84 K20 "Ethel" Not an Sbc/NV4500/241C

[sreidmx]

sreidmx submitted a new Build:

84 K20 "Ethel" 6.2 Litre Diesel Soon Daily Driver

Scored this truck today with the help of @secutright( thanks dude I can always count on you!)
We had a square party as well at my house, Dillon droppin his off to put some links and coilovers on, and Scott bringing his down on its maiden voyage, the main goal was to rescue this bad boy diesel from its confines of the mountains.
What we have is a 83-4 I think with a sf14/10b sm465/np208 6.2
I don't know what gears or much else besides it has 350k miles on this motor. So I'll clean her up and try to get it to fire.
The plan is to keep the stock look with a 6 inch lift donated from the grey truck and run some narrow 35s on those stock wheel with them sweet hubcaps. This is the tow rig for the blazer good day today..
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Read more about this build here...

 

[bmxbryant9]

Sweet score, was it buried up to that mark on the front tire? @secutright running extra low psi? Haha.

 

[F.S.F.W]

Sweet score, was it buried up to that mark on the front tire? @secutright running extra low psi? Haha.

whatever it is I hope he didn't step in it.

 

[Bent77]

 

[82355]

Cool truck.

Martin

 

[campfire]

Saweeeeet!

Did it wind up having the spin-on filters (82-83) or the square box kind (84+)?

 

[sreidmx]

It has the box fuel filter on the firewall.

 

[sreidmx]

Sweet score, was it buried up to that mark on the front tire? @secutright running extra low psi? Haha.

Lol yea busted that tire 4 miles from my house, almost made it!

 

[78SWB]

Damn that's clean. Looking forward to seeing this one done.

 

[campfire]

It has the box fuel filter on the firewall.

Ok. I'm sure you've heard by now that lots of people hate those (leaking issues). But they're easier to change than the dual spin-on setup. They buried the second filter underneath the intake manifold. Took me a while to figure out that I even had a second filter.

 

[tRustyK5]

The plan is to keep the stock look with a 6 inch lift donated from the grey truck and run some narrow 35s on those stock wheel with them sweet hubcaps. This is the tow rig for the blazer good day today..

So then you're doing a Cummins swap? A NA 6.2 pick-up with a 4 speed and 35's is by definition the worlds worst tow rig...and I say that as a fan of the 6.2, and even more of a fan of the SM 465 behind said 6.2. This truck on it's best day will not tow a complete K5 on a trailer worth a crap.

 

[campfire]

So then you're doing a Cummins swap? A NA 6.2 pick-up with a 4 speed and 35's is by definition the worlds worst tow rig...and I say that as a fan of the 6.2, and even more of a fan of the SM 465 behind said 6.2. This truck on it's best day will not tow a complete K5 on a trailer worth a crap.

I beg to differ. I have driven worse tow rigs than that. I'm actually quite pleased with the towing that I have done with my 6.2 trucks. They won't haul like a modern tow rig, but lots of people have hauled lots of things with 6.2 trucks. Whether or not the truck is having its best day ever.

This is my 1/2-ton Suburban. 3.73:1 gears and 31" tires with a 700R4 (which has a significantly more anemic final ratio than SM465/35" tires & the default 4.10 gears). Not up to modern horsepower standards, but I have had no problem keeping up with 70MPH traffic at my altitude. Haven't tried crawling up vail pass (where I expect it would do poorly), but it does a fine job in my area.

So I'd say it depends on what @sreidmx wants to accomplish. This K20 is more than capable of towing a K5 (when it's fixed up, of course ). Just depends on what he's expecting from it.

I would at least add a blower to it so you don't have such anemic high-end performance. You're heading up into the mountains, right? These engines run out of air fast.

 

[KirsL]

Yea, I would agree with that. If you want to tow with this rig and a stock 6.2. Leave it on the stock size tires. It'll tow just fine how it is. It will be slow doing but it will do it.

Now if you want to stay 6.2 powered and have it run better, I can give you a long list of things to do that'll make it run really good.

 

[tRustyK5]

@campfire

You haven't driven a 6.2 with an SM 465. Each shift brings a 50% drop in rpm. That means shifting right on the governor if you're towing to hopefully be at 1600 to 1700 in the next gear. Good luck shifting a SM 465 fast enough for that...

I've had a NA 6.2 /SM 465 rig for many years. I loved it, and wouldn't ever tow with it. YMMV, but probably not by much.

Also, 3.73's and 31's with a 700R-4 towing at 70 mph is 2829 rpm...

4.10's, SM 465 and 35's at 70 mph is 2750 rpm. So, you have the automatic which is huge, better final gearing, and smaller tires. The biggest difference is the automatic.

 

[sreidmx]

I might try a 6.5 turbo setup from the Jy or hx35 small housing. I don't know if these pumps will supply enough fuel or if I'll need to track down a pump from a j code. This thing has tons of miles so it could be toast. If that's the case I might use it until I can track down a cummins for cheap(yea right) or stuff an ls motor I'm it.(much to the shagrin) of the 6.2 faithful.

 

[blazinzuk]

Nope we 6.2 faithful ( or most of us ) aren't really sure why we like em. There's lots to like. And a whole lot to not like.

Also throw hills or altitude into the towing mix and sometimes it's not the lack of speed that's the problem. It's the cooling. Although the lack of speed does suck

 

[82355]

Ebke pulls with an '82 K30 with a 6.2 and an SM465.






Slowly.

Martin

 

[78SWB]

Very slowly.

 

[campfire]

@campfire

You haven't driven a 6.2 with an SM 465. Each shift brings a 50% drop in rpm. That means shifting right on the governor if you're towing to hopefully be at 1600 to 1700 in the next gear. Good luck shifting a SM 465 fast enough for that...

I've had a NA 6.2 /SM 465 rig for many years. I loved it, and wouldn't ever tow with it. YMMV, but probably not by much.

Also, 3.73's and 31's with a 700R-4 towing at 70 mph is 2829 rpm...

4.10's, SM 465 and 35's at 70 mph is 2750 rpm. So, you have the automatic which is huge, better final gearing, and smaller tires. The biggest difference is the automatic.

Fair enough. And I'm sorry if that came out wrong, I'm not a 465 expert, nor even a fan. I have towed with an early 6.5/NV4500 combo, which has similar gear splits. But with more power they're less important. I can't say I like the splits, but they don't bother me enough to care about them. Again, I live in flatland, where I don't often see anything above a 5% or 6% grade. Downshifting isn't that common here. In the mountains I would revise my recommendation (which is why I asked him what his plans are).


As for gearing those aren't the numbers I came up with. Is there an error in my math?

 

[campfire]

I might try a 6.5 turbo setup from the Jy or hx35 small housing. I don't know if these pumps will supply enough fuel or if I'll need to track down a pump from a j code. This thing has tons of miles so it could be toast. If that's the case I might use it until I can track down a cummins for cheap(yea right) or stuff an ls motor I'm it.(much to the shagrin) of the 6.2 faithful.

No shame in picking a more modern engine. Eric's right when he says we don't know why we like 'em. There's lots to like about newer engines. I enjoy mine, but I wouldn't hesitate to trade any of them for an inline turbodiesel. The love has limits...