One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban

[AgDieseler]

More photos from the weekend.

Gator head studs, because ARP won't have any ready until May. They're pretty good, though I did have to cleanup the stamping on one of the washers.



Bottomed all but two in the block with a special cocktail of thread sealant and loctite 243.





Torqued to 100 ft lbs on a .010 over head gasket.



1.6:1 Harland Sharp roller rockers. Stock is 1.5:1.





No more rusty manifolds, and no more rusty hardware.



Valve cover studs and fancy anodized stuff.



These valve covers tend to leak, so they're heavily buttered and clamped with a nice little kit from quadstar.





I'm eliminating hose clamps and rubber wherever I can.



Full 3/8 stainless supply all the way to the pump, and a good bit more clearance to heat sources. If I had the time, I'd headershield the manifolds and the crossover.







Next up: fuel return, steam lines, fresh turbo drain hose, and then the intake goes on and this lump will head back to the truck.

David

 

[AugustDiesel]

More photos from the weekend.

Gator head studs, because ARP won't have any ready until May. They're pretty good, though I did have to cleanup the stamping on one of the washers.

View attachment 407856

Bottomed all but two in the block with a special cocktail of thread sealant and loctite 243.

View attachment 407855

View attachment 407854

Torqued to 100 ft lbs on a .010 over head gasket.

View attachment 407853

1.6:1 Harland Sharp roller rockers. Stock is 1.5:1.

View attachment 407852

View attachment 407851

No more rusty manifolds, and no more rusty hardware.

View attachment 407850

Valve cover studs and fancy anodized stuff.

View attachment 407849

These valve covers tend to leak, so they're heavily buttered and clamped with a nice little kit from quadstar.

View attachment 407848

View attachment 407847

I'm eliminating hose clamps and rubber wherever I can.

View attachment 407846

Full 3/8 stainless supply all the way to the pump, and a good bit more clearance to heat sources. If I had the time, I'd headershield the manifolds and the crossover.

View attachment 407845

View attachment 407844

View attachment 407843

Next up: fuel return, steam lines, fresh turbo drain hose, and then the intake goes on and this lump will head back to the truck.

David

It’s a thing of beauty dude. Quite possibly the finest 6.5 ever built in the history of the 6.X platform. At least the finest I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been around them for 37 years.

Happen to have a part number for those ARP exhaust manifold bolts? I’m in the market.

Andy

 

[82355]

.....and you contemplated a Duramax!

It's beautiful.

Martin

 

[Big Ray]

I'm confused: from my research an Optimizer comes with an improved cast crank. Did you buy a forged (P400) crank separately?

Unique Diesel, formerly Penensular Diesel sells them. 1700$+

 

[ZooMad75]

Man is that a sweet looking engine. The attention to detail on all the plumbing is nuts. Superb work as usual.

 

[Big Ray]

I'm sitting here trying hard to justify an optimizer. Between the price of the motor and diesel fuel it would never make sense $$$ wise.

But, there's that fun factor of xxx ft- lbs at 2300 rpm!

 

[Babaganoosh]

Very nice attention to detail, love the hard lines and race car fittings.

Having just done my fuel system in Fragola fittings and there nylon race hose, I can appreciate the fine work.

 

[AgDieseler]

Happen to have a part number for those ARP exhaust manifold bolts? I’m in the market.

It’s a mix of ARP-772-1005, 1006, and 1013. Remember to use antiseize on all that polished stainless.

.....and you contemplated a Duramax!

A moment of weakness.

I'm confused: from my research an Optimizer comes with an improved cast crank. Did you buy a forged (P400) crank separately?

Unique Diesel, formerly Penensular Diesel sells them. 1700$+

GEP consolidated to use forged ones at some point. I asked Travis at Rubber Duck 4x4 to triple check, and it was all true. The double parting line on mine confirms it.

Man is that a sweet looking engine. The attention to detail on all the plumbing is nuts. Superb work as usual.

Many thanks, Rob. To be fair, I only made the stainless feed line. The rest are just new OEM stuff from GEP.

I'm sitting here trying hard to justify an optimizer. Between the price of the motor and diesel fuel it would never make sense $$$ wise.

But, there's that fun factor of xxx ft- lbs at 2300 rpm!

Out of the box, it’s a honey of an engine, and while it’s not the cheap way out, I will argue that (so far) it’s proving to be a very good value. Sit tight, and I’ll be the test rat for you on this one.

Very nice attention to detail, love the hard lines and race car fittings.

Having just done my fuel system in Fragola fittings and there nylon race hose, I can appreciate the fine work.

The new race hose and fittings (especially PTFE) can be just as good as hardlines in terms of flow. Fragola makes good stuff. They’re my go to when vibrant doesn’t have it.

Meanwhile, not sure why quadstar refused to make this little block mountable.


I’m going to fix that.

David

 

[Big Ray]

Thanks Dave. You are a true artist in iron.

 

[Bent77]

Glad to see the orange rocker arm company still makes stuff

 

[ashman]

Looks beautiful man.

 

[campfire]

No more rusty manifolds, and no more rusty hardware.

Fresh paint? Or did you actually get rid of the old ones?

 

[AgDieseler]

Fresh paint? Or did you actually get rid of the old ones?

Fresh paint. At the machine shop, they were cleaned, blasted, and the sealing surface was decked. I had heat-baked mud on these from as far back as 2001. No more.

Return block mounted and ready for final plumbing.



-4 steam fittings ready for welding in the am.



And Harriet gets scared of the wind just like she does the thunder. We had to take a minute.



David

 

[campfire]

Ah, a rattle-can rebuild.

The best kind!

 

[AgDieseler]

Steam ports welded. The port is as high as it can go on the plate, and the undersides are milled flat.





David

 

[AgDieseler]

Steam lines are done.



Fuel return setup is done. I stupidly drilled a hole in my hand and bled a little on it. I refuse to wipe it off. The truck’s earned it.



Intake is going to get tarted up with ARP stuff. It’ll get installed in the truck so I can maintain access to the return fuel lines and trim them to fit.



Also, I’ve got to make the dipstick fit. Almost forgot about that little detail.



Tomorrow, junk goes back in the truck.

David

 

[AgDieseler]

Trans and transfer case are in. TC is filled and seated all the way. The engine goes in tomorrow.



I wake up each morning before my alarm thinking about the sounds of the new engine. If you’ve spent time among these, you know the differences in 6.2s, 6.5s, which ones have slack in the chain, those running a DS4, and those that have an injector that’s just not quite firing right.

I just can’t wait to listen to this one sing its tune.

David

 

[centexk5]

Always had a soft spot for the 6.5’s after dad’s. Can’t wait to hear this thing.

 

[campfire]

I wake up each morning before my alarm thinking about the sounds of the new engine. If you’ve spent time among these, you know the differences in 6.2s, 6.5s, which ones have slack in the chain, those running a DS4, and those that have an injector that’s just not quite firing right.

I just can’t wait to listen to this one sing its tune.

 

[Big Ray]

Color me jealous!