Re: Diesel engine swap
 

With my $1200 comment? Which one was that again?

I think the OP should go with an LS. It'll probably work for him, and it'll help your blood pressure go down.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

I said that. But big block guys all look the same to him.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

I've run big blocks, diesels, smallblocks, and LQ4 truck motors.

The knee jerk reaction that everyone needs to have 500hp or a diesel to tow is a bit obnoxious.
It's like the people that say you have to have a Dana 60 and NP205 in your 4wd and the Dana44 or 10 bolt and the NP208 are garbage.

It's down to expectations. I might tow once a month and the LQ4 in my 2500HD does just fine. I don't need to tow my 18' flatbed at 95mph on the interstate and I don't worry about 0-60 times with the trailer either. It'll do 60-65 uphill with a 2013 Toyota Tundra 5.7L strapped to the trailer.

You have to have the right starting point.

If a rotted out Panel truck with a Cummins 4BT fell in your lap for $250 you could swap it in for around what you paid for the 454 modifications. That's a Unicorn.

You already had a good running 454 in a truck. That's a far cry from finding one for a reasonable price. That's pretty close to a Unicorn.

Rust bucket good running GMT800 trucks with life left in the drivelines but not the chassis are very inexpensive here in the salty Northeast. Hence the popularity of these drivelines.

If you have a 4wd no AC truck, you aren't afraid of wiring and have the tools and experience to do it right, and you can sell some parts from the T800 donor like we did and it is downright cheap to do. Time consuming but cheap.
We paid for motor mounts, clocking ring for the NP208, VSS pulse generator that screws into the speedometer cable, various hoses, exhaust, frame mounted high pressure fuel pump and electric rad fans... that's about it. The original fuel tanks HVLP pumps, and senders were toast so you can't really count the replacements as part of the swap. Body work, glass, lighting etc the same way.

You can bump the power levels up to LQ9 territory with a cam swap and headers.
It's not 500hp but it's a respectable advertised 443 hp at 5,400 rpm and 467 lb-ft of torque at 4,500 rpm according to Scoggin Dicky.
Mikeys' truck has noticeably more power than the LQ4 in my 05 since he played with the cam, exhaust, and the PCM. I don't like to mod my daily drivers.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

Tesla cybertruck will out tow your nasty smoking diesel and get way better milage than your 6.0 LS. And I guarantee if will generate its own cult. Life is a compromise...pick your poison.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

:lol:No points to Tesla for beauty but the new GM, Ferd, and Dodge ain't purdy trucks either.
The instant torque of an EV is scary high.
On short trips the EV should spank everything else in power and acceleration... as long as the loads are really secured.

Internal combustion will still spank an EV truck on range.

It's all a trade off.
Score it on paper in four or more columns... want, need, cost, time to complete.
Then pick your poison.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

We'll put! Looks like the Jetsons are still way ahead of us silly humans.

And I agree, the new Chevy trucks are butt ugly. GMC is slightly less ugly.

That 6 position tailgate doesn't offset the ugly factor but it's cool.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

I have a couple vehicles that I would purchase specifically for a 4bt swap should an engine fall in my lap for $250.

Truth be told I did consider building a LS based 408 for the dually because I have seen some extremely impressive, nearly flat torque curves (500+) that would make an excellent towing engine. But I was looking at nearly $10K for the engine alone.

I also considered building another 6.5 to match what I put in my Jeep. But the cost of building a 6.5 is getting into the close to $10K range now and too many replacement parts are Chinese sourced (can't find a set of non-cracked GM heads anywhere). The stuff that AM General has is stupid expensive, but North America castings.

So for now the 454 got the heads, cam and tune which will get me along for a while. And the NV4500 makes it tow way better than it ever did with the TH400. And sometime in the future it will get a mechanical 6bt/NV5600 combo.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

You can dream but diesels are in vogue... so they usually cost way more than they are worth.

I have a GM 6.5L TurboDiesel in my 2000 GMC but I wouldn't go looking for one. So far I've avoided the main web cracks and splits between the valves but I don't want to say it out loud next to the truck.
How have you done on nozzles for the injectors?
The last I read parts made in countries other than India and China that are made out of metal that won't erode in 15,000 miles are difficult to source.
I found a set of Bosch nozzles made in Estonia or Poland last time and they are getting toward 85,000 miles now.
I may use a set of Monark nozzles from the Benz guys next time I build a set.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

Oh yeah, people selling used engines believe they are selling gold by the pound. Prices are crazy. That is one reason the dually doesn't have a diesel yet. You can find deals, but they are few and far between.

There are a few suppliers that have genuine Bosch nozzles and I've been lucky enough to get some when I need some. Rebuilding them isn't hard and the biggest expense was building a pressure test stand. I'll have to check that other brand - thanks for the tip!

My latest 6.5 was built on a mil-surplus Navistar cast block. Don't let people lie to you and tell you the Navistar stuff doesn't crack...it does and I have a cracked one in my garage if anyone doubts me.

Re: Diesel engine swap
 

Very interesting thread. Thanks to the participants. The answers show some biases, but we're all humans. DD being an LS and my projects trucks having 454s, I read through the biases to the facts with unabashed interest. I'm an off-the-line torque guy, so pre-LS is my hobby bias. But my DD gets going nicely once the LS spins up. The pre-LS preference for towing makes sense to me.