Best diesel setup

[watahyahknow]

cheap dieselfuel http://www.greasecar.com/

[glock35ipsc]

At the moment around here, diesel is about 50 cent higher then unleaded. I'm glad I bought the 1500HD instead of the Duramax.

[jimmydean]

A friend of mine built a bio setup and has 3 local mexican joints supplying him with "fuel". He is averaging $.70 a gallon and sells 1/3 of what he makes for $1.80 to some local farmers (legal if you go through the proper channels). So when it's all said and done, his monthly gas bill is a net $50 (money in his pocket).

He has a Cumins Dodge 2500, a diesel RV, and 2 tractors that he powers on Bio. I would convert my truck if i couldm, but I'm going E85 next year instead.

There is also a card lock station that sells 80% bio for $1.90 a gallon vs. $2.85 for regular gas. My wifes next truck will be a diesel that i will run on Bio.

[glock35ipsc]

There is only one place in Fort Collins that sells bio, and it has been running a couple of cents higher or lower than diesel on any given day. I seriously thought about a diesel, but the cost of fuel and lack of bio locally turned me off.

[cstanley]

ooh, yeah. let's get into the bio discussion. i've also been looking into this swap, but the fuel cost savings isn't what i'm after. i think the "powers" will make sure that the costs remain close.
for me, it's more about the principal of using bio to ween myself from the juice. when switching to a diesel, it would be with the full intention of going bio. unfortunately, for purchase there's only one place i know of around here that sells...Carl's Corner, TX. in fact, they are completely converting over to bio-diesel willie for their offerengs. that's exciting to me. i think all of the prices will eventually even out, but at least my money will be staying with the american farmer (or mexican restaurant. i can't throw a rock around here without hitting one..)rather than going to the alternative overseas...

so i guess the cost trade-off is a moot point when i consider the other possible benefits...

[jimmydean]

The setup my friend built is a conversion kit for a water heater. I think it was like $200 for the kit and we got a used water heater off Craigs List for free. The setup is in the back of his RV shelter and it doesn't take up much space. Rather than mixing a bunch of crap, he buys a solution that you add during the process. It's damn near idiot proof because it either works or doesn't. So far not a single bad batch and he has been doing it for a while now.

The card lock place by me offers special accoutns for non-business owners who just buy Bio.

[cstanley]

Originally Posted by jimmydean

The setup my friend built is a conversion kit for a water heater. I think it was like $200 for the kit and we got a used water heater off Craigs List for free. The setup is in the back of his RV shelter and it doesn't take up much space. Rather than mixing a bunch of crap, he buys a solution that you add during the process. It's damn near idiot proof because it either works or doesn't. So far not a single bad batch and he has been doing it for a while now.

The card lock place by me offers special accoutns for non-business owners who just buy Bio.

what's a card lock?

[watahyahknow]

here is some info on the biodiesel and how to make it :
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/biodiesel.pdf

how mush is sunflowerseedoil or rapeseed oil costing or any noncaustic plantoil for that matter in the states ?, all these type of oils can be put straight in the tank of a older style dieselengine with the injectorpump and springloaded injectors not the newer electronicly controlled feulrail type diesels this oil is slightly less viscous so you'll need a preheated dieselfilter and a lineheater .
these are fotos of a lineheater :
http://www.nivid.be/ecology/WimSmolders/index.htm and http://www.nivid.be/ecology/WimSmolders/index.htm (sorry its in dutch but the pic makes it pretty self explainatory ) its made out of household watermainplumbing and is a pipe in a pipe (its made like a condenser from a alcoholstill )the outerpipe holds the coolingfluid from the engine and warms the innerpipe through which the vegable oil runs .
the rest of the engine is stock , on colder days you need to warm the engine up on regulair diesel to prevent the injectors from coking up (this is the reason why newer engines dont work whell on vedgetableoil ) so you also need to put in a small extra tank and a dual fuelswitchthingy .
i had a bunch of link to different websites on the subject but the websites arew all gone , maybe its illegal now to put it on the web

[68GenIII]

A diesel swap is only worth it to the people that do the work themselves. I have been tossing the idea of a 6bt swap for awhile. Ive got a brand new 6 litre genIII motor I was thinking about dropping into my 68. I have since bought a really nice running and driving 92 Dodge ram extended cab 3/4 ton for $2300. I would love to upgrade the turbo/injectors tweak the pump and drop it into my 68. I just cant bring myslf to tear apart this nice truck. A 350hp 800ftlb diesel that gets 20+mpg and hauls a$$ would be awesome. My truck is being build around the protouring concept. Big wheels, low stance, big disk brakes, etc. Its got bad a$$ smallblock written all over it. I think it would be sweet having the rattle of a diesel to throw people off. The big soot clouds would be great as well. Just my 2 cents.

