6.5L Diesel in a 1970 C-10

[Firearmfiend]

Hi all, I'm converting my 1970 C-10 from a 350 to a 6.5L.


The "before" shot

First a little history:

My grandfather and my 2 great uncles owned a construction company. In 1970 each brother got a new truck. The company ordered the trucks from Chevrolet and payed for the truck and things like a heavy duty suspension and a heavy duty radiator and power steering. My grandpa payed a little extra for the overstuffed bench seat.
Fast forward to today. The truck currently has 309K miles on the odometer (actually it reads 09K, anybody want to buy a 1970 with only 9,000 miles? ) and I've put about 120K of those miles on it! The cab shows it's age for sure:



Yes, that's a bbq meat air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror (don't ask). About 3 months ago the 350 went south and with the way fuel prices have been going I wanted to convert to diesel with the eventual aim of running straight veggie oil. For now I'll be running biodiesel as my friend and I can buy it in bulk for roughly $3.50 a gallon delivered to his or my warehouse space (#2 is about $4.60 a gallon here currently in the SF Bay Area).

This will be an ongoing thread until I'm "finished."

Note: All the photos are from a different forum as I can't get the size I like out of the photos off of this forum's photo gallery.

[Firearmfiend]

A few more "before" shots:



The "old" 350

So the lesson here folks is DON"T BUY ENGINES FROM KRAGEN!!! I had problems with this motor after about 10K miles and after 60K I'm getting rid of it.

This time the problem was in the heads which I can't blame on Kragen, I guess, as they were Edelbrock Performer RPM's:


What killed the motor this time and for all time!


I guess pieces of valve banging around is bad.

[Firearmfiend]

So first off I pulled off the front clip and disconnected everything from the old motor. A sawzall was handy for the old exhaust!




Next, the old motor comes out... did you disconnect the driveshaft?


By the way, I don't care what people say, I think those "coolant drain ports" in the block are there to make hex keys round! (ask me why I think this!)



The old motor out! I don't know if you can see this, but the front motor mounts were probably the originals! (Okay, probably not, but they REALLY looked like it. I could kill the "mechanic" who put this motor in!)

As this setup has a 3 on the tree tranny (converted to floor shift by me) I dumped the driveshaft along with the motor. The tranny will be replaced by an SM420 and I might be installing a divorced Rockwell 221 t-case when things go back in (if there's enough $$$), but that's another thread.



40 year-old dirt and grease, YUM! Luckily I have a pressure washer and a few different cleaning agents!

And now the new stuff can begin!

[Firearmfiend]

So I ordered my motor from someone online @ http://www.dieselfixer.com/

Tom Sanders was great to talk with and convinced me to get a rebuilt motor rather than a used motor (which he sells also, DOD Humvee takeouts I believe that he inspects and tests and repairs). If you want to know more check out his website. Pricing seems to be very reasonable.

So here's the motor delivered:




Notice those cool Humvee headers!

So for most of you, you can include the automatic tranny flexplate that Tom would have put on my motor, but I'm keeping a manual tranny in my truck and had Tom leave it off.


You can barely see the rear of the crank in this shot I took of the block casting number.

I ordered a LUK single piece flywheel and clutch from Rye Valley Gear. LUK part numbers:
flywheel: LFW201
clutch: 04-087

Check out their site, it took me a while to find these parts online:
http://www.ryevalleygear.com/catalog...en_engine=6.2L


The new flywheel installed


And the new clutch!

A word of advice: The flywheel doesn't include fasteners and neither does the clutch! The clutch did include a new needle bearing pilot bearing, a new throwout bearing, and the alignment tool. They are both HEAVY! You have been warned! I bought the flywheel bolt kit and the grade 8 clutch mounting bolts from NAPA, along with most of my supplies for this swap for that matter.

[Firearmfiend]

So I then realized I had a linkage throttle and I REALLY want to keep a somewhat stock look to my truck (no Lokar pedals or pedals that look like an aluminum footprint, thanks!) and the new motor requires a cable setup. Lucky for me, in '71 Chevy converted to a cable throttle and one can do a very easy and nice job if you've got a drill press and some files.


I scored the accelerator assembly out of a 71-72 from teeitup and I was even able to use some of the bracketry to make my new retainer plate.
MANY THANKS TO Putter FOR DOING THE LEGWORK ON THIS CONVERSION!!!
Here's the build thread: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s....php?p=1383300

[mal68ibu]

The link to the thread didn't seem to work. I would be very interested to see some firewall details on how the later pedal install looks, and where you put the hole for the cable. I've got 2 or 3 71-72 pedals and I pulled the one from the 88 burb that I originally yanked my 6.2 (that I'm now not using) out of complete with cable and everything.

