'82 Jimmy, need help with repower options

[greywuuf]

Or "Two truck, 4 engines help me choose"

I have two vehices Both previously my Fathers, Both going to be put on the road and both "keepers"

The one this forum is concerned with is the '82 Jimmy 6.2. it broke a wrist pin and ate through the bore... water in the oil . I have 4 engines to choose from, another used 6.2 from a3/4 'burb ( non egr intake) A 427 small port tall deck BB ( '68 C60 project that has died on the vine) a 383 stroker with TBI injection ( currently in the "other" keeper a '72 c10 4x4) and a 292 six, with SM 465 tranny.

the Jimmy has the burb axles swapped in and a (way to stiff) 3" lift (8 lug semi floater) and is going to be a daily driver I am looking to do a fast easy swap and honestly here in Alaska in the cold winters with the price of Diesel and the support for the 6.2 fading fast that option is loosing its lustre relatively quickly. mileage is not great in the cold around town though is pretty good on the highway.

Any one here Comment on mileage with a (stock) BB and a 700r4 ?

What do I do ?

Thanks
Dan

 

[shady]

383 tbi gets my vote

 

[79rustyk10]

Cant comment for the BB mileage.

I would go with the 383 withing the options listed. IMO you get great torque, with small enough displacement to not use excessive fuel.

 

[dyeager535]

I say stick with the diesel. You've already got everything in it but the motor, and you've got another motor. Fast and easy, that's the answer.

I'm not a diesel guy (wished I had gone 6.2 or 6.5, hindsight) but I don't understand why non-highway mileage would be worse than non-highway mileage with a gas motor. FYI, off-road my TPI 355 gets around 10MPG, ~15 freeway. Based on what I've seen before here, 25MPG freeway is possible in a K5 with the 6.2.

My Dad's 454 (TBI, SM465/Gear Vendors OD/4.10's) is around 11MPG on the freeway. Working to get that up a bit more, 12MPG would be a substantial increase.

 

[greywuuf]

Thanks for the idea's and info guys, I am not saying that the diesel is any worse mileage that the other motors, just saying it is substantially worse in town that it is on the highway, and honestly Diesel is a Pain to deal with, A good portion of my winter is -40F or colder and diesel fuel here is about a quarter more a gallon than gas ( pushing $5 real hard)

Was just looking at the options, if I swap in the 383 I will not be going TBI it would be a Q jet already swapped a tbi into the old c10 once and have never been completely happy with it.

Decisions decisions....kinda leaning towards the 292 4 speed thing, but that makes a pretty poor hiway rig. Dunno, likely just pull the diesel and swap all the parts to my other motor and put it back in. Just not excited about doing it.

 

[dyeager535]

Thanks for the idea's and info guys, I am not saying that the diesel is any worse mileage that the other motors, just saying it is substantially worse in town that it is on the highway, and honestly Diesel is a Pain to deal with, A good portion of my winter is -40F or colder and diesel fuel here is about a quarter more a gallon than gas ( pushing $5 real hard)

Like I said, never had to deal with diesel, especially in really cold climates, but I know it causes some issues.

But if you can get 25%+ better economy than a gas motor and pay less than 10% more for diesel, you are coming out ahead.

Not that a 6.2 would probably be my first choice in diesels, but the economy is certainly there. I keep thinking about a 6.2 with a 31 gallon tank. I'd not have to get fuel for a year lol.

 

[diesel4me]

In Ak,I'd say staying with diesel might not be a good way to go,due to cold start issues --any "gains" as far as mpg would be offset by the higher price of disesel fuel too...all the gas engines you listed wont get much over 12 mpg though either....I like straight sixes ,easy to work on,very reliable and you wont have to work on it most likely--and a 292 has great low end torque..but one might not be very good at cruising at 65+ mph for long unless you run tall tires or gearing...............................................................................................The "cool" factor of a 427 big block is hard to beat too though,and probably wouldn't drink much more gas than the 292 would be,or the 383 ....I'd put that in if it were me,but remember quite a few other things will need to be replaced if going from diesel to gas ...