School Me on Diesels

[79vette]

I have an 82 K5 with a 350/700R4, and I want a diesel. I always wanted a diesel K5, and ended up with mine only because it came along at the right price.

A guy locally has a 6.5 diesel swapped into an 83 3/4 ton Suburban he is parting out, and I am thinking about buying the motor. I know I will need the hydroboost setup (master cylinder and pump), radiator, new oil cooler lines, new torque converter, and maybe glow plug controller and gauges. Although I am fine with a relay and switch for the plugs and keeping my stock gauges, so the last 2 might not be necessary. Anything else needed?

If the motor wont run, what can I look at to help determine if it is worth anything? Any checks other than a compression test? I know SBC motors, but diesels will be a new deal for me.

Motor does not run, supposedly the lift pump is bad. I am going to bring a lift pump and battery when I go to look at it, and see if I can get it to run. If it doesnt run (ie assuming the motor is a rebuild-able core), what do you think is a fair price for a complete diesel swap (motor, radiator, hydroboost, maybe glow plug card and gauges)? Do I want to mess around with getting the used torque converter, or is it better to buy new?

I know injector pumps are pricey and are a failure point, and 6.2/6.5 parts in general are more expensive than SBC parts. I know they are slow and lots of people hate them, but I really want one. I just want to buy one that doesnt suck and I want to pay a fair price for it. Can anyone give me some tips?

[Killer Bee]

I'd suggest buy a running m1009 and see what it's all about..

probably a lot easier to swap creature comforts into a cucv than converting drivetrains..

and don't forget the cool factor

good luck!

[79vette]

I thought about a CUCV, and maybe that is the way to go...

I have front and rear ARBs, bumpers, winch, air tank and compressor, roof rack, radio antennas, and a ton of other crap on mine already and I've poked a lot of holes in the sheet metal to install everything. So I doubt I could get much out of selling it, and swapping all that stuff over to a new-to-me CUCV seems about as hard as swapping a motor.

I'm still keeping my eye out for an M1009 (or an M1008 even), but I'm not hopeful I will find one in the budget.

[68Timber]

I go here for all my 6.2 questions/info, good group of guys that are real 6.2 aficionados: http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/63-...diesel-engine/.

[Killer Bee]

well I hear ya on the the mods you've invested in, might be better off to swap in the diesel package..

as mentioned above, scout out some specific forum reference material on that era diesels and get familiar with them..

that particular forum is a little too billboardish for me but looks like the thread content you're looking for..

I schlepped around in a few of 'em over 20 year career, wrenched on a few too.. but I'm useless for conversion info..

good luck!

[Electricduane]

I always thought a Cummins 4BT would be really nice in a K5. . . but it's a bit more work than a 6.5 or 6.2.

I have a 3/4 ton burb with the 6.2. It is slow, but gets great mileage. It has 4.10 gears, could stand to be geared higher. Love the diesel, it is my first and I refer it to gassers now.

[dwntwn]

Just my opinion so take it with a grain of salt.

If someone gave me a complete, running 6.2/6.5 vehicle that was too far gone to save the rest of I'd do the diesel conversion.

If its a non-running basically unknown vehicle/motor I'd probably hold off unless it was free or next to free. You might want to tinker with a non-running diesel, so if thats the case go for it if its a good price!

I love square Suburbans—I've had 5 different ones over the past 14 years. 454s, 350s, 2ed, 4wd. Awesome vehicle that you can do so much with. I never thought they put a great diesel in one, tho. The 6.2/6.5s were ok but I'm more partial to a Cummins.

Last month I picked up a running, driving 1991 Dodge D250 diesel thats beat to hell, has a bent frame but drives perfectly fine until I swap it into my '88 R20 2wd Suburban.

That Dodge cost me $2000 and it gets 22mpg empty. Its a fair amount of work to do the Cummins in the Chevy but really not that much more than an LS swap (if you have a complete donor vehicle)

I'm driving both vehicles for now, will start the conversion soon I hope.

I like gassers but understand where you're coming from with diesels. Especially the mileage factor