454 to Diesel Swap

[dave_erald]

Ha. I like that, like your friend dating a hooker, ****** told you she was a hooker


....okay, enough thread derailment

 

[cool_as_crap]

With diesel costing the same as gas and if I can go from 10 mpg to 20 mpg I'll save at least $5-6k a year

I'm not sure if you're still looking for advise on this, but what do you use your truck for?
Based on how much you'd save on fuel mileage getting away from a 454 I take it you drive your truck regularly, maybe for work? Or maybe to commute?

I was on the fence about buying my 454 k3500 a couple of months ago. It isn't my daily driver and is only used for fun (camping, dirtbikes, RV, etc) so I'll spend extra on gas when I need it to avoid paying an outrageous price for a used beat up diesel.

However, if I only had my one truck to drive everyday to commute or as a work truck, I would absolutely spend extra on a newer diesel for the fuel mileage.

In this case I wouldn't consider any kind of swap. You may have more mechanical experience and comfort than I do, but I don't ever want to rely on any motor swap'd vehicle as a daily driver, too much can go wrong.

This is just my opinion and thought process. May or may not be helpful.

 

[cool_as_crap]

If you do end up swapping, my vote is for a 7.3l powerstroke out of a 99-02 f350.
Just for the sake of being different

 

[BowtieBrody]

If you do end up swapping, my vote is for a 7.3l powerstroke out of a 99-02 f350.
Just for the sake of being different

That has been something me and my friends have discussed a few times, why is it okay to swap a Cummins into everything else, but a PS or Duramax/GM based diesel is blasphemous?

I think it's brand specific dealio, Cummins makes motors for everything;

To keep the thread on track, I think you should buy an old 1st gen, part it out aside from the motor and rebuild the motor while rocking the 454 for a little while; and if the 454 gives up the ghost, BOOM, you've got a pristine 12 Valve on a stand in your garage.

 

[ZachT]

Yeah I would love to swap a diesel especially a 7.3. I've always had good luck those engines. Now is a perfect time to build an engine because I was laid off but sadly can't afford to do it right now. Unless someone has a free engine they're willing to give me


Sent from my 454

 

[ZachT]

As for what I use my truck. It's my daily driver during the week and then tow the camper with it and car trailer on the weekend.


Sent from my 454

 

[someotherguy]

I'm pretty sure the appeal of the 12 valve Cummins is that it's a dead-simple install in terms of wiring, plus so many have been done that any potential challenges are all pretty well figured out and solved. They can also be easily jacked up to a ridiculous amount of power. And yes, there's a lot of them out there for donors.

They're not without their issues but the couple of real ones have already been identified and can easily be resolved.

Never been much a fan of the 7.3, but that's probably just because of beat-up old Fords I've had to drive that gave me lots of trouble so it's likely not a fair bias against them, but I just don't like Fords in general either. I did a water pump on a NA 7.3 once that blew my mind; 21 freaking bolts just to get the pump off after you get the other misc. crap out of the way.

Richard

 

[white_trash88]

I wanna get into this too lol, i go to school with a kid whos a complete dumbass talking about how his 6.5 is better than my 350 tbi, when his truck sheard the starter bolts, cracked the block, and he cooked the turbo and all ive done is blow the water pump and a few sets of spider gears . His stepdad is pretty cool and has an old wrecker that he bought brand new with a 6.5 and at 350,000 miles its still running on its first complete motor and swears by them. I just think theyre a pile of garbage.

 

[Biggershaft96]

I would lsx swap. Its cheap theyre reliable and you can make tons of power and get pretty good milage out of them. My truck will probably get a 6.0 or 4.8 if i could ever blow this 5.7 up. Jus my 2 cents.

 

[dave_erald]

And there in lies the single biggest reason why the 6.5 swap is not as wildly popular

...better options


There are so many better options for swaps than the 6.5 and with so many disaster stories about the 6.5 that no one wants to do it, and no one recommends doing them


But here I propose a valid argument, why if so terrible, and so many horror stories that the US army is still repowering Humvees with 6.5's, AND Gail Banks has mostly recently engineered a New turbo and exhaust brake with intercooler and programming setup for sale for the 6.5? Again just another observation

I would imagine it has something to do with money already tied up in Humvees, but whatever.......