Turbo donor trucks

[6.2Blazer]

Regularly scan Craigslist for 6.2 parts and turbos. A couple 6.2 square body trucks with turbos popped up recently.

- '91 Suburban, 2wd, Banks kit, supposedly newer engine, but has been parked for 5 years because of a bad tranny.

- '84 3/4 ton 4wd, Banks kit with HX35 turbo, recent blown head gaskets (probably because of too much boost)

Both have an asking price of $1,000 that I would not pay, but what are your thoughts if I could get them in the $500-750 range. Thoughts would be swap the turbo onto my '90, keep a few other misc. parts, and then sell or scrap the rest to recoup most of the money.

 

[84CUCV]

got a 6.5 turbo from a guy on here. all i needed but the crossover pipe.. paid 400. cant see laying out that much for a banks.

 

[Richcz28]

I have a 6.5 turbo in my garage that I got for $150 off craigslist. I have seen whole 6.5s engines in the 500-750 range.

You're talking about buying whole trucks?

Depending on condition it could be a good deal.

 

[blazinzuk]

I am still looking. 6.2 turbo trucks pop up. There was at least one that popped up I was gonna buy the whole truck cause it had some parts on it I could have sold. Would have gotten the turbo for nearly free. So sometimes worth it to look at whole trucks.

 

[6.2Blazer]

The 6.5 stuff is not a direct swap into my '90 K5 because it was originally equipped with AC. I'm sure I could do the necessary mods but time can be hard to come by for me.

And yes, the $1,000 asking price was for a complete truck and both would run.

 

[herkdriver007]

The 6.5 stuff is not a direct swap into my '90 K5 because it was originally equipped with AC. I'm sure I could do the necessary mods but time can be hard to come by for me.

And yes, the $1,000 asking price was for a complete truck and both would run.

for pure simplicity and bolt-on, go with the Banks setup if you can score one.
if you're up for a bit more of a challenge, getting the 6.5 setup can be cheaper if you're willing to put in the time, which as you said can be hard to come by.
If you stay below 10lbs of boost, you should be okay w/o head studs...but if/when you replace the factory head bolts, you might look into slightly thicker head gaskets to help bring the compression down a touch, which will help keep from blowing gaskets in the future.