2insane’s Random 6.2/6.5 Diesel Projects

[2INSANE]

Customer #43

I pulled this seized 1995 6.5 TD out of the junkyard for a Customer a month ago. Customer wants me to do an Optimizer 6.5 Long Block build for him and wants me to pull the needed parts off of this 1995 for his build.

Just finished getting all the parts he needs and more for his swap. I had to pull the motor to get the manifolds out because the bolt heads got striped.

This is what a 6.5 could look like when the crank blows…

The Harmonic Balancer was not as bad as they usually are.

But anyhow, here’s the plethora of customers parts I pulled for him.

Just sharing my random projects for educational reasons.

Enjoy!

 

[2INSANE]

Since I have this 95 in my possession, I want to take all the useful goods off of it for future customer use. Keeping track of my time is always a must.

It is rare to get a 6.5 truck with a early model nv4500. I see a lot of money with this. After draining the fluid and inspecting it, I offered the junkyard $500 for the core, bell-housing and crossmember. Junkyard owner accepted my offer. I’ll be pulling this rare nv4500 next.

Check out the gear ratios on this 92 Nv4500… Yeah buddy! I will pull the clutch pedal assembly as well in case a 6.5 customer wants to do a nv4500 swap or I get a hair up my butt and decide to swap it into my M1009.

 

[Big Ray]

I have a 93 4wd nv4500 in the garage. Gasser...

Cool thread. You know those parts will be in demand one day. Too many hard heads still swear by those motors

 

[2INSANE]

I have a 93 4wd nv4500 in the garage. Gasser...

Cool thread. You know those parts will be in demand one day. Too many hard heads still swear by those motors

Nice! The 6.5 parts are in big demand right now. Engine builders especially. 2 years ago I bought a heaping pickup truck load of 6.5 and 6.2 parts. Paid only $700 for it all because the farmer decided to do a Cummins swap and was darn tired messing with these old motors. Made over $15,000 selling the parts.

 

[Big Ray]

Nice! The 6.5 parts are in big demand right now. Engine builders especially. 2 years ago I bought a heaping pickup truck load of 6.5 and 6.2 parts. Paid only $700 for it all because the farmer decided to do a Cummins swap and was darn tired messing with these old motors. Made over $15,000 selling the parts.

Right on!!

 

[campfire]

I will pull the clutch pedal assembly as well in case a 6.5 customer wants to do a nv4500 swap or I get a hair up my butt and decide to swap it into my M1009.

An M1009 with an NV4500?

Been there. Done that.

I highly recommend it.

 

[2INSANE]

An M1009 with an NV4500?

Been there. Done that.

I highly recommend it.

What gear ratios in your axles and what nv4500 gears ratios do you have?

 

[Big Ray]

This is his build thread...cool stuff

The Green Grendel

campfire submitted a new Build: The Green Grendel (Boring Stuff) This is the story of my 1986 M1009 CUCV (Military Blazer) and its adventures. TOC: Hauling it out of storage Tranny swap Buttoning up drivetrain things Finally driving it someday soon? :dunno: Read more about this build...

ck5.com

 

[campfire]

This is his build thread...cool stuff

The Green Grendel

campfire submitted a new Build: The Green Grendel (Boring Stuff) This is the story of my 1986 M1009 CUCV (Military Blazer) and its adventures. TOC: Hauling it out of storage Tranny swap Buttoning up drivetrain things Finally driving it someday soon? :dunno: Read more about this build...

ck5.com

Thanks for sharing!

To answer his question, I had an early NV4500 with the low first gear ratio. 3.73:1 axles. Stock(ish) 31" tires (which definitely aren't enough offroad clearance for a 14BFF, but they were fine on the road).

The 'burb has an NV3500 with 3.73:1 axles and 33" tires. I occasionally miss the low first gear, but overall it's a better setup for my application.

Aaaand...it still drags the 14BFF when offroading. Oh, well.

 

[ZooMad75]

Thanks for sharing!

To answer his question, I had an early NV4500 with the low first gear ratio. 3.73:1 axles. Stock(ish) 31" tires (which definitely aren't enough offroad clearance for a 14BFF, but they were fine on the road).

