much be the same whether the truck is a 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton or 1 ton. I am personally planning a diesel swap in my 95 1/2 ton this summer.

Ebay is a good source to look for engines, but another good place to look is the government liquidation website. The US Gov is in the process of swapping all the N/A 6.2 Diesels in the Hummers to Turbo 6.5 Diesels so they are selling all the 6.2/6.5 N/A engines. There are some on the site now that are listed as being rebuilt less than a year ago.

Swapping in a Cummins would be awesome, other than the Cummins engine is HUGE, way bigger than the 6.2. There was a article on a guy swapping one in a mid 90's chevy in Diesel Power Magazine a month or two ago, it is doable but alot of work.

[red suburban]

whats the government website to find these engines? any for pretty cheap?

[E-man811]

Examples of these engines, on ebay or something?

Also, I'm not too skilled in this area yet, so this would be a learning process for me. Would I be WAY in over my head on this?

In my opinion, Yes. This is much bigger than just and engine swap. But that's when you learn new stuff and your skills and experience grow.

Can be a fun project, but could take weeks if you already have every thing that you need and months if you have to locate stuff as you go.

If you have the room in a garage to do it, the equipment, the tools, the money and the time, I say go for it.

Be prepared to get nickeled and dimed to death with buying tools, sensors, gaskets, fuel system, drive shaft, front suspension upgrade, fluids and exhaust

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not trying to talk you of it, just offering some perspective so that you can decide what route to take to get what you want. If what you really want is a diesel pick up, you may be best to save your pennies and shop around. If what you want is the project fun and experience and the pride that you built it and you're willing to take it on, go for it.

Ian

[red suburban]

also depends on where you live. used diesel trucks out here go for an arm and a leg, but in other places they are dirt cheap.

[Troller]

I believe its govliquidation.com or just Google government liquidation. Cheap? sure i have seen alot of em go for $50 but then I have seen guys bid them up to several hundred, it all depends on how many are up for auction and how many guy are looking for an engine near that deopt.

[red suburban]

will govliquidation transfer the item to a closer military base or wherever they store them? i found probably 5-6 cummins 4 cyl (3500a) in utah and 9-10 diesel 6.2's in alabama.

another question, is that cummins 4 cyl 3500A the same or similar to the cummins 4bt?

[Troller]

I have no idea on transfers, but I dont imagine they offer anything like that. The website is kind of a 3rd party thing they don't really have anything to do with the bases other than posting thier equipment. Just keep watching they put up new stuff every week eventually they will be offering what your lookin for near you, hopefully.

The cummins engine I have no idea, google it and see what you come up with is your best bet (as with anyhting in life google is your best friend)

[red suburban]

well when i googled it all i could find was that it has 150hp, inline 6. used as both tractor motors and industrial engines. selling for between 4000-5000 from what i found though. bet a bellhousing would be expensive to have made, and the engine probably weighs a ton.