[jimmydean]

Originally Posted by cstanley

what's a card lock?

Not sure if it's just a term used around here, but it's a service station that is used by commercial companies. There is no store, or attendants and it uses a credit card type system that tracks your miles and fuel usage. Put your card in, enter your pin, enter your miles and fill up. Then a bill is sent each month with the card number and miles to the owner.


Pacific Pride carries bio at some stations, but not near me. Tarr will sell bio without a commercial account. You still have to get a card and you are billed monthly, but there is no minimum or restrictions from what they told me.

[Werewolf]

Safe to say, at this point, that the only reason to do a diesel conversion is .. just to say you did it. That being said...

Has anybody considered picking up a late model LLY Duramax with a matched Allison out of a wrecked late model Silverado for one of these switch jobs? I imagine you'd save a lot of money going that route.

I know, back in my hometown, instead of buying new, the high school opted to "restore" one of their buses. It was a '68 C60 school bus, which they put new body panels on, and tossed a repower Isuzu diesel into. It went lots and lots of miles for years before they finally sold it off. I don't know what Isuzu has for offerings, but it *may* be something else to consider if you find one. Isuzu builds good diesels; that's what the new Duramax is.

Now I have to do some research on finding and bolting up an Allison to my 454 to get overdrive in my truck!

[special-K]

Originally Posted by Werewolf

Safe to say, at this point, that the only reason to do a diesel conversion is .. just to say you did it. That being said...

Huh???You`re saying you can get 20 or better mpg out of a gas motor?Even if diesel cost more than gas around here,I`d still be saving fuel money from less cosumption.That`s reason #1.Reason #2:pulling like there`s no limit.Reason #3:I wouldn`t be trying to make my own gasoline.

Paying to have "anything" major done to a vehicle makes it not worth it these days.

[GlennBrittain]

I have been following this thread and read all I could find searching on diesel. Recently my son and I brought home a free 86 4WD 6.2 Suburban. We brought it home for the 4WD parts for his 82 Blazer. I have been toying with the idea of rebuilding the 6.2 and it’s 700R4 for a 69 C10 project I have been working on. Since I do not have a gas engine to start with rebuilding this 6.2 can be economically. The purpose would be longevity and fuel mileage, not power or towing. I only know one person who had a 6.2 for any length of time. It was a welding truck that went 400K. My 69 C10 beater has a GM Goodwrench crate, 4.11 and 700R4 rarely goes over 60, gets 11 to 12. If I can achieve 20 +, I will overcome the current difference in fuel prices and I believe save money in the long run. I can also then beef up the crate to satisfy the occasional need for the thrill of hp and torque.
My only concern is was the 400K only a fluke, can a built 6.2 really be reliable.

[jimmydean]

I was looking at CL last night and found a few different options. I would be interested in seeing what the engine mount differences are between the 6.2 'burb motor and the 67-72.

There was one on CL nearly for free (a few hundred bucks complete with trans) that sparked my interest. I would rebuilt it and slap a turbo on it. My truck looks fast, but I have come to terms with the fact it might never be fast.

I am looking a the milage and fuel alternatives.

[soulman67]

I have had both 6.2's and and 6.5 TD's I love them. You can make them faster than a cummins if you know what your doing. There simple and will last over 400k if you take car of them. My current crewcab gets over 20 on the highway with crusie set at 75. I have friends with cummins that claim high power and fuel mileage unloaded I out run them and they can't keep up. Loaded I stay with them pulling about the same and the hills I have to watch my boost level. From what cummins owerns I know they only get around 17 on the highway with 3.54 rears and 2 wheel drive. I get 20 with 4.10's and 4 wheel drive.

I like the cummins and have used my budies, what I find funny about my budies is they love my old chevy crewcab better than their trucks. They have new dodges, But me if it has less than 8 cyclinders its a chicks ride. Although if Cat made an engine that would fit in a pickup that would be my choice.

