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what would you do...if you needed a new engine?

muddybuddy

muddybuddy

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say you had a lifted k5 and you loved it to death. you wanted to drive it everywhere, but gas got so expensive. you currently have a semi-tired 350tbi and are thinkin about the future, and looks like a new motor in going under the hood when the current one goes. keep in mind you want to get "decent" gas milage to be able to drive it around town and on trips occasionally. would you rather swap in a vortec 350 out of a newer chevy and build it up a little bit, or cross your fingers and find a crashed 12v cummins? if i did get a diesel i think id want a newer one (i want 600hp and 1000tq..who doesnt:haha: ) and would probably cost more than the 350 (prolly need new tranny to take it) but get better mpg.

now that you read my sad story, what would you do? ive gatta start planning for the future:D
 
Both are good ideas, but my favorite is the cummins. Right now me and my Dad are useing my K5 for pulling a trailer, but we are lookin to get a 5.9 12V Cummins Dodge dualie for pullin'. I didn't evan know you could put a cummins in a K5?:thumb: It would sound AWESOME!! Or you could go with the Vortec,also a good engine. Does it matter if it's diesel, gas or moonshine(Ethanol)?:D If it wouldn't be to much trouble go with the Cummins, but if you could just drop in a vortec 350, than that might be the way to go?

Good luck!!
 
4BTA if you can find one, it'll be simpler and more fuel efficient than its 6 cylinder cummins breathern
 
Get a cheap car and drive it everywhere.....

Seems to me lack of planning is biting you in the ass... Did you not plan for fuel mileage to be an issue with your truck? I thought you were going to swap in a 6.2? Why do you want a Vortec, if you want power then dont even go there because the CFI is power limiting on those and fuel mileage gain if any wont be worth the cost. Just swap a 6.2 in if your dead set on getting "decent" mileage. Its the easiest and most cost efficient.

Sounds like you shouldve planned for all this before hand but hindsight is 20/20 right?
 
daleearnhardt01 said:
Get a cheap car and drive it everywhere.....

Seems to me lack of planning is biting you in the ass... Did you not plan for fuel mileage to be an issue with your truck? I thought you were going to swap in a 6.2? Why do you want a Vortec, if you want power then dont even go there because the CFI is power limiting on those and fuel mileage gain if any wont be worth the cost. Just swap a 6.2 in if your dead set on getting "decent" mileage. Its the easiest and most cost efficient.

Sounds like you shouldve planned for all this before hand but hindsight is 20/20 right?
Click to expand...

He's got a point. Save the truck for fun and get a car with good mpg.:thinking:
 
im just lookin for ideas :) im just bs'n right now haha. at this point in time my rents dont want me gettin another vehicle for dd'ing. otherwise i would have gotten one by now. so i guess the diesel really is the best option. i think it was yellowk20 that was sayn he was gettn 15mpg with a small block and 38s or something...hopefully a tune-up will fix the truck and ill magically get 20mpg :)

im just asking for opinions on what i should when my motor does eventually go out...they dont last forever...
 
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how about looking for a 5.3L with cylinder deactivation? i'm sure people are wrecking them already, and all of them that i've seen are very reliable. although, they haven't been out long enough to know for certain.

i understand not planning ahead. i'm glad my k5 is just my toy, but even my dd doesn't get great mileage. but gas was cheap when i bought both of them. i knew it would increase, but not so dramatically and so quickly. but, it's still cheaper to drive my gas-hogs than to buy a decent gas-sipper.
 
i put a 5.7 votec in my '86 k5. it wasn't very hard and i was able to keep everything california emissions legal. i haven't been able to notice a significant increase in mpg, but the power increase seems like its doubled copared to my old carburated 350. i don't know the smog laws in your state, but here in ca, you can't put a diesel engine into a truck originally equipped with a gasoline engine and still be street legal. in ca you just simply would not be able to have current tags if it won't pass a smog inspection. being that yours is a dd, you may want to check your local smog laws before you start making such drastic changes.
 
