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Swapping a 6.2 diesel for a small block chevy

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shaun the

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Jun 26, 2014
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Hey all,

I just bought a decent looking 82 3/4 ton Chevy 4x4 with a junk 6.2 boat anchor diesel in her that does not run. Thought that I would swap it for a new small block (350) chevy that I have in my garage. The truck has the 400TH tranny. Has anybody ever attempted this before? Any tips?

Also, it has the typical hydro steer or hydro boost system in it, any way to convert that to typical brakes with master cylinder and power booster separate from the power steering? Or is is best to leave the hydro steer setup.

Let me know,
Shaun The
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I don't know much about the 6.2 to small block swap (I've heard it's pretty easy), but I'd go to great lengths to keep the hydroboost system intact.
 
IIRC that's a pretty straight forward swap. Keep the hydro boost. You'll just make more work for yourself to basically downgrade your brakes.

Obviously if you run a carb and HEI its a 1 wire hook up.
 
Why do you want to get rid of the 6.2? Don't like good fuel economy?

Martin
 
my guess is: "junk 6.2 boat anchor diesel in her that does not run" and already has a 350 in the garage...
 
You sure you don't want to just put the diesel in it?

I've not done the swap from a pretty much complete diesel before, but doens't it require fuel line changes, exhaust changes, motor mount changes, throttle cable changes, etc? None of it is exceedingly hard to work around, just seems like a decent amount of work/time/money vs. finding a decent 6.2L to drop right back in.

I'm guessing it also has the smaller fuel tank, so even more frequent fillups after the gas swap.

6.2L was/is no powerhouse, but you can't laugh at the economy or their general reliability.
 
You'll want to swap out the governor in the transmission, otherwise it probably won't shift right. Some people have used the diesel torque converter with good results, others prefer to switch it out to one with a higher stall.

Most everything else is pretty straightforward. I'd leave the diesel specific wiring intact in case you decide you ever want to put a diesel back in. You'll need SBC manifolds and to run wiring for the choke and HEI for the carb. Diesel Blazers were available with up to a 31 gallon tank, same as gas models, so fuel capacity shouldn't be an issue.
 
Was that common though with the diesels? I haven't seen many 6.2L Blazers, but I always thought a 31 gallon 6.2L diesel truck, at even 20MPG, would be awesome.
 
Don't know how common it was, but I do remember seeing some old brochures from when the diesels came out bragging about a 700 mile range with the optional tank.
 
I have gone the other way from a small block gas motor to a 6.2L diesel. Not much changes, but some very important things do.

Different parts:
Flywheel/flexplate
Torque converter
Governor (inside TH400)
Alt/PS/acc brackets on front of motor
Starter
Radiator hoses (keep the diesel Rad since it is larger)
Air cleaner

Things that stay the same:
Motor mounts
oil/temp/starter/alternator wire harness
exhaust (may take some persuasion)

The long wire that feeds the injection pump (turns fuel solenoid on/off) can be shortened to power the HEI 12V+.

All of the diesel specific wire harnesses are easy to remove complete since they stand alone from the main harness. You can probably resell them on here if you become a member to pay for your membership. They are worth money.
 
I hesitated on giving any advice when I saw only "1" post count, and "USA" for the location...wasn't that the same deal on those other threads asking about the garage door springs,etc?...:confused:
 
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