The 'burb has an NV3500 with 3.73:1 axles and 33" tires. I occasionally miss the low first gear, but overall it's a better setup for my application.

Aaaand...it still drags the 14BFF when offroading. Oh, well.

I drag the 14b with 35’s. One can put 38’s or bigger to gain clearance, shave it and make it a 13 bolt or not worry about it.

I don’t worry about it.

 

[campfire]

I drag the 14b with 35’s. One can put 38’s or bigger to gain clearance, shave it and make it a 13 bolt or not worry about it.

I don’t worry about it.

Yeah, that is my approach as well.

It's only let me down twice, so I can't complain too loudly.

View media item 38043

 

[2INSANE]

This might sound crazy but I decided not to buy the rare 6.2/6.5 NV4500. I took it back this afternoon to the junk yard. They will pull it and sell it to someone else. It will not get crushed.

Instead of spending $500 on a NV4500 I will not use, I decided to do something much different…


For many many decades, there has been a Theory in the 6.2 diesel world that has been bothering me. What Theory am I talking about?

The 6.2 Redblock Theory…

What Theory is the 6.2 Redblock Theory?

I’ll tell ya if you already don’t know…

The first casting 6.2 diesels are claimed to have a higher nickel content and are super strong and do not crack as much. However, the heads are junk because of #1 the larger Exhaust Valves which took a lot of material away from between the valves and they always crack see pics, #2 Gm added an extra coolant port in the heads creating premature head gasket failure. There was a recall to put a brass cap over those heads with the extra port, but not all got recalled. See pics…

Tomorrow, the wife and I are going to take a 6 1/2 hour round trip road trip to Idaho and buy this freshly removed, still running, all ports sealed from moisture, 1981 660 Cast 6.2 Redblock that came out of a 1982 Chevy truck. Pre purchase, I will drop the pan, check for cracks in the mains and make sure the crank turns freely with compression. If she looks good, I will pay the man $500 bones. If not, much less…

I contacted a lab and plan on taking 3 block samples and have them destructively chemically test for nickel content values in each block. Each sample will cost $300 <—Why it has been a theory for decades…

1. 2003 6.5 Optimizer Navstar Sample
2. 1985 6.2 Diesel Sample
3. 1981 660 Redblock Sample

Why am I insane enough to do this?

Nostalgia!

1. The redblock 1981 cast is my birth year! Cool right?
2. This theory needs to be solved! Yeah, it is a big freaking deal!
3. If the Redblock nickel content is indeed higher and the block is rebuildable, I plan on rebuilding it from scratch and turning it into an 18:1 300+HP motor with EVERY modern upgrade out there and installing it into something crazy like say… A 1981 Corvette or 1981 AMC Eagle…

Anyhow, stay tuned!

 

[ZooMad75]

Ok, I know I’m not going to convince anyone to not do something but, do you hear what your are saying?

The red blocks are “less prone to cracking” but that is not saying they won’t crack either. Lord knows I’ve talked myself into stuff in the past but that seems pretty obvious.

Seems like you are setting yourself up for a let down eventually. I get trying to prove the theory out and all but from what I’ve seen and talked to about with somebody from GEP the gep block metallurgy and machining is far superior to anything that gm produced on its best day.

I wish you all the luck and hope you prove me wrong.

 

[Truckman4life]

I remember reading about Heath Diesel or someone partially filling their blocks to stiffened them up. What's your thoughts on this?

 

[campfire]

The red blocks are “less prone to cracking” but that is not saying they won’t crack either.

Yep. I own a cracked red block, just in case there was any doubt on this point. Figuring out the metallurgy is a kinda neat side project. But at the end of the day, I don't care about the statistical odds of cracking a block. I care about the condition of my particular block. And that block happens to be cracked. So 100% of the red blocks that I care about are cracked.

Also, the red-head injectors have a coarser thread pitch than what you'll find on black heads. The O.P. probably knows this already, but I want to make sure it doesn't get overlooked in the exuberence.

 

[2INSANE]

Ok, I know I’m not going to convince anyone to not do something but, do you hear what your are saying?

The red blocks are “less prone to cracking” but that is not saying they won’t crack either. Lord knows I’ve talked myself into stuff in the past but that seems pretty obvious.