[Spray-Bomb]

Looks like you are making some good progress

[djw32]

Good progress. What are you going to use for motor mounts? I had to cut the small block towers to get my 6.2L in. It was NOT clean looking. Are you going to add any support to the front suspension? The 6.2 and the 6.5 weigh a hell of a lot more than the 350.

[Firearmfiend]

Link should work to thread now...

I'll take more pics in a few days, though I don't have the cable yet

Please don't tell me that about the towers. What didn't fit... how off were the mounting points? As far as the suspension goes I have a heavy duty front suspension from the factory, I figure that'll work well enough until I convert to 4wd and hang a live axle off the front.

[djw32]

I also have the HD suspension from the factory. You will need to change the springs. I would try the big block towers and motor mounts. I was not at the shop when the guy cut the towers, so I can not really help with how far off it would have been.

[Firearmfiend]

<SIGH> One more thing to buy... So which springs did you use? Isn't it 3/4 ton standard coils that fit in the spring cups for HD 1/2 ton?

Why did the towers need to be cut? Clearance under the hood or ???

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by Firearmfiend

<SIGH> One more thing to buy... So which springs did you use? Isn't it 3/4 ton standard coils that fit in the spring cups for HD 1/2 ton?

Why did the towers need to be cut? Clearance under the hood or ???

Good question, because I thought they would fit on SB mounts also.

[jimmydean]

Originally Posted by 67_C-30

Good question, because I thought they would fit on SB mounts also.

I was also told it was a straight bolt in. There have been others that have been done without mods, so I wonder what was different.

[67_C-30]

Originally Posted by jimmydean

I was also told it was a straight bolt in. There have been others that have been done without mods, so I wonder what was different.

Years ago we took a 6.2 out of a '83 C20 and bolted a 350 back in the truck with zero mods. I'm having having trouble seeing what the issue is unless it sits too high with the SB mounts in a 67-72.

[Firearmfiend]

It was my understanding that it was a straight bolt in as well... was there a turbo installed? If it's hood clearance (and here I thought the only time I'd have to worry about THAT in our trucks was if I installed a blower ) my friend and I can fab up some sort of low profile air cleaner.

[ripdog28]

Nice build so far. Seeing how that 350 and heads are really scrap now I would be willing to pay shipping for you to send them to San Diego and get it out of your way

[djw32]

I was not at the shop when the diesel mechanic put the motor in. It may have been too tall. The hydroboost could have been in the way. Really, I have no idea why he cut them. I put another 350 in and got new towers from porterbuilt. I took my truck from the shop on bad terms...I will call and ask why he did this...I hope he answers my call.

Also, I took pictures(cell phone) while the motor was in...how do I post pictures if they are on my phone?

This was a non turbo install

[ripdog28]

You can send the pics from your phone to your email then save them from your email to the computer. Just go to Manage attached on the post and browse for the file you saved them under.

Motor mount ? Can i use my 69 eng frame mounts just change the motor mount to a BBC one? or do i need to also replace the frame mount?

[Firearmfiend]

sorry ripdog, already sold the heads! Of course it was more like I threw them in with the roller rockers I had installed! I have a perfectly serviceable block if you want to machine it of course freight might cost more that the block at this point

[FRENCHBLUE72]

subscribed really want to see how this turns out..

[djw32]

I talk to the mechanic...

If you run the stock exhaust manifolds from 1984(I was), then you need to cut the towers. The manifolds sat on top of where the motor should have been mounted.

[Firearmfiend]

That's excellent news! (Well, it wasn't for you, sorry!) I'm running humvee headers (welded tubular steel) so I shouldn't have to worry about that. If necessary, I can cut and reroute the header on the driver's side which is the only one that looks like it might cause a problem.

Thanks for calling your old mechanic to get that info!

[jimmydean]

Any updates on this project?

I am picking up my 6.2L on Saturday and hope to have it cleaned up and dropped in by next weekend.

[Firearmfiend]

Sorry, no progress right now! I had to go to 6 days a week at work and I've just been too tired to do any real work on the truck! I did get my replacement rubber fuel lines, though, from West Marine: fire resistant and alcohol resistant and expensive as hell! I needed both 5/16" (original truck size) and 3/8" (diesel size) and I have yet to find conversion barbs yet, not that I've looked very hard.

Going back to 5 days a week in Aug. so there'll be more progress AND postings then.

[dieselarmy13]

lets get that ol oil burner fired up already!