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Best place to fine a used 6.5 GM turbo diesel

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william_7900

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Guys,

I'm putting this thread in the Garage instead of the diesel forum because more people may see it and respond.

I'm looking to upgrade from my 350 to a '93> GM 6.5L Turbo Diesel and have been watching Craig's List but not much luck.

Any thoughts on the best way to locate a good engine?

I'm guessing I may get the typical "why are you doing that?" type questions so I figured I would go ahead and answer. (not trying to start an argument on the merits of a diesel or a gasser, although your thoughts are appreciated)

1. Better gas milage than a gasser
2. More torque at lower RPM'S
3. Can run additional types of fuel
4. Fuel injected
5. Swap sounds like a fun project
6. Depending on what I can find, should be less expensive than building a fuel injected stroked gasser
7. Will bolt right up in my 71' Blazer
8. I like the way a diesel sounds... :-)

I am not good at finding good parts like this and wanted any info on what you all do to find stuff like this.

thanks as always for the help

William
 
Well I think you are correct in anticipating the nay-sayer responses. But I wanted to chime in with a vote of support! I had a 94 blazer with the factory 6.5 td and it was my favorite vehicle ever. What a great blend of power and economy for that size vehicle. It is my understanding that these motors were originally designed by Detroit for vehicles with a GVWR of under 10,000 pounds. Keeping that in mind, then it makes sense that they don't keep up with a Powerstroke or cummins of the same vintage when it comes to pulling or hop-ups. They are very easy to work on and in my opinion run fantastic. I guarantee that it will feel like race car compared to a stock 350 in your 71!

I think 94 was the first year of computer controled. Wouldn't it be easier to swap in one with a mechanical injector pump? What transmission are you going to use? The 94 I had used a 4l80e and was great. You can also get stand alone computers for that transmission if you decide to stay mechanical on the engine side. You definately are going to want overdrive given the more narrow rev range of the diesel. When that 4l80e would lock the torque coverter, it would just motor down the interstate at 20+ mpg. I would just try to get a engine, transmission, and computer out of wrecked truck, then you have everything.

Another option that is really cool is a 4bt. Just put together my 78 k10 with one. It is a lot more fab work and dinking around though.
 
I have a 6.2 diesel and a banks turbo kit that i will be placing on ebay in the near future. the engine was rebuilt a couple years ago and it's been sitting on a pallet waiting for me to start my teardown and rebuild, problem is i had to sell my blazer and upgrade to a suburban (too many kids now for a blazer), which is gas. No need for a 6.2 any more, but it has a complete banks turbo kit, minus gauges.
 
blakerj1 said:
Well I think you are correct in anticipating the nay-sayer responses. But I wanted to chime in with a vote of support! I had a 94 blazer with the factory 6.5 td and it was my favorite vehicle ever. What a great blend of power and economy for that size vehicle. It is my understanding that these motors were originally designed by Detroit for vehicles with a GVWR of under 10,000 pounds. Keeping that in mind, then it makes sense that they don't keep up with a Powerstroke or cummins of the same vintage when it comes to pulling or hop-ups. They are very easy to work on and in my opinion run fantastic. I guarantee that it will feel like race car compared to a stock 350 in your 71!

I think 94 was the first year of computer controled. Wouldn't it be easier to swap in one with a mechanical injector pump? What transmission are you going to use? The 94 I had used a 4l80e and was great. You can also get stand alone computers for that transmission if you decide to stay mechanical on the engine side. You definately are going to want overdrive given the more narrow rev range of the diesel. When that 4l80e would lock the torque coverter, it would just motor down the interstate at 20+ mpg. I would just try to get a engine, transmission, and computer out of wrecked truck, then you have everything.

Another option that is really cool is a 4bt. Just put together my 78 k10 with one. It is a lot more fab work and dinking around though.
Click to expand...
Blakerj1,

Thanks for the response. To answer you question i have a NV4500 in it now and feel the greater torque at lower RPM's will really help when in OD. I have seriously considered putting in a 700r4 but not sure yet...

William
 
6.2/6.5 's are good motors especially with a Turbo and a manual tranny
 
Gm 6.5t

William

Try this site.. www.thedieselpage.com it has a lot of good tech info as well as a pretty good diesel classified.

I have had two 6.5T diesel trucks, one a 1 Ton CC 4WD & the other a 3/4 Ton 4WD Suburban.

I put over 250,000 miles on both with not many problems other than replacing the fuel pump every 100,000 mi.

Good luck,

Supergas
 
you need to remote mount the pump driver module off the injection pump to the firewall or fender and build a heat sheild for it. that is the fix for extending the lift of the injection pump on them. the driver gets heat soaked where its at in the OEM location. then craps out. keeping it cool it'll last WAY longer.
 
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