OK, engines... in order of my preference if it were me...
1st Choice.
Oldsmobile 5.7L Diesel ... ya...
THAT Diesel Engine.....
They were available in 78-81 GMC/Chevy 1/2 ton 2WD drive trucks... They are not as bad as everyone makes them out to be..
If you go this route get the later updated "DX" block engine but get the Non-EGR Pencil injection and heads.. 20 HP more then the the later Poppet injector / EGR motors. Pencil injection was used in passenger cars in 78-80 and Pickups 78-81. If you get one of these and the engine doesn't have the later head bolts stamped with a _ and 0 above it on the head, replace them and the rod and main bolts with hardend bolts from Arp Racing, it'll be bullet proof.
Ok, I'll admit it... I am partial to this one and it's on the top of the list because I own one, it's a work in progress but, I am slowly "restoring" it. Engine has the updated Block, head bolts, and pencil injection... It's Pretty rare pice of iron and it makes dump runs too :lol:
OK, so It's NA and it's no power stroke tow monster but it does everything I need a half ton pickup to do while getting around ~26 MPG. Parts are plenty availble and cheap as far as diesel stuff goes, I just bought a brand new in the box IP on ebay for $25 shipped.... If you really want to know more go to..
oldsdiesel.com
2nd Choice.
Cummins 4BT (4BTA if you can get, it's intercooled but, you can do it to any of them) Kinds of spendy nowadays because they are popular but, they are peppy and with a 700R4 trans and the right gears you could see 35-40 MPG in a 73-87 1/2ton 2WD Pickup. If you have a 2wd truck, the cummins mounts out of a 4BT equipped Chevy P-30 Doritos truck will bolt right in. It is a easy job, By far, the SIMPLEST conversion is 73-87 C 1500-2500 2WD with either a 4 speed or Auto depending on which 4BT you start with. That's about as straight a conversion as it gets, you can even use the air cleaner and fan shroud.
Best info is on the Cummins 4BT yahoo group also
Dovebid.com has been auctioning off frito-Lay's Cummins 4BT equipped Chevy P-30 Step Van's for the last few months now, there are some deals to be had.
3rd Choice.
GM 6.5L Turbo Diesel Kinda Spendy too but, reilable, powerful, and fairly thrifty MPG wise if it's built right
see the diesel page 6.5TD Power Project for info.. They are pretty common too... for a conversion into a 73-87 C series 2WD. You want one of the the first two years ('92 + '93) of the 6.5, they were mechanical, so there was no engine ECU on those engines. There was an ECU (GM calls it an ECM or a PCM in later years) that controlled the trans and other vehicle functions. You don't need that though, bolt it up to a 700R4 and no computer controls needed. The only big issue with that conversion is the turbo and exhaust plumbing and the firewall. If you have A/C there isn't enough room for the turbo so you have to loose the A/C or you can get the evap housing from 93-ish S-10 and graft it onto the stock blower box and get around this. Other than that it's a straight drop in.
A GM 6.2L is a straight drop in too.. you can add a banks kit to it too but, if you are going through the trouble may as well do a 6.5L if you ask me... Older blocks have problems with main webs cracking....
Topic: Diesel engine question (Read 11814 times)