[bad_turbo]

my daily driver is an '03 GMC4500 with the duramax/allison combo. I pull a 53 foot car trailer and that is all this truck has ever done. It has 300k miles now and the only problems have been the fuel injectors needing replacing a few times.

[TP from Cntl PA]

Originally Posted by bad_turbo

my daily driver is an '03 GMC4500 with the duramax/allison combo. I pull a 53 foot car trailer and that is all this truck has ever done. It has 300k miles now and the only problems have been the fuel injectors needing replacing a few times.

300K and you had to put more than one set of injectors in it?????

[superjeer]

I've bought an 85 6.2 for this very reason (for $432). I want to run grease. I'm not worried much about power, so long as it doesn't get in it's way, I'm fine. I'm hoping to get high 20's mpg. I've got a lot of learning to do though . I do a lot of reading on http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/index.php . Just picked up a book. but, from what I understand, if you get the older non EGR engine, that uses vacuum and a th400 tranny (which I was lucky enough to have bought), it's almost a bolt up conversion from a small block. Make sure you get the big engine stand though, the 750# one isn't cutting it!

I need to send my truck off for body and paint and I hope to be ready to put this in when it gets back.

-Jere

[bad_turbo]

Originally Posted by TP from Cntl PA

300K and you had to put more than one set of injectors in it?????

we have 3 of these trucks with the D/A combo. An '01 and '02 3500 and my '03 4500. All of them needed new injectors around 60k-70k. Then it was random after that. The '02 had them go bad again right before 100k and it ruined the motor. Got a new one under warranty. The other 2 had them go again around 160k. Mine did it again 40k miles ago and it needs them again NOW!! Costs about $4000 now that it is out of warranty. Thought it was just our bad luck, but looking at different Diesel web sites and it seems like its pretty common. Even the dealer tells us that the problem with the injectors should be fixed next year, but they have been telling us this since our trucks were new. All our trucks have about 300k on them now. Transmissions haven't given us one problem at all, pulling these 7000lbs trailers with 3 cars or trucks on them.

[Bob B.]

I have been thinking about building a non-turbo 6.5L G.M. powered '69 Chevy C-20. I think the 6.5L will fit on big block mounts and towers, and I would use a Turbo 400 with a diesel torque converter. It ought to be an easy swap, and it wouldn't butcher up the truck so bad you couldn't stick a gasser back into it. I am around a lot of 4B's and 4BT's, (in Case equipment) and though they are tough, they are also heavy, noisy, vibrate a lot, and don't really have a whole lot of power.

[watahyahknow]

the four and sixcylinder carengines and the scania daf and volvo truck engines in europe run between 180.000 to 250.000 kilometers before we need to rebuild the injectors , we do see more wear on the moving parts in the pump nowaday's do to the sulfur that they take out of the diesel to comply with the new emissionrules .

it might help getting some injectorcleaner in the tank every once in a while

[TP from Cntl PA]

Garage where I work part time is running Cat and Cummins engines in OTR trucks, haven't had any issues with the new fuel(YET)...........They were running an injector cleaner and I swear they had more trouble with it than none at all, because they stopped using it and the problems stopped.

Was curious about the injectors because I thought they had that problem solved.......

[bryanw1968]

Does anyone have a picture of one of these diesels actually in their truck?
I'd like to see what it looks like.

[70rs/ss]

I just bought an 07 Dodge Mega cab and no comparison, 610 lb/ft of torqu!! I have owned all sorts of gas engines and to get that kind of torqu out of say a BBC you get 6-8 mpg to go along with it. I get 18 -20 but I live on the Rez and drive around 90mph. I will do a cummins swap into an older truck or burb, they are inline 6's so they should fit nice and I agree a whole 2wd truck can be had cheap. I found two motors for $3500 each, but I think a whole truck for $4500 will net you everything you need including the tranny and complete fuel system. Longhorn hook a turbo up and come see me. BTW the difference between a gas and diesel in new is like $5k, you'd be hard pressed to put a turbo/supercharger on a gas engine for under $4k, so buy a diesel and get the turbo free!!!!

[PanelDeland]

To answer your question,You are going to get lousy"GAS" milage with a diesel.