1969 C10 6.5 diesel swap
 

Well this is my first post to this forum so i figured id start with a build thread. Ive owned my 69c10 for about 5 years now and its been the recipient of one leftover 350 after annother.. So in mid parts collection for an ls swap i came across an entire 6.5 td dropout from a medium duty chassi moving truck for the price of $free.99... After considering the pros and cons i sold the ls stuff and started rebuilding the diesel, im not green when it comes to diesels (im a certified cummins engine and powergen tech) but this was my first personal diesel buld and first diesel vehicle. The biggest reason i wanted to do diesel is i wanted mpg... As i work at a potato chip factory i have unlimited supply o free veggy oil and once My diesel swap is complete i will be doing a wvo conversion as well. Due to living in Arizona i am not fearful of the "cold oil" hazards of most WVO systems because the temperatures average 90+ most of the year.. Moving right along as of today 2014/6/29 i have the engine bay prepped, engine in and tested. I converted to a db2 type pump due to the harness i received with the swap was a little worse for wear... The build consists of .030 over mahle pistons, reman heads (mine were all cracked between the two valve seats) new timing chain, new cam and the marine style upper intake. The turbo has been rebuilt by turbo and electric in phx, the db2 pump is a reman from rock auto , new injectors from Canada, and new fuel lines from ssdiesel, pictures will follow shortly

s984.photobucket.com/user/jameskilcer/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image-6.jpg.html]Attachment 32178[/URL]
....Short block.....
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... Long block +.....
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Engine bay cleaned up a bit,
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Clearance issues with the CPP tubular small block mounts,
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Engine fit fine but the exhaust sat on the frame rails/mounts. I fabricated my own mounts using the tublear mounts to make a set of jigs and raise the mount point 1"
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As you can see..... Tons of room...

Well i pulled a no-no... I was installing the trans myself lying in the dirt... And i used the bellhousing bolts to pull the trans to the engine... Diddent go so well for the trans... Broke an ear off the bellhousing (this is why it is an illadvised practice) but i diddent have a choice as im doing this all alone in less than ideal conditions... That happend last night and i just called it for the day... Today im going to pull it back off and tig weld it back ok... After all the yahoos out there who say JB weld works im not too worried about tig welding the bellhousing... Its the upper ear next to the alignment dowel so it will be prty sturdy as it is... Btw its a 4l80e i got on craigslist... So the damn thing could be F-ed anyways... We shall see.. Only time will tell

I welded the trans ear back on (not jb weld) it was my first time welding cast aluminum so it diddent look too purdy but i will hold just fine. Ordered my trans controller today. Im using the fast/tci unit (same thing different sticker) the main reason i went with that unit was it comes with the harness unlike the msd unit, and is 190 cheaper.

:tu: Looking good!

nice looking work... i have done alot of 6.2 and 6.5 engine conversions.. so i know you will be happy as long as you remember they are just a small low cost diesel and do great if not abused..:)

Thats the plan... Its a 1/2 ton so no 3 axle toy haulers for me... Haha biggest thing ill be towing is a little trailler with a johnboat... Or maby a car dolly... Its just the factory gm8 and ill be keeping the boost round 12 tops... I cant wait till i can try out a WVO system... Working at a chip factory getting free oil is no problem... If i can fuel it for next to nothing that would be Awesome... Anyways doing the wiring today and got my tci trans controller in today... More picts to follow...

Schweet! :tu:

So it's been a while but here's the news... Changed the 12 bolt to 3.08 with posi. Got the 4l80 all set up shifts good, set the injection timing to 8* got the ac almost all done... (Just waiting on the lines) I've been driving it daily for months now and it's been running great.. Took a 500mi road trip with it... Only issues so far is a few leaks that are persistent... All the talk about these things being gutless isent true... I think everyone just needs to remember they are not 6bt's, power strokes and dmax's... I'm yet to tow much with it but then again the trucks not really ment for heavy tows... I could see being disappointed with it in a 2500 or 3500.. But only if you were towning a lot... It has the same power as the 350 I had in it before... And it gets up and moves the truck even with the 3.08s... I won't be winning any races but it sure isent gutless...I've been running a lot of used motor/hydraulic oil thru it to suppliment my fuel and no issues... Pictures to soon follow

Glad to hear you have that rig running and kudos to you for getting the A/C working you wont be disappointed, I just resealed and vacuumed/recharged along with a new drier and orifice tube to my system last weekend along with a new drier and orifice tube.

Oh and IMO a A/C has no effect on the fuel mileage that I have noticed.