If I was worried about fuel economy (which I'm not), I'd buy something like a '95 Samurai (if wanted a 4x4), or an '88-89 Toyota MR2 (I always liked those). In any case, if mpg was on my mind, I wouldn't even think of buying a full-sized, 4x4, low-geared truck in the first place!

What to do when the engine needs replaced? That depends on your budget, but I'd lean toward a GM crate engine, and an EFI big block if my budget sufficed. We don't smog test here, so emission-legal isn't an issue.
 
To me, for cost and effort, diesels are the way to go for economy. I would assume it's the same for the diesels as it is for the gas engines: go bigger, you lose eonomy. Pretty universal concept. :)

I like my TPI rig, but doing it all over again, it wouldn't be a gen I small block. It'd be a 6L gas or small diesel.
 
I am kindda in the same boat. I've contemplated going with a 4bt over a crate engine. I own a small restaurant and produce about 10 gallons of WVO every week (only to pay to have it hauled away:mad: ). I was thinking about making biodiesel or running new veggie oil (with my supplier I can get VO for $2-3/gallon and control what country it is made in, mostly US and India). For me I would save twice if I made Bio, not hauling away and almost free fuel. But a 4bt swap would cost about $5-6k and a crate would be about 2K. I could also use the biodiesel as a marketing ploy to get the tree huggers to come eat a my store:wink1: . Someone please calculate how far I would have to drive a year to make the Bio pay for itself, my brain hurts from thinking too much.
 
Quick math, and I suck at it, looks like you'd need to use about 1000 gallons (assuming $3/gallon for diesel) to break even on the swap, which at 20MPG would be 20,000 miles. Just over a year of driving for "average" Americans. That's not factoring in any additional costs. (fuel heater, external mods needed to fit the diesel, etc)

Of course, whatever energy you put into refining the biodiesel (no clue what it involves) you have to pay for as well, which would add to the cost. In the long run it has to be cheaper, since your base is essentially free/unused at this point, as long as energy used to convert the base to a fuel isn't more than the price of diesel on the open market.
 
Muddy, if your still interested in the GM deisel, friend of mine still has the army truck. Just FYI...
 
My research shows that it's about $.70-.80 to refine biodiesel.
 
daleearnhardt01 said:
Haha muddy is hoping for 20 with a tune up! :haha:
Click to expand...

:haha: the 20mpg was clearly a dream. i wish it was true.

i currently dont need a motor, but when the time comes, i would like to kind of have a basic idea of what i want to do. i guess the 6.2 is still the most cost effective way to do it.

quick question, when adding a turbo on a 6.2, does that help or hurt the economy?
 
Here are options i would consider from easiest to hardest. If your worried about mileage get a diesel or drive something else.

1. New 350tbi w/vortec heads
2. 383tbi w/vortec heads -my personal favorite
3. 454tbi -not something I would do
4. 6.2 with or without a turbo kit (circle "with")
5. 6.5? I really dont know mucha bout this swap.
6. A newer, non genIII/IV multiport motor (vortec 350/ lt1)
7. genIII/IV swap
8. cummins swap
9. jet engine - have fun trying to find t-case adapters. :D

There are two main points that you need to think about
1. You have tbi. switching to something else, will be time/money consuming
2. get what you like the most, you will regret it in the future.
I know of both of these and have suffered twice, and Im just now getting what I want.

Edit: You drive a blazer, paying for gas sucks, deal with it. Trying to save gas everywhere will only cause headaches.
Edit #2: None of the above options reflect how "badass" a motor might be.
 
383 and set it up to run both gas and e-85.

Oh and keep your foot out of it.

Consider many people driving what you consider a annoying economy wedge are paying over 400.00 a month on just the car, and it will take a life time for them to earn back what they spend on payments vs saving on gas.

So no matter what you are going to pay one way or the other.
 
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