Seems like you are setting yourself up for a let down eventually. I get trying to prove the theory out and all but from what I’ve seen and talked to about with somebody from GEP the gep block metallurgy and machining is far superior to anything that gm produced on its best day.

I wish you all the luck and hope you prove me wrong.

I don’t know if they are less prone to cracking. That’s a Theory I aim on solving very soon. I think it really does not matter what block one gets. The cracking block issues is from a failed harmonic balancer. Even a Optimizer/p400 could be prone to crack if the harmonic balancer goes bad. But I have not heard of any longevity high mile reports on the P400 or Optimizer.

Yep. I own a cracked red block, just in case there was any doubt on this point. Figuring out the metallurgy is a kinda neat side project. But at the end of the day, I don't care about the statistical odds of cracking a block. I care about the condition of my particular block. And that block happens to be cracked. So 100% of the red blocks that I care about are cracked.

Also, the red-head injectors have a coarser thread pitch than what you'll find on black heads. The O.P. probably knows this already, but I want to make sure it doesn't get overlooked in the exuberence.

Yes sir! If I am to do a redblock build, I plan on putting GEP heads on and reinforcing the coolant passages between the valves with brass tubing and port the exhaust ports and get all the burrs off.

The thought of refurbishing red heads is appealing because of the perks of bigger exhaust valves. Not going to throw that idea out…

I remember reading about Heath Diesel or someone partially filling their blocks to stiffened them up. What's your thoughts on this?

I have read that artical before and kinda cringed at the thought of making an already small coolant/oil ports/passages smaller. I personally would not want to do it on any of my builds. I wonder if there is a longevity report done after this mod was completed. Would be extremely surprised if that motor still runs because if I remember right, it was a high horse power build.


I bought the complete Redblock from Idaho. I did a pre inspection on the webs. There is only 1 crack about 3/4” on one of the webs. Crank turned freely, compression felt good. 300,000 miles. I think I can fix this crack on the web with some high nickel welding Rod pending cylinder condition and could be a good candidate for a N/A build/Material Testing. I was able to talk him down some because of the crack.

I also have a lead on a crack free Redblock in Great Falls, Mt.

But the first goal is the Lab testing which I am not ready for until I get another late 6.2 block for samples.

Stay tuned!

 

[campfire]

Cool stuff.

 

[2INSANE]

Cool stuff.

Heck yeah! To be able and willing to solve the 41 year old Redblock Theroy in itself is sooooo exciting! I feel like a little boy in a candy shop right now! I kept looking back in the mirror at the Redblock on the way home and the wife told me to “Stop it” with a big smile on her face as well. :-)

 

[Truckman4life]

I got a 6.2L question for you. My rubber elbows are cracked for the breather setup where it goes into my intake, should I find them and replace them or can I delete the whole closed breather system and run a draft tube down by the axle straight off the oil filler where the breather hose is now and just cap off the intake ports for it? I run my 6.0L and 7.3L Powerstrokes with just an open breather in order to eliminate all the blow-by gasses making a mess in the intake.

 

[2INSANE]

I got a 6.2L question for you. My rubber elbows are cracked for the breather setup where it goes into my intake, should I find them and replace them or can I delete the whole closed breather system and run a draft tube down by the axle straight off the oil filler where the breather hose is now and just cap off the intake ports for it? I run my 6.0L and 7.3L Powerstrokes with just an open breather in order to eliminate all the blow-by gasses making a mess in the intake.

Those elbows are not made anymore. You want to keep the the CDR system original as much as you can. Find some good ones from a junkyard or join some 6.2 diesel groups on Facebook and post that you are looking for some. FB groups is the fastest and best way to get used 6.2 parts, especially the hard to find ones. I should have some available in the future after I’m done doing 2 current builds. Send me a pm and I will let you know when they become available.

Edit:
I just googled this for you. Your welcome . He just posted this not long ago… you better jump on this asap because $30 for good elbows is a steal!

Cucv 6.2 diesel CDR valves with tubing

For sale is 2 CDR valves and all brackets and tubing from a military k30 Chevy truck or cucv The cleaner valve is a couple years old and only has like 2k miles on it 30 bucks plus shipping

www.gmsquarebody.com