Sooo, I'm a little new to the 6.2l diesel. I know its not all that powerful, but it has some room for improvement aha. I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice or answer a few of my questions, it would be awesome. Alright, so I'm looking at getting a 599 block 6.2 and rebuilding it, I would attempt at putting in a stronger crank, performance cam, 18:1 compression pistons. I would have 6.5 heads a gm8/bosch equivelant turbo, hi flow injectors, fuel pump and injection pump. I would change the timing chain to gear driven. as well as install head and main studs.Heath diesel told me to include a hi flow crossover pipe. And I would probably have a 3.5"-4" straight pipe exhaust. I was wondering what some good ways of keeping the engine cool would be, maybe an intercooler, aftercooler or mist? I was also wondering if it is worth having propane injection or boreing the block out but i dont know what i would bore it out to. I am also wondering how much boost can i add to the lower compression pistons (or what should i set my boost at with this build?). I may have left out a few things. If anyone has any tips or additions for my build plan please let me know, I would appreciate the input. I am looking to increase the Hp and torque by quite a bit. Thanks!

 

Well, sounds like you're planning a complete overhaul. You will never get a bunch of power out of the 6.2. Depending on how much power you really want you might consider dropping an 12v cummins in there. But if you're set on the 6.2 I can give ya a little advice on what to do if you're handy with a wrench.

I see you're planning 18:1 compression, so the gm-8 is out of the picture, go big like the holset hx40WII turbo and you can get it pushing 25+ psi maybe 35-40 psi, the gm-8 is only really good up to maybe 15. I'm not too sure how much boost these engines can handle, the 6.5 stock you only want to push 15 psi (that's with the 21:1 pistons). Intercooler would be the next best bet. You should have a mechanical pump already so some tweaking to that and you can turn it up. I think Flow Master makes crossover pipes, and I've heard some good things about them. You probably have to get exhaust manifolds from a 6.5, I figure that might just bolt right up, but I'm not too sure. Go with a complete 4" straight pipe, might find one for a dodge if you go with the holset. I've heard that the "marine" injectors are a waste of money, but not sure of the high flows on Heath's website. Other than that, really the only way to go up is mist injection and propane, my honest opinion, not worth it on the 6.2.

I know that the two biggest things to do to jump the power on a 6.5 is to get a full 4" exhaust system and put a bigger turbo on it, maybe the heath 80 HP ECM upgrade, but there really isn't a big aftermarket for these engines. Best advice, unless you're really bent on the 6.2, just to a cummins conversion, there's just so much more potential for them. My uncle does that (usually in 6.5s) but he has an old K30 sitting there with a cummins in it. It's no easy task but would be better if you're looking at big numbers for HP and torque. The 6.2 with all the upgrades I listed might push a good 300-350 HP most I'd say, and that's being generous. These engines weren't built to ever push a great deal of power.

 

Thanks MontanaTech, I've been considering doing a Cummins Conversion. But I couldnt find a "tutorial" or guide on how to go about it. I know there are some out there though. I think Dieselpower did one. I was just figuring that the conversion was probably going to be a lot more money and work than building up my 6.2. If you know of a pretty good guide could you let me know? Thanks again

 

Well, I don't see any info for the conversion, just a bunch of people arguing about what to use and what not to use. I talked to my uncle about it some and it just doesn't seem too hard really. You'll want a 89-98 cummins so its all mechanical and I all you do is hook up the electronics. I think on the 89-93 they said all you do is connect a hot to the fuel pump basically, but don't have the power potential of the newer ones. One of the biggest things to worry about is the transmission, GM and dodge both used the nv4500 5 spd in 96+ for the diesels. I know all you have to do is switch out something, I don't remember what its called, but I think the kit should have it. If you have the automatic, you might try to get a standard since I hear its a pain in the to do the swap with an auto. You have the 6.2 so you won't have the nv4500 so try to find a dodge with the stick shift when you do the conversion. My uncle said that the kit gives you the motor mounts and basically everything but the engine and the one he uses cost $2000 so probably don't spend more than that. The cummins should bolt right up to the nv4500 and my uncle doesn't even worry about the added weight since the cummins sits further back than the 6.5s do, so I guess it evens out the weight. Other than that the cummins should drop in and you might have to build a wiring harness, or it might come in the kit, I don't really know. Just wire everything up and you should be golden. When you have the cummins the possibilities are endless. If you want a 6 speed instead of the 5 speed, I think the nv5600(6spd) is compatible with the nv4500(5spd), the 01-02 cummins high outputs have the nv5600 I think. It's a pretty popular swap so I'd figure that it be pretty straight forward. I would do it with mine if it were a 4x4, but I'd figure by the time my engine fails I be out of college and just be buying a newer one. Just remember, usually the less electronics, the easier its going to be. On the 6.2 body, you might have to buy stronger springs/shocks but I'm not really sure.

Good luck.