Diesel Swap???

[hatzie]

I've had a 350DX, 6.2 & 6.5s
The 350DX was an expensive project. It's still running today but it only has 105hp with no room to upgrade. Reliable engine for me.
The M1008 was an inexpensive 6.2
Swapping the 6.5 into the 76 was very expensive.
The 2000 T400 GMC has been very cheap to run...

[84chevyguyid]

I had a big buick park avenue with a 5.7 diesel years ago, the power sucked but the fuel mileage was incredible. A few days after I bought it I drove from southeast Idaho to Las Vegas, around 700 miles one way. I watched the fuel gauge and it didnt ever seem to drop much and by Cedar City Utah I still had just under half a tank of fuel left. I got worried that the gauge wasnt working right so I pulled into a truck stop in Cedar City and filled it. The gauge was correct and my mileage worked out to 32 mpg. I drove it for several years and it ran good for me except the rear main started leaking on it. At that point I moved on. I have an 87 suburban that I bought in 88 with a 6.2 diesel and it would get about 19-20 mpg highway (75mph) driving. It had a 700 trans with 3.73 gears. I have 310,000 miles on it now and its currently sporting a 94 6.5 motor with a Banks turbo kit and a mechanical injection pump. That addition made it a really nice cruiser, the turbo really woke it up. We drove it out to San Fransisco on vacation a couple years ago and cruising 75-80 on the freeways I got anywhere from 18.5 to 19.5 mpg going there and back. I filled it when we got there and ran around the whole week on one tank of fuel and it averaged 14 mpg with all the chasing around the city we did. I had a 94 chevy pickup with a 6.5 turbo and 4.10 gears and it only got about 16-17 highway but I found if I drove it 65 instead of 75-80 I could get 22 plus with it. My dad bought a 94 6.5 turbo chevy 2 wheel drive pickup with 3.54 gears and it got amazing mileage, he bought it in Salt Lake City, filled it up and drove it home, 250 miles, and filled it when he got home and it got 28 mpg. His driving habits are better than mine but that thing would always knock out 28 on a trip. The downside to it was the injection pump, the dealer did 4 pumps on it under warrantee and he decided to get rid of it after it went off warrantee. I am building an 84 chevy crew cab with a 12 valve cummins and an allison 6 speed, hope to have it on the road next summer. I'm hoping to get 20 mpg with it and have tons of power. If it works out good I may drop one in the suburban as my 6.5 is getting a little tired. If you like to tinker then a diesel swap is a